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American Decline

The Return to America

Maria Rodale | Posted 04.15.2013 | Travel
Maria Rodale

I'd never been out of the country for three weeks before. I missed my kids like crazy and was happy to come home. But I'd be lying if I didn't tell y...

The Archeology of Decline

Steve Fraser | Posted 02.02.2013 | Politics
Steve Fraser

"Debtpocalypse" didn't just appear in time for the last election season or the lame-duck session of Congress to follow. It is merely the latest installment in a tragic, 40-year-old story of the dispossession of American working people.

America's Global Revenge

Dr. Jim Taylor | Posted 10.14.2012 | World
Dr. Jim Taylor

The fact is that the world loves what America represents: freedom, wealth, popular culture, and materialism. Most of the world wants what we have. And, by gosh, we're going to give it to them, the good, bad, and the ugly, whether they like it or not.

The Sun Hasn't Set on China

Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba | Posted 10.02.2012 | World
Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba

China's economic power could match or even surpass U.S. power in 20 years -- and there are serious signs that the United States is actually the country in decline. But the United States still has several aces.

A Great Speech About Why America Isn't Great Anymore (But Can Be Again)

Carla Seaquist | Posted 09.09.2012 | TV
Carla Seaquist

For those of us heartsick over the moral state of things in this country, this is pure catnip.

The Carnival of Catastrophism and Its Critics

Robert Teitelman | Posted 06.10.2012 | Politics
Robert Teitelman

Declinism and catastrophe are in the air, like this early spring's hay fever. We live in a complex, dangerous world. We also live in a time of bounty and relative peace. The real sin here on both sides of this debate is exaggeration, reductionism and the urge to politicize.

Humor: There's Funny -- and There's Symptom of Decline

Carla Seaquist | Posted 05.01.2012 | Home
Carla Seaquist

Any culture that can laugh at torture and murder is a culture in deep, deep trouble.

The Imperial Way

Noam Chomsky | Posted 04.16.2012 | Politics
Noam Chomsky

Why exactly is Iran regarded as such a colossal threat? The question is rarely discussed, but it is not hard to find a serious answer -- though not, as usual, in the fevered pronouncements.

"Losing" the World

Noam Chomsky | Posted 04.15.2012 | Politics
Noam Chomsky

American decline is real, though the apocalyptic vision reflects the familiar ruling class perception that anything short of total control amounts to total disaster.

America: Let's Re-Invent It

Christopher Holshek | Posted 04.09.2012 | Politics
Christopher Holshek

The "rise of the rest," which has been going for more than a half a century, is the product of how successful a job the United States has done as Chairman of the Board of Planetary Management. We are victims of our own success, having globalized everything but ourselves.

Dispatch From a High-Temperature Republic

Peter Mandel | Posted 03.28.2012 | Politics
Peter Mandel

Prices may be low, but the Republic's economy is slow and there are hundreds of thousands who can't keep up. "Jobs exist," insist local experts. "But our workforce isn't trained." In fact, many high school graduates here have a hard time reading and doing basic math.

Change or Be Changed

Christopher Holshek | Posted 01.23.2012 | Impact
Christopher Holshek

We Americans have a lot to be thankful for. As a land of inordinate opportunities, our success has not been because we're really any better than anyone else -- but we have been luckier.

Beyond Blaming

Christopher Holshek | Posted 01.02.2012 | Politics
Christopher Holshek

In the more than three decades I've been involved in nation-building, civil-military coordination, and just trying to help make peace in broken places...

Did We Lose the War?

Michael Vlahos | Posted 11.07.2011 | World
Michael Vlahos

We will learn nothing and gain nothing from ten years of tragedy, waste, and ruin unless we face up to the fact that we have lost the wars we initiated after the attacks of September 11th, 2001.

Critics and Other Cultural Gatekeepers: Mind the Gate!

Carla Seaquist | Posted 10.26.2011 | Books
Carla Seaquist

Where is the recognition that a "book of raunch," rather than reflecting a mature and vibrant culture, is symptomatic of one in steep, full-on decline, drunk on its power and narcissism (including Baker's pet vice, sexual titillation)?

Self-Criticism: A New Habit of Mind

Carla Seaquist | Posted 09.25.2011 | Politics
Carla Seaquist

Once again we do the rigid Kabuki dance, leading once again to political stalemate -- this time over raising the federal debt ceiling. Even with the ...

America Is in Decline, the System is Corrupt, Talk is Cheap, and We Need Real Leaders

Dolan Knapp | Posted 08.22.2011 | Politics
Dolan Knapp

This large middle class is starting to shrink as more people are being pushed into the lower class. The system, as a result, is unsustainable in insuring the American philosophy: that hard work pays off.

Why Is Global Competition Good for Detroit Yet Bad for Nantucket?

Charles Kolb | Posted 07.12.2011 | Business
Charles Kolb

Why do so many CEOs want to escape to a place so different from where they work? There is a certain irony, perhaps even hypocrisy, in these disparities.

Fall of Spider-Man Director Is Not "Stuff of Greek Drama"

Carla Seaquist | Posted 05.25.2011 | Arts
Carla Seaquist

Everyone connected with this over-hyped, accident-riddled mega-production -- at $65 million, Broadway's most expensive -- needs to take a long, deep breath and, at long last, get a reality check.

JFK and the Art of National Security

Christopher Holshek | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Christopher Holshek

As Kennedy realized, we would be wise to strike a more conscientious balance between builders and artists -- both of which we will need to secure our place in a safe and prosperous world for generations to come.

The Obama-Hu Jintao Summit Meeting This Week

Joseph Nye | Posted 05.25.2011 | World
Joseph Nye

Many Chinese believe that China should be less deferential to the U.S. because they think the U.S. is in decline. But this view is mistaken and China is unlikely to equal American economic, military or soft power for decades to come. Nonetheless, overconfidence has led to more assertive Chinese behavior in the last two years that alienated the Obama administration -- and this is the backdrop for this week's Washington summit. Since both countries have more to gain from cooperation than conflict, we must hope that Hu's state visit goes well.

China and the US

Joseph Nye | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Joseph Nye

Even if China's GDP passes that of the United States around 2030, the two economies will be equivalent in size but not in composition. In per capita income, China will not pass the US until decades later.

American Malaise

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Previous American crises always had an identifiable, external cause that could be remedied, however painfully. But this time there is no external cause. The enemy is us. Americans are suffering from corrupt values.

A New Year's Resolution for the Rich

Sam Harris | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Sam Harris

American opposition to the "redistribution of wealth" has achieved the luster of a religious creed. And, as with all religions, one finds the faithful witlessly espousing doctrines that harm almost everyone.

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire: Four Scenarios for the End of the American Century by 2025

Alfred W. McCoy | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Alfred W. McCoy

Instead of the bloodshed that marked the end of so many past empires, this 21st-century imperial collapse could come relatively quietly through the invisible tendrils of economic collapse or cyberwarfare.