If you listen to the pundits on TV and radio (on both sides of the political spectrum), it seems like this country is going to hell in a handbasket with jets strapped to our backs. But are they actually right?
Fareed Zakaria of TIME magazine takes an in-depth look at whether America's best days are behind it:
Despite the hyped talk of China's rise, most Americans operate on the assumption that the U.S. is still No. 1.
But is it? Yes, the U.S. remains the world's largest economy, and we have the largest military by far, the most dynamic technology companies and a highly entrepreneurial climate. But these are snapshots of where we are right now. The decisions that created today's growth — decisions about education, infrastructure and the like — were made decades ago. What we see today is an American economy that has boomed because of policies and developments of the 1950s and '60s: the interstate-highway system, massive funding for science and technology, a public-education system that was the envy of the world and generous immigration policies. Look at some underlying measures today, and you will wonder about the future.
The following rankings come from various lists, but they all tell the same story. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), our 15-year-olds rank 17th in the world in science and 25th in math. We rank 12th among developed countries in college graduation (down from No. 1 for decades). We come in 79th in elementary-school enrollment. Our infrastructure is ranked 23rd in the world, well behind that of every other major advanced economy. American health numbers are stunning for a rich country: based on studies by the OECD and the World Health Organization, we're 27th in life expectancy, 18th in diabetes and first in obesity. Only a few decades ago, the U.S. stood tall in such rankings. No more. There are some areas in which we are still clearly No. 1, but they're not ones we usually brag about. We have the most guns. We have the most crime among rich countries. And, of course, we have by far the largest amount of debt in the world.
What do you think? Is America a country in decline? If so, what can be done to fix it?
And its the fault of those who say our taxes are too high. Taxes are actually lower than they have been since the 1950's (http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-05-10-taxes_N.htm)
A country cannot succeed without investment in its resources and its children. We are digging ourselves a huge hole.
I cannot see an end to this, besides waiting until the baby boomer/tea party generation dies off.
The beds been made, now it's time to sleep in it.
Let's seriously start thinking of splitting this country in two: give everyone 5 years to move to a blue side or a red side and start over.
I heard them but I didn't listen.
Time has proven them correct: the credit scam hit the fan (no citation needed), social security is doomed to fail (no citation needed), and the only thing the voters vote for is more spending that either benifits their job (only support gov't reps and contracts that protect voter even at the detriment of other districts/states), their property value(bonds (i.e. credit)for civic improvements, schools, roads, police, fire, parks, etc.), or their tax exposure (awww, a family of four with two kids in college on $250k is 'near poverty', Fox News said) with no regard for the collective good (because THAT would be Communism!).
If there is a solution that does not involve a 'reboot' lasting years and years, I have not found it yet.
Oh, well. It was a fun ride while it lasted.
(1) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701298.html
(2) http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
But: I have a very hard time believing much income mobility exists in the socialist nations at the big end of the chart.
In-fact, I've read accounts of it being EXACTLY the opposite of this chart in Denmark.
Ie: You get to a certain point, and then that's it, you're sleepwalking, because everything else goes to taxes -like 70%.
A nice place, a good life, free university + healthcare for all, but otherwise frozen with no opportunity for real movement in the gigantic middle/lower middle-class.
France is a little bit similar; huge middle-class, not too many super-rich.
Not to introduce demagoguery, but I almost get the vibe this chart was created by Socialists.
I guess it's a study and all, so it's automatically accurate.
But: I have a very hard time believing much income mobility exists in the socialist nations at the big end of the chart.
In-fact, I've read accounts of it being EXACTLY the opposite of this chart in Denmark.
Ie: You get to a certain point, and then that's it, you're sleepwalking, because everything else goes to taxes -like 70%.
A nice place, a good life, free university + healthcare for all, but otherwise frozen with no opportunity for real movement in the gigantic middle/lower middle-class.
France is a little bit similar; huge middle-class, not too many super-rich.
Not to introduce demagoguery, but I almost get the vibe this chart was created by Socialists.
Every western nation, other than the US, has socialist policies and report after report shows that they are doing better than America in all the metrics that matter (quality of life, life expectancy, infant mortality, education, crime, happiness, etc.).
Maybe it's time to open your eyes and stop worshiping McCarthy.
It's far more productive to look into cases where our expectations do not meet reality, rather than simply discounting them by chalking things up to being manufactured by socialists/tea partiers/opposite-political-spectrum-who-is-obviously-oh-so-obviously-wrong.
@agricola - I think all countries have "socialist" components to their domestic and economic policy. US has unemployment benefits, for instance.
This is your fault, too.
The ones from space I mean.
They have been out to get us since the whole moon landing thing.
Strangely, the country with the highest income tax in the world - Denmark - is according to Forbes Magazine (certainly not socialist) the best place to invest money in the world.
The US and UK have been in decline since the Seventies, and almost certainly since Reaganomics of smashing the poor and the middle-class so that the rich can buy one more yacht or have one more supercar.
So go live in Denmark. Danes are nice enough. But prepare to PAY a LOT of money from your pay to the government so that wonderful Danish lifestyle can continue to make you oh so happy.
Obama is the perfect symbol of years and years of decline brought on by liberals screaming and howling about how horrible the USA is, how racist we are, how dumb we are, how it's important to save snails and trees but it's just dandy to how we should hate who we are and what we do and do as THEY say and not as they DO.
The question to ask yourself is: If we are in decline, where were we before we started to decline and how did we get there?
You'll see that left-wing ideology is NOT what turned this very young country into a world power in such a short time.
Then, ask yourself how we are supposed to maintain ascension or improve our country when you vote for presidents and politicians like obama and pelosi? How?
(somehow got omitted from my comment)
3 trillion / 307 million = $9,771 dollars per citizen of the US.
3 trillion = 20% of our GDP.
And the liberals ruined America? America needs to turn off their reality TV, get off welfare and get back to work, because we have a lot of money we have to earn back.