USA is a dying nation

[CenterField]

I do feel that we are declining, and fast. We are so profoundly divided now that words like compromise, coalition, and working across the aisle became foul words and the people who tried to employ them were immediately branded RINOs or DINOs by their own peers, and became pariahs. What a party tries to accomplish when that party gets to power, the other party tries to destroy as soon as the other party gets to power. This leads to political paralysis and we don't accomplish much, while other countries continue to advance. Our problems are piling up, and are worse than it is apparent, because by virtue of still being the owners of the world's international currency and having the world's most powerful military, we appear to be doing better than we actually are, with our growing debt and deficit. And both factors that still prop us up won't last forever.

Like all empires in human history, we will fall. I pity the next generations.

I believe that either a parliamentary system or a true multi-party system might fix our political paralysis (the former would be more flexible, and the latter would restore the need for compromise and coalitions), but I'm fully aware that neither will ever come to pass, or at least not before we finish our decline.

All the above is internal. In termos of geopolitics, the external factor, I believe that a confrontation with China will become inevitable in the next few decades. China clearly aspires to be the next dominant superpower, and while they still see us as useful commercial partners, in the near future they will see us as an obstacle that must be taken down.

[dgold44]

USA must split up into several nations or we all will drown together

[FindersKeepers]

You have half the nation that lives off welfare !!
Half the nations only goal is to mass produce babies for welfare and spike their arms

No.

Half the nation doesn't pay federal taxes, but that doesn't mean they live off welfare. They still have to pay FICA taxes. There's no escaping that one, and that's a big one.

What you're overlooking is that the other half of the nation still contains the best people on earth. That makes us the best nation on earth.

You can look at the glass as being half-empty. I'll look at it as being mostly full.

[dgold44]

No.

Half the nation doesn't pay federal taxes, but that doesn't mean they live off welfare. They still have to pay FICA taxes. There's no escaping that one, and that's a big one.

What you're overlooking is that the other half of the nation still contains the best people on earth. That makes us the best nation on earth.

You can look at the glass as being half-empty. I'll look at it as being mostly full.

USA was the best nation on earth but not even close today
It’s a nation of way too many thugs , gangs and illegals all run by big tech , dirty lawyers and the most corrupt politicians in the world

[DGUtley]

USA was the best nation on earth but not even close today It’s a nation of way too many thugs , gangs and illegals all run by big tech , dirty lawyers and the most corrupt politicians in the world

No. Hands down - it's the best nation. The USA offers the most opportunity and the most freedom. Crime is way down. Dirty lawyers are disbarred and corrupt politicians isn't only a part of the United States. In the USA, however, we root them out.

[CenterField]

No. Hands down - it's the best nation. The USA offers the most opportunity and the most freedom. Crime is way down. Dirty lawyers are disbarred and corrupt politicians isn't only a part of the United States. In the USA, however, we root them out.

I still agree that we are the best nation but I am concerned about some signs of decline; I believe, due to political paralysis caused by how divided we are right now, regarding domestic politics. Sometimes if seems like the main objective of both major parties is to obstruct the other party and/or undo what the other party did. Since these two parties tend to alternate in power, we keep going back and forth and not moving forward. One party does something, the other one undoes it. Rinse and repeat. In the past we used to have a lot more bipartisan initiatives designed with the good of the people in mind. Nowadays even if a party has a good idea, the other one will oppose it to the end of times and nothing will get done.

Given that the two factions in Congress can never agree on anything, bills don't get passed and signed into law, then the president needs to govern by executive action. However executive action is not permanent, so as soon as a president from the other party gets to the White House, that president undoes the executive actions of his predecessor. Rinse and repeat.

This, among others, is one of the reasons for me to be unaffiliated/independent. I think political parties got so radical and so adversarial that at this point they do more harm than good.

Look at healthcare, for example.

One party proposes the most abusive, bare-minimum, cruel plan that will leave millions uninsured, in trouble due to pre-existing conditions, or lousily covered by unrestrained and greedy healthcare insurers with no regulation.

The other party proposes the most outrageous, most generous (including coverage for illegal aliens!) free-for-all that we can't afford.

Where is the happy medium? I can't support either version.

The result is that we are left with a dysfunctional system, and while some Americans get decent care and even excellent care, others get lousy care or even no care.

As a people, as a wealthy nation, we could be doing a lot better, but we can't get out of the hole because of the political gridlock.

Healthcare is one example; other sectors suffer from similar issues. Foreign trade, immigration, diplomacy, the military, etc., are all sectors in need of reforms or upgrades that get stuck for lack of domestic political consensus.

If we remain stuck like this while other countries advance, the end result is that we will lose our position of leadership and influence.

In the past, we used to have our domestic differences but we'd present a united front to the world. Outside of our borders, we were all Americans first. Now it seems like even outside of our borders, one party undermines the other.

[The Xl]

We have a government openly trying to destroy us and a population willingly accepting said destruction. We're $#@!ed

[carolina73]

I do feel that we are declining, and fast. We are so profoundly divided now that words like compromise, coalition, and working across the aisle became foul words and the people who tried to employ them were immediately branded RINOs or DINOs by their own peers, and became pariahs. What a party tries to accomplish when that party gets to power, the other party tries to destroy as soon as the other party gets to power. This leads to political paralysis and we don't accomplish much, while other countries continue to advance. Our problems are piling up, and are worse than it is apparent, because by virtue of still being the owners of the world's international currency and having the world's most powerful military, we appear to be doing better than we actually are, with our growing debt and deficit. And both factors that still prop us up won't last forever.

Like all empires in human history, we will fall. I pity the next generations.

I believe that either a parliamentary system or a true multi-party system might fix our political paralysis (the former would be more flexible, and the latter would restore the need for compromise and coalitions), but I'm fully aware that neither will ever come to pass, or at least not before we finish our decline.

All the above is internal. In termos of geopolitics, the external factor, I believe that a confrontation with China will become inevitable in the next few decades. China clearly aspires to be the next dominant superpower, and while they still see us as useful commercial partners, in the near future they will see us as an obstacle that must be taken down.

Compromise results in mediocrity by definition.

In the case of Congress it is just gang rape of the taxpayer. They walk away happy and we get used.

[carolina73]

We have a government openly trying to destroy us and a population willingly accepting said destruction. We're $#@!ed

We had. Now we have some of government on our side.

[Cotton1]

USA must split up into several nations or we all will drown together

I agree