Not to be overly dramatic, but did you know that one of the signs of the beginning of the fall of a world power is systemic corruption? At the height of the Roman Empire, there was rampant corruption and a complete lack of morality/code of ethics. The corruption acted as a cancer that destroyed the empire from within, until the barbarian hoards found it easy to sack Rome and fragment the empire into multiple, independent kingdoms.
Sometimes when I see what is happening within the U.S., I begin to wonder if what we are seeing is the beginning of the end of a world superpower. It surely signifies something when we can't even say "one nation under God". Then add to that the corruption at the helm of many major companies, a bloated, ineffective government, a crumbling social security system, ever increasing effective taxes, dilution of the dollar, rising crime rates, widening of the gap between rich and poor, an educational system that is bar none in the world for it's lack of effectiveness, etc.
The fall of a nation doesn't happen overnight, so even if this was the beginning of the fall, it would likely be a couple of centuries for the US to lose it's dominance, but it is something that alarms me a little. Our power and fortunes can be laid low just like it happened to all the world powers before us, if things don't turn around. |
