anteachtaire, Of all the thread-synaptic anarchy, yours shows some promise.
America, as stated in the original post, is not a nation, but many nations... including Brazil and the brillient minds at Stardock.. Canada. This was on purpose. When the blunt focus of rants form the rest of the world point to "America", I am guessing their meaning is the USA. I am a citizen in the USA and I call myself an American, not because I think I own the largest Northern and Southern hemispherical land mass, but because I know that our specie can not survive on primiative instincs any longer. Thank goodness, the founders of my country created a nation with to many sylabols for octolcracy rants. Can you imagine it... "I am a United Statesian". I believe, and I hope I can get some feed back, that the reason the US has been so successful is because in every intelligent, sentient human ever born, that in their "mind of heart" beleives that we started something original, that shows our commitment to humanity as a specie. Sure, there's alot that doesnt work right and alot that needs fixin'. What are the alternatives? Communistic Capitolism? Religeous Dictatorships? Nationalistic Dominions? If we stray, as a specie, from working together from the betterment of all, including the individual quality of life, it will be at the risk of everything we stood for including the question "Is mankind a worthwhile creation?" No one thing makes for a superpower. Technology can be erased with the chain of knowlege. Engineering with infrastructure. Society with betrayal. The US problems of the last decade have everything to do with distrust. The Republican charge to the whitehouse marred with personal greed and leaving a trail of broken promises including a wholesale dismantalisation of "the new deal" squeezed behind the wealthy artificaily weighting inflation so that the quality of life would be squeezed to fit trade with china. So here is my rant back;
China, Keep being fiscaly restrained and watch how economics alone can be a bowling gutterball.
Russia, Find your identity and start getting involved... what are you waiting for? Money is just paper unless you act with compassion and courage. Dont mimic our stock market. Professors from the cold war have finaly educated this generation into pure idiot-greed mongers. Remember Khrushchev? His plan to agitate and condition US capitolists into greed mongers has worked flawlessly. Pavlov would be proud to see how what should be considered intelligent can be conditioned to blindly kill each other. It is true that capitolism can matabolise to eat anything, including its environment, physical and social. Skull and crossbones sat idlely by while the public was being raped.
India, Apply your moral distinctions but dont loose your identity otherwise you will be burried by your own industry and over-population.
Brazil, Good for you! Hope you make it and keep it. We have learned what it means when they say "Be carefull what you wish for". Economic persuations can enslave a population like no other social mechanism. Try an remember that the US faught communism and drug lords to give you that chance or at least some manifest destiny.
Europe, You make us proud. Try to keep working together. You may have the long term solution. We are glad we had a chance to make it possible.
The rest of the world; follow your conscience, when the US falls, god help us all what rises to fill the void and the termoil it will produce.
To my fellow US'ians; you were so conservative you forgot to breeth, think, feel. It is your lack of compassion and empathy for the human you dont know that has caused your demise. Since you are solely focused on "the DOLLAR", you have more dollar stores than any other nation. They arent sustainable either... nothing is... but change. What were you thinking we'd change into when you listened to the auto-makers "steady as she goes.." montra? Yeah... not any one thing caused the US demise. I am not sure it is preventable... but here is the list of things that might slow the decay,
1) clean-up the inner cities and infrastructure! WTF are you waiting for? Get each city to focus on a green technology posture and compeat. Kill gangs, I mean genocide! If it has a tatoo and flicks hand signs, kill it! This is primal tribalism and reason for systemic decay.
2) You talk about budgets and taking social security... stop it. IT IS PAPER! That paper aint worth shit to have another rot hole society that feeds aristocrates and steals from workers. Our founders were unique, aristocrates, yes, but involved in the country's wellbeing. Not the "Another CIO rumpranger for sell". "Board- bored of making something... found better money in submarining the business"- be back later. The price for this betrayal needs to be paid! Keep the social programs until every last one of them has a yard sale. "Your balance is, money is only as good as the promise. The promise was paid with american lives. Not to come home to service jobs that prey on vapor consumerism, or some ambiguous self-serving "America for sale" scheme.