The sunny days of unrivaled U.S. world domination after the implosion of the Soviet cloud could not last forever.
For years the creeping erosion of American hegemony has been evident, from the offshoring of manufacturing jobs which ultimately led to the demise of the middle class, to the defunding of our education system which could only lead to the dumbing down of the population.
We are fixated on our smart devices while the U.S. moves into a new Gilded Age.
More than shameful, the income and ownership disparity is wrecking the country. Taxes are the cost of living in a civilized country, and the fortunate must pay more; their good fortune comes from the benefits of living in that society. As the 1 percent protests the horror of paying their taxes, and demands lower levies, our population falls behind the rest of the world in essential skills, a fact documented in a recent OECD report.
Worldwide disgust with the U.S., down after the election of Obama, is at a record high. Between the shameful NSA surveillance activity and its eventual impact on the U.S. dominance of the Internet, the recent and upcoming budget battles which muddy the "stable democratic economy" image of the U.S. , and the scenes of people being gunned down in our streets because of our trigger happy society, the U.S. is rapidly marginalizing itself in the world economy.
America centrists will ask "who cares," and maybe it is a good thing... but the Chinese, who have funded our credit binging for years will start to look for more stable havens to put their money, which means we will need to pay a higher interest rate to borrow.
Meanwhile the Saudis are tiring of being at our beck and call, and when that relationship withers, the U.S. will no longer be able to control the flow of oil. On top of it, the Saudis will probably start to price oil in euros, which will be a tremendous blow to the hegemony of the dollar.
Meanwhile, Americans are fixated on the newest toys, which deceive us into believing that we are in tune and connected. The recent IPCC report, which unequivocally confirms the terrifying march of climate change made barely a headline in the national press, and certainly did not prompt any national debate on policy.
Certainly, domination of the global sphere by any one country is not a good thing, so the demise of America is not to be completely mourned. But the likely candidate for world hegemony, China, does not inspire confidence for the future.