I tend to be more pessimistic about the future and it seems like other people I talk to feel the same.

Is Americas best days behind it? Or are we slowly in decline?

32 comments

  2. There’s definitely some things that could be better, it’s definitely not all sunshine and rainbows after all, but neither is Europe.

  3. I think there’s always been good and bad, just like everywhere else. I’m pessimistic for the short term, but am more hopeful for the long term.

  4. A lot of people would like us to fail. A lot of people are betting on us to fail. A lot of people are trying to make us fail, and many times it’s in the form of anti-American propaganda.

    The US survived two World Wars, a Civil War, the Great Depression and other economic collapses. We will likely survive whatever this is we’re going through.

    Despite the turbulence, we’re still an absolute leader on the global stage with Ukraine and NATO, for example, while spearheading innovation and invention at home.

    So yes. This US is a great nation and has a lot more to offer the world. The world was a much worse place without the US and that still holds true today.

  5. Tosh. The only thing worse now than however many years ago is social media, which fools us into thinking we’re *not* in a golden age for humanity in general with the USA at the top of the heap. There’s stuff I worry about, sure, but most of that (racism, antidemocratic movements) in the worst case would represent backsliding to the same conditions we had in the decades past for which it is the fashion to pine.

  6. Of course it is. You need to get out of your little clown circle and experience life.

  7. Society is changing rapidly and that always leads to anxiety. Hell, people have been crying that American society was about to fall apart for decades and we’re still here.

    And pessimism never accomplishes anything. I honestly can’t believe anyone wastes their time on such nonsensical thinking.

  8. No, I think we’re a corrupt oligarchy drunk on xenophobia and arrogance. Sinophobia and Russophobia in particular are rampant among our culture and media. NATO and more generally our hegenomy will be our undoing. We have no right to police the world or any nation beyond our borders.

  9. We’re basically a continent so it’s hard to judge it as a singularity. From my experience, the people who are highly critical of our country generally end up more thankful after traveling to other nations, seeing that it’s not so bad here. I’ve never left the East Coast, farthest West I’ve been is Florida.

    I would totally recommend Massachusetts for both Summer and Winter activities. It’s surrounded by forests, mountains, cities, beaches and rolling hills so the vacations are great. Only thing is that it’s kinda expensive, the snow is a lot especially during [El Niño](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o)

  10. Yes it certainly is. No question about it.

    The US is by far the most dominant geopolitical power in the history of the world with its influence spanning the entire globe in everything from military, economy, healthcare and to culture especially. The majority of humanity’s progress and development today is happening because of influence coming from the US.

    It’s the greatest country on the planet offering the widest freedom of life of any country. There’s no better place to customize your life style the way you want with huge variety available to you across a giant, economically and culturally diverse continent. No country offers nearly as broad a range of opportunity as the US.

    It’s not perfect though no place is. Nitpicking this or that issue doesn’t change anything. Every place has its issues. The US offsets those issues with far more positivity than any other country in the world offsets their issues.

  11. The country is fine, and not in decline. Our system of government, however, is fucked and is starting to cave in on itself. Countries survive governments, though. Should have listened closer to the founding fathers about updating government to match the times.

  12. I think so by looking at the demand to immigrate to the US. People talk or return from the US often so its not like once you get here the truth stays here. If the US wasn’t a great nation (not saying best), we wouldn’t have such a huge demand of immigration.

    It’s telling when people at large are immigrating to the US from countries that are supposedly vastly better than us (i.e. China, South Korea, Japan, Germany)

  13. I have heard this question come up quite a bit, but my question is what is the US declining in comparison to? all of of America’s enemies seem perpetually self destructive and her allies are struggling to keep up with her. What are we measuring as great ? I think if you gave us a criteria to work from it would be easier to answer, but I do think general moral is low in comparison to some other eras. But the whole world seems to be going to a generally more pessimistic phase.

  15. We are in decline and it should alarm everyone. Why? The disappearing middle class – once a symbol of our success as a democracy/ free market – we’re heading the way of Russia where a handful of people hold the wealth and everyone else fights for crumbs

  17. I don’t see the US being in decline, but we do need lots of important, calm, rational discussions for things to get better.

  18. A powerful and unequally rich nation, with lots of problems. Education seems like a major one judging by the stupidity going on atm. If we can fix that it would be a huge help. Baby steps.

  19. Yes, the US is a great nation. One of the greatest, in fact. These snobby Europeans forget that they get all these fancy social services because they don’t have to invest in defense. What did Europe do the second Ukraine got attacked by Russia? Everyone looked our way.

    Everyone shits on the USA because we are the dominant superpower militarily, economically, and culturally.

    Not just because of that, though, but also the people. The majority of people are nice. They go out of their way to help others. When people refuse to actually research and all you see are the idiots on TikTok and clickbait news articles about Karens, racists, and the general worst of the worst, they’re going to think that’s what the USA is. I can promise you Europe has just as many racists, Karens, and so on.

  22. We are still a great country and we are going through a rough patch, but we have been through worse. We will survive.

  23. Nobody knows when a civilization is at its “greatest.” Its something that can really only be done as a historical analysis or reflection long after the fact.

    In that sense both people who say America’s greatest period was in the past and those who say its now/yet to come are not basing it on any objective method, leaving it as a personal preference/experience/opinion.

    That bieng said, its easier to think power wise. The US was at the peak of its power in the late 1940s when it was the sole nuclear power *and* the 1990s when it was essentially unopposed as the sole superpower. Either of these can objectively be when America was its “greatest” power wise, though as we cannot predict the future, we dont know if decades or centuries form now something happens where American power matches or surpasses these time periods.

  24. Yes, we’re still a great nation. We have our flaws, but that’s always been true, and will always be true. No nation is perfect.

  26. Yes, I think the US is still a great nation.

    Anyone living here that says we aren’t frankly is so naive that they don’t understand how good they have it. We don’t have the constant threat of our homes turning into a literal battlefield that some other countries do. We have a working infrastructure. We have stability within the government (even if it doesn’t always seem like it)

    Are we perfect? No. But no one is, and I am honestly sick and tired of people pointing to Europe and saying “we need to be more like them!” while not acknowledging the very real issues with them as well.

  27. Let’s see. We’re the richest nation on earth. And the most generous. And the most welcoming. And one of if not the most creative — in terms of art and science. We send our children to protect strangers because we think it’s the right thing to do.

    We’ve got our flaws, but overall this is a great nation.

  30. Yes, the United States is a great nation.

    When you compare it to other nations, it is no surprise that their citizens are trying to immigrate to the United States. Western Europe, South Korea, and Japan are prosperous thanks to the United States.

    People are pessimistic only because we all live in a peaceful society and have not experienced when that peace was flipped-upside-down like during the world wars and the civil war. Generations from those eras knew what it was like when things get bad so became optimistic when those events ended; which is why after every major war a boom in the economy soon followed.

  31. Great, but not the greatest.

    The US is only number 42 in the Press Freedom Index of 2022 (Source: Reporters Without Borders). Only number 35 in the Democracy Ranking (Source: University Würzburg). Only number 25 in the Index of Economic Freedom 2022. Only number 21 in the Women Peace and Security Index (Source: Georgetown Institute, PRIO Centre). There is no federal law regarding paid maternity leave. The US is the only Western world/”first world” country without such a law. Number 15 in the Human Freedom Index (Source: Cato Institute).

    The US has had more mass shootings than any other country.

    From 1980 to 2018, more than 30,000 people have died by police violence in the US. The US police has killed more people compared to any other industrialized democracy, with a disproportionate number of people shot being people of color.

    The US has 5% of the world’s population, but holds almost 25% of the world’s prisoners.

  32. America is still a superpower and still #1 GDP. The only way this country really goes to shit is if the government continues to subvert the constitution and the will of the people.

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