Quote: (07-13-2014 07:40 PM)It_is_my_time Wrote:
Quote: (07-13-2014 07:35 PM)Feisbook Control Wrote:
Quote: (07-13-2014 07:10 PM)It_is_my_time Wrote:
Quote: (07-13-2014 07:04 PM)Feisbook Control Wrote:
Quote: (07-13-2014 06:08 PM)It_is_my_time Wrote:
The USA will end up being one of two things...
#1) The first country to truly shake off the loser socialist liberal mentality and reclaim their greatness. A lesson to all other historians in the future as to how worthless and mentally deranged socialism is.
#2) A great study lesson in how liberalism does not work. How the USA, a country that...
- Beat the world's great empire in back to back wars, in founding this country.
- Survived a ungodly brutal civil war and restored the country.
- Was on the winning side of two World Wars and in the 2nd world war we got all the goods afterwards.
- Built a military with technology that could destroy all other militaries many times over.
- Had the greatest economic run ever.
Only to be taken down and destroyed by the virus that is liberalism. Forget nuclear weapons, forget a military of 100,000,000 well trained soldiers. You want to defeat your enemy, spread liberalism there and you will win in due time.
Whatever the outcome, I just hope I can get out of here before the inevitable happens. With this debt, it is only a matter of time.
Which wars would those be? Surely you're not talking about the War of 1812 in which both sides returned occupied territory to each other at the conclusion of the war (i.e. there were no territorial changes), the U.S. failed to conquer Canada, and the British burnt Washington, including both the White House and the Capitol.
I also think the claim of the greatest economic run ever could be disputed. Anyway, I'm just nitpicking. I agree with you in general.
The USA was but a baby of a country, and while we didn't take territory, we ran off the greatest army in the world to protect this country. It wasn't some great decisive win, but the USA was able to survive an invasion by the greatest army in the world. Call it a draw if you like, the fact the USA has been through all of this and not only survived but thrived is amazing. Even more amazing is that liberalism is such a terrible virus that even this once great country cannot survive it, IMO.
The economic run from 1946 through about 1999 was nearly unprecedented. We went from a country returning from war and recovering from the great depression to economic heights never imagined. But that is over now.
So having your capital burnt is a victory. Okay. You are also aware that the British were dealing with a little Corsican at the time, I gather.
I'm no economic historian, but I don't know that you can make that claim about economics. Just off the top of my head, the British economy in the 19th century was pretty impressive. Likewise, the Dutch economy in the late 16th century through to the late 17th century was pretty impressive also. In fact, I just looked this up, and in 1670, the Netherlands controlled 50% (!!!) of European shipping. I am sure there are other non-European examples, but I am not familiar with them.
If England's only goal was to come here and burn down our capitol and then leave without gaining any territory, then they won. I just don't believe that was the case.
There were other economic booms, to measure them would be interesting.
Regardless, the USA went through lots of real bad shit, and came out on top. But the one thing the USA will not survive is liberalism-feminism. All those obstacles and the USA came out on top. But liberalism-feminism is destructive even the USA cannot survive it.
Their goals were manifold, some of which (e.g. holding onto Canada) they won, and some of which (building Indian nations to check American expansion) they lost.
I'm from an unimportant country that will likely always be unimportant, so I don't have a dog in the race, and I can step back and see the common threads. All rising powers come to power under extraordinary and unlikely circumstances, always at the expense of someone else. It's worth noting that the Netherlands fought its own
war of independence against the then superpower of their day. They then had their brief spot in the sun and then were eclipsed.
Every power at its peak has all sorts of foundation myths and myths about its own exceptionalism, yet they all decline for the same reasons: hubris, overreach, debasement of the currency and general economic sluggishness, loss of civic feeling, etc. The sun never set on the British Empire until it did. China was the Middle Kingdom to which all other nations kowtowed until the red haired barbarians arrived and inflicted a "century of shame", etc.
The very self-belief that allows a nation to rise is also that which causes it to become complacent and decadent. In this respect, the U.S. is pretty much no different from anyone else once the long view of history is taken. Ten years ago, Americans were mocking "Old Europe" for being washed up. Old Europe knew differently, precisely because it was washed up. Fifty years from now, Americans will be saying this to Chinese laughing at them for being washed up.
El Chinito: China has had some pretty incredible (and large and powerful) empires, comparable to Rome.
objectivist: Perhaps the one silver lining to this is that in some places, communities will actually strengthen as people come to rely upon one another once more and also develop a very significant black economy where money is kept within the community rather than either going to the government, corporations or overseas. They may then start making that leap of thinking in other areas of their lives, not directly related to economics.