America In Decline?

A college professor of mine once declared in class that the height of American power had passed. With a grandiose level of rhetorical certainty, he stated that America had reached its peak and began its decline around August 30, 1953, somewhere between 3 and 5 pm eastern central time. The hyperbole of knowing the exact moment of such a change was taken in jest among my college peers, however, the mere idea of the statement was not. Pretentious chuckles echoed momentarily throughout the classroom as most of the students seemed willing to accept that the American century had reached its peak, and sitting in that classroom in the fall of 1999, had concluded that we were now a graying power who would follow in the policy paths of Western Europe. Of course, I see the diametrical way in which the world is changing, and I am aware of some of the drastic changes we as a nation need to undertake to preserve our economic, military and social well-being, but to think that America has lost its luster, or that America is now beginning its gradual fade into a role as simply a world power among many, is something I am not convinced of.

Readers of this blog know I possess nothing, if not the spirit of American patriotism. That spirit can be quite rare today, especially when you step outside of the military environment and head back to college campuses and bureaucratic work environments. The encouraging note to what has sounded like a dire chorus resounding from the fourth estate the last few years, is the recognition that we have endured times like this before. I am hardly trained in psychology, but I have noticed a parallel between my own life, the lives of friends, and our national life as well. There have been periods in my life where I have felt extremely successful, where everything seems to go flawlessly. Suddenly, I find myself after months of moving forward towards my goals, in a bit of a stalled state of motion. I felt this shortly before we received word of being deployed as a unit. It seems as though a funk settles over my optimistic outlook, and I am beset with a short period of relatively little forward motion. At these times, I reevaluate my life, take inventory of what I have accomplished and what I still yearn to do. I see where I may have made missteps in my master plan, and figure out ways to correct them. Ultimately, find my way once again and realize that within a few months I am propelled back into the state of busy forward motion I remembered leaving behind. In a way, our nation has gone through periods like this as well.

In the post WWII era, we experienced rapid national development and then were thrown into an era of chaos in the 60’s and 70’s. More recently, the 90’s were a period of unparalleled success and peace keeping. There were questions as to whether America would ever be setback again, whether the end of history had occurred. Before long, we found ourselves in a post 9/11 period, in the midst of two wars and frightening horizons of even more with little international cooperation, poor economic outlooks and a falling dollar. I believe that this is period is an era of national self-reflection, much like the periods I experience in my own life. This does not mean that we can take our eyes off the rest of the world, but it does mean we must find the inner strength of our nation once again, and unite to straighten out the situation we currently find ourselves in. In many ways, this is what I believe the President inaugural address was all about. He was reminding us of who we are, of what those who have come before us have accomplished, and of what we must do for the future of our children. This period is not over, and we still have a lot of analysis to accomplish on the national spirit, but I believe that this is nothing more than a period. Can American power continue in perpetuity? Certainly not in the way we experienced in the 90’s, after the fall of the Soviet Empire. This does not mean however, that America’s influence is now in the early stages of a perpetual decline. Just as the celebrations of a new century ushered in by President McKinley and President Roosevelt signaled a change in the role of America in the world, so the scares over Y2K and the falling towers represented a new era of overcoming obstacles for the American people.

My advice in this tumultuous time is to pay no attention to those predicting the downfall of America. Their predictions have always fallen far short in the past, and today, such predictions will continue to fall short. They make exciting and captivating headlines, but they are nothing more than the hype of an over-eager world waiting to see the hegemon fall. America has a renewed mission, and as with past generations of Americans, we will meet the call and rise above any adversity. With the lessons learned in this first decade of the 21st century, we will continue to provide a leadership alternative for millions around the world craving freedom and prosperity.

I leave you today with a great quote from England’s, “The Times Online,” in which Gerard Baker states:

The rise of rival economic power centres does not necessarily spell America’s end. The resilience of the US economy through the past four turbulent years — in contrast to Europe and Japan — is a monument to its capacity to recreate itself. But more important even than America’s dynamism and economic resilience is the durability of its central ethos: the power of freedom. The genius of the founding fathers, which was celebrated again yesterday, has created the world ’s most stable, successful, and, for all the current phobias, still the most appealing model of society for humankind. The world may grow and change around it, but I would not bet on America’s eclipse just yet.

And this is a must read by Victor Davis Hanson on just this subject.

Comments

[membrain]

A very well written analysis Sergeant. You certainly have a gift with words. I wish you well in your deployment and all the best for the future. Thank you for everything.

[Huntress]

Sgt Missick, I can add nothing further to your well written insightful post and to Victor Hansons deeply honest and insightful understanding of what makes America so great despite what naysayers have to say.

When it comes to educating all the negative, Bush bashing, Michael Moore loving, anti -american,"America on Decline" rhetoric of the uber left liberals and Europeans not to mention Islamnic nations, Im reminded of the expression
" it is useless to try to reason a man out of something he was never reasoned into", however, in an attempt to reason them out of their myopia, and to lend further support to what you've written, I would suggest reading Jean Francois Revel's latest book:"Anti Americanism".

A revered French intellect - he exposes the agendas of the anti american sentiment in his country (France), in Europe, and throughout the globe, including within America!

While Europe and the Muslim nations are quick to claim America has been hostile towards Islam and muslims, while ONLY supportive of Israel, jews, and CHristians, the reality is that the US actions have been far less damaging to Muslims than those of Britain, France, or Russia, who have conquered occupied and oppressed muslim countries over decades and centuries.

Americans have never colonized a Muslim country and our intervention in Somalia Bosnia and Kosovo were designed to defend muslim minorities from the murderous quagmire that Europe created and could not stop! So America was called in to clean up the quagmire and mitigate the murderd of the Muslim minorities.

Another book I would recommend is Dinesh DSouza's
"Whats So Great About America".

As an immigrant to the US, he takes on all America's critics, and proves them wrong, defending America as she now stands; measuring America against the rest of the world, and not some liberal utopian yardstick!

[Kathleen A]

Chris - you hit the nail on the head, again. Hey - this weekend was made possible by YOU and those like you who are protecting our freedom and securing it for Iraq. You should be proud of your accomplishment as we are proud of all of you. Thanks and stay safe.

[Choicemaker]

IRAQ: WELCOME GENERATION-CHOICEMAKER

Man is earth's Choicemaker. He is by nature and nature's
God a creature of Choice - and of Criteria. His unique and
definitive characteristic is, and of Right ought to be, the
natural foundation of his environments, institutions, and
respectful relations to his fellow-man. Thus, he is oriented
to a Freedom whose roots are in the natural Order of the
universe.

an American Choicemaker

[Donna]

Wonderful entry. I will be passing along your link to some friends.

What strikes me is the change of attitudes in just the last 20 years. Selfishness is pervasive, people keep to themselves and the spirit of community has dwindled. How can we endure if we don't even stick together?

[Suzanne K]

This is a wonderful piece of writing. Simply wonderful. You have managed to put into words what many of us feel.

Keep up the great work and stay safe.

[Nat Digley]

Things change, contries change, societies change, outlooks change, but humanity remains.
Not Americans or Europeans or Muslims or Liberals or even Bush-Baiters, but humanity.

We are all born the same but into different situations, including different genetic situations.
We are first and formost, human beings. We are all socialised, we all get old and die. We all,
at one time or another believe in different interpretations of what this might mean, whether we
realise it or not! We are all probably wrong about most things, most of the time but still we remain.

Will America remain? It doesn't matter as long as Humanity remains and clings on to what it finds
best in itself and others. To divide with temporal labels Humanity into 'us' and 'them' is an act
of malevolence equal in it's abhorrant ridiculousness to denying one's own existence. Am I right?