9 Signs Of America In Decline: Bad News For Jobs, Education, Happiness

U.S. News & World Report:

The sky isn't falling, exactly. America isn't on a fast track to irrelevance. Even in a state of total neglect, we could probably shamble along as a disheveled superpower for a few more decades.

But all empires end, and the warning signs of American decline seem to be blinking more consistently. In the latest annual "prosperity index" published by the Legatum Institute, a London-based research firm, the United States ranks as the ninth most prosperous country in the world. That's five notches lower than last year...

Read the whole story: U.S. News & World Report

Comments

[Flavor]

08:52 AM on 10/28/2009

In all reality our problems stem from (Men) who turned into greedy vultures. They weren't born this way but they desired an appetite for success & took no regard at how they would get there and as another blogger stated we are now reaping the fruits of their corrupt labor. We no longer hold men/women accountable for their actions and so they run with the freedom, with little regard of whom they hurt. We the people ar at fault for not questioning the wrong we allowed, and for voting the same men/women in office, time after time. Yes, change can occur but first it must start with us.

[thepianodiva]

05:36 PM on 10/27/2009

Our decline is simple-Conservative ideology. It stinks. It is a ball and chain on this once great country. It holds us back. Conservative ideas about the role and size of government, the economy etc. do not benefit we, the people. Only the rich get richer. We are now living the fruits of this rotten root.

[whodoyouvoodoo]

06:24 PM on 10/27/2009

Our decline is simple- Liberal ideology. It stinks. It is a ball and chain on this once great country. It holds us back. Liberal ideas about the role and size of government, the economy etc. do not benefit we, the people. Only the rich get richer. We are now living the fruits of this rotten root.

[Flavor]

08:44 AM on 10/28/2009

No, thepianodiva was correct with her answer Conservative ideeology.

[miriamfl]

06:53 PM on 10/27/2009

Agree, the rightwing loons are destroying this once great country. The clowns on Fox fake news spent years trashing the French and any other country that had any questions about the Cheney administration and their insane decisions. Now the same clowns are trashing all the other countries healthcare. My son works outside this country with many from europe and they don't have much respect for this country any longer.

[bokiluis]

05:27 PM on 10/27/2009

Our transit infrastructure is one of the most glaring omens. There was a two hour documentary on A&E about our declining care of our transit infrastructure that was quite eye-opening. It began by emphasizing one of the key attributes to our becoming a world power was our transit infrastructure. The amazing 4-leaf clover freeway systems we built in the late 50s and 60s were singled out. I remember distinctly as a child marveling at the daunting roads that seem to reach for the skies. We have not taken care of our rail roads either. Rail travel is still essential in nearly every continent but not in the good ole U.S. of A.

This penchant for being #1 has not always been proven to be good either. Why can't we be satisfied with being "one of the best", what is it exactly do we gain with our quest for being the best? What is the cost to our society? I am much prouder of being a world citizen rather than binded by borders of one particular country.....the world is for all of us to enjoy, respect and honor.

[Mulvaney]

05:00 PM on 10/27/2009

Wow. Some of the countries that score ahead of us in prosperity, health, happiness, and well-being actually regulate financial markets, provide single payer health care, tax the rich, support public education, and do not follow trickle down economics. Our decline began with Ronald Reagan, so maybe its time to revise our chant to "We're Number Nine!"

[pajoly]

03:41 PM on 10/27/2009

Only 9?

[mapleaforever]

05:05 PM on 10/27/2009

Co-Sign.

[mitsie]

02:30 PM on 10/27/2009

Let's see, is US World and News Report going to blame the President over this? No one will mention the fact that it took eight years of Republicans in charge that led to this catastrophie.

By the way, while I'm at it, why can't any of the MSM ever, try reporting good news instead of constantly trying to dig a bigger hole for us to climb out of. Dosen't anyone think of the consequences of NEGATIVE PRESS, driving down the cunsumer buying? Why not cause a panic, just like their doing for H1N1, causing long lines, and running out of vaccine. Last I heard companies were going to start hiring, businesses were making profits, and people were starting to buy homes. Then wamp, that was too good to report, so they have to come up with something negative.

The media needs to stop this behavior, start reporting the news, not trying to make it. And yes, everyone is guilty and should be ashamed. If people truly love this country, they need to start supporting it. Perhaps it is time we all used the channel clicker more, stop reading US News, Wall Street Journal, etc. Even better maybe we should start some early Christmas shopping and show our country, we will be just fine.

[ten pounds]

03:41 PM on 10/27/2009

I think a sign of America's decline is the number of people who spend hours attacking the media, both left and right.

[pajoly]

03:44 PM on 10/27/2009

Less buying is good. High buying per capita is a warped measurement of economic health. Should be the other way around. Think "sustainable" not "growth." Unchecked growth is called cancer.

[Photon55]

01:31 PM on 10/27/2009

The republicans took a flourishing economy with good jobs and a budget surplus and in eight years created another depression. The economic indicators during the last four years of the Bush administration foretold of the misery ahead if more attention wasn't paid to the deteriorating forces leading to a collapse. America had other priorites and now languishes in the aftermath of disinterest, apathy in what should have been the most important items relating to their welfare and economic interests. They "let George do it", after all he did say he was the decider with all that "political capital".

[whodoyouvoodoo]

01:36 PM on 10/27/2009

What do you take to become so delusional? Just asking.

[Photon55]

01:55 PM on 10/27/2009

Delusion is not the problem, voodoo economics is.

[LaurieAnn]

01:53 PM on 10/27/2009

That's exactly what they intended to do. Strip the country of the public wealth and channel it upwards to private corporations and individuals who are not reinvesting in the U.S.

[wittgene]

01:27 PM on 10/27/2009

And add injury to insult: Walmart is the nation's largest employer.

[LaurieAnn]

01:54 PM on 10/27/2009

Another good reason to detest corporate welfare.

[GayGrandpa]

12:20 PM on 10/27/2009

The sad truth of it is that we have allowed the control of our nation to slip from our hands because of apathy, laziness and ignorance. We have let ourselves be divided over petty issues and as a result those who care only of greed and have no moral compass or vision have taken the helm...they have now had it for sometime and will continue to until we are aggressively willing to get back into the driver's seat. It will not be easy to get it back from the corporate hands that hold it; but...

We need to take our country back, it is a constant battle and those who continue to be apathetic will not only bare the brunt of such ignorant foolishness but so too will their progeny suffer. One can hope and one can "believe in God," but to think that God will not punish apathy is absurd because we are called to be stewards and that means not only to vote but to be active members of the governing process. It requires, time, work and involvement.

Because some are too busy or too lazy all will suffer as our country and our standards of living slips into a difficult unwanted hole. So we either get off lazy butts or we sink into the abyss even further. Up to you! It really is up to you and me.

[etiennemacchias]

12:55 PM on 10/27/2009

I wish you hadn't mentioned god. You say she will punish apathy, but why would she create apathy in the first place for her to punish? Completely irrelevant.

But I am glad that you spoke of laziness. When I visited Korea and Japan, their level of customer service even just at McDonald's was beyond commendable. Wherever I went, I was greeted by jolly sales reps willing to guide me thoroughly through. Why? Because they value customers as we mean everything to their company; whereas in America, customers are just their a mean of making their profit and are viewed as equals, if not less than.

[battlinbob]

01:28 PM on 10/27/2009

No... Because people who work mediocre jobs are mad because they actually have to work for a living... furthermore, if it wasnt for the sympathetic left who awards non productive behavior, they'd be perfectly happy with the jobs they have... kinda like those in Japan...

[daffey]

01:16 PM on 10/27/2009

You are right. The divisions, too. Bet you some can't help but jump on the fact that you mentioned God. There are other reasons beyond lazy and divisions, but those are certainly two major ones.

[unch]

11:46 AM on 10/27/2009

don't worry be happy. once the decline is fully realized, it is the bottom, rebound will start, hopefully.

[MarcusT]

11:49 AM on 10/27/2009

Why? How?

[sdsuprof]

02:12 PM on 10/27/2009

I hate to burst your bubble, but it took more than a decade, and a World War, to get us out of the last Great Depression. And that was before we invented outsourcing of well-paying jobs, and creating a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

[blueken]

11:30 AM on 10/27/2009

I am in the process of moving my investments into the European market because they have invested in solving the major problems of society, polution, health care and energy dependence. The Euro started at less than a US dollar, it is now above $1.40. The Pacific rim has not addressed these problems and will pay the price, just as the US is starting to pay the price for the policies of the last ten years. If we start to invest in the future, things can turn around, but it will take 5 to ten years. Our future depends on the investments we make now, not the mistakes we mad in the past.

[Hoelder]

11:18 AM on 10/27/2009

In order to have a successful nation you have to have a society. The government protects the powerless. Everything you do is for your fellow citizen. That means outsourcing and off shoring is not. I remember a time when Wal-Mart was the standard bearer of "Buy American". I hear the shallow argument of work harder and more. The nations mentioned on the top actually have more vacation time and health care as we do. Why is that? It is because here we are consumer, there they are human beings.

[daffey]

11:16 AM on 10/27/2009

Those are just the symptoms. America, like Europe, has been in decline for over a century. It’s just that America, unlike Europe, had a momentary boost from WWII - the war breathing a bit of life into its collective self-identification, and in the aftermath, being the only country not digging itself out of the rubble. But the basic life force has been abating for some time. These things, like jobs and happiness, are simply the symptoms. You can’t have a society based on what we’ve been based on in the last half century or so, and expect anything else. Even though there have been a few hiccups here and there - the mid 80s, the mid 90s, it’s more or less been downhill. As I tell my boys, you had best start learning some other languages and fast. Because your kids and their kids are going to need them.

[SagOne]

01:57 PM on 10/27/2009

So true. Has anyone thought of what a debt free society might be. This system/ paradigm we have here -pyramid is dependent on debt creation. Turn the pyramid around and invent a system free of debt. That's thinking out of the box. Some one
mentioned Europeans more humane. Not so, their system is same as here. They are
just maturer, older historically. Reverse the pyramid we might create a humane society, where human beings can live fruitful, happy human lives.

[dresdengirl]

07:09 PM on 10/27/2009

And how many years have you lived in Europe? There is a big difference between America and Europe. They have a social safety net. America, every man, woman and child for themselfs. It's either sink or swim. They have decent jobs, universal health care and very low crime. You can actually walk down the street in the middle of the night without having to look over your shoulder.

[getoffthecross]

11:13 AM on 10/27/2009

Glen Beck is another sign (or is that the apocolypse?)

[SOLDIER92]

11:11 AM on 10/27/2009

The number one sign that America is going to hell in a hand basket is..............

LEVI JOHNSTON POSES FOR PLAYGIRL AND PEOPLE THINK THAT IT IS NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

[ten pounds]

03:55 PM on 10/27/2009

The Huiffington report thought that the talking head was going to shave his goatee was news.....