For thousands of years and since the beginning of time many great civilizations such as Ancient Egypt, Roman, Greek, Babylonian, Persian, Aztec, Ottoman, Maya etc. rose and fell. So it’s only natural that America will fall one day. If and when that happens, many think China will take over. Now this is not meant to be some kind of anti-American post so don’t get the wrong idea. You see… I was having a discussion with a group of friends a few days ago about this topic and if they were right about one thing then it’s that all good things come to an end (super anti-Americans would say all evil things come to an end). Once in a while I like to click around controversial American websites such as www.infowars.com which are talking about the near downfall of America and how it’s going to be taken over by martial law. Infowars is also one of the big supporters of the 9/11 truth movement. Many critics in the US lash out at such websites calling the unpatriotic when those same websites argue that they are doing what they are doing for exactly the opposite reason because they ARE patriotic and want the citizens to rise up for their true constitutional rights. For now let’s try putting aside all the “great” conspiracy theories that come out of the Arab/Muslim world about America and the Joooos. These websites my friends love reading are American websites talking about the predicted downfall of their own country if nothing is done by American citizens. A friend of mine was yelling… will someone please explain to me why the US seems so incapable when it comes to dealing with China & Russia? Even with the Iranian case, China & Russia are backing up and the US is getting pissed at Iran but it seems it’s reluctantto “raise its voice” against the other 2 giants (it’s the same case with the Sudan sanctions if you ask me). Anyways those websites talk about how citizens rights are eroding away through controversial bills such as the Patriot Act. To make a long story short, they are talking about how America is turning slowly like how Great Britain is depicted in the recent box-office hit V for Vendetta.
So to all my fellow readers who read this humble blog of mine, websites such as www.infowars.com might be talking crap and bullshiting for all I care or maybe might be telling the truth. Frankly sometimes I just come to a point where I don’t know what to believe anymore. However if there is anything I firmly believe regarding this issue then it’s only this… For thousands of years and since the beginning of time many great civilizations rose and felllllll…
I think the downfall is coming but I don’t know if it’s going to be after 10 years, 20, 50 or two thousand years.
What do you think???
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I suppose all powerful countries must wane eventually but I don’t think the United States is anywhere near its end yet.
The United States hasn’t really had to test its mettle in a long time. Even this war in Iraq has not cost the United States many casaulties compared to wars it has historically fought and it hasn’t even involved implementing a draft. While no war is pretty, the war in Iraq is, from a historical perspective, still a war of convenience. We haven’t seen the need to marshal the American population the way we did during World War II.
Also, in a sense, the obstacle of Islamic radicalism is probably the last obstacle of its size now that facism and communism have been defeated. I cannot think of any other ideology out there besides such extremism that poses such problems.
Still, I think this may be a hard fought battle on the scale of the Cold War. One advantage the West has, is like it or not, the penetration of Western popular culture to practically every facet of the globe, including the Islamic world. Not even the most conservative or repressive societies seem to be able to keep it out.
When you look at movements like “V for Vendetta” you have to keep in mind that they are made by the loony left in American society. Most of these Hollywood types have an agenda to promote. These people are, however, widely disdained in American society for being a bunch of arrogant no- nothings who don’t inhabit the real world that most Americans do.
The long term challenges for the United States will be to 1) develop alternative energy sources that drastically reduce dependence on foreign (mostly Mid-Eastern) petroleum. 2) Begin the process of implementing democracy and encouraging greater respect for human and civil rights in the Muslim world. 3) Ending the regimes of serious threats to the region: Iran and Syria are the only two that are very significant. Hezbollah, as a proxy of Iran, must be dealt with once and for all in Lebanon as well. 4) Find an equitable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Once Israel has unilaterally declared its borders, hopefully the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will begin to focus more on internal matters. The refugee crisis will need to be solved. The US should probably encourage the adoption of refugees into the societies they are in already. They should try and assist Palestinians economically and socially to become full-fledged citizens. Palestinians who don’t want to become citizens could still have the option of moving to the West Bank or Gaza once independent.
The first two goals and the fourth should require no wars. The third may or may not. We will see.
I’m going to bed! I’m tired. I apologize, in advance, for any typos that may have resulted due to sleepiness.
“One advantage the West has, is like it or not, the penetration of Western popular culture to practically every facet of the globe, including the Islamic world.”
Read the post below entitled (Conspiracies & Anti-US Sentiments)
I said…
Now even though anti-US sentiments run high in the Muslim world, remember that it’s mainly towards the government.
They hate Bush but loooove Britney Spears!
They hate Rumsfeld but loooove Hollywood!
They hate Dick Cheney and call him a dickhead but loooove 2Pac!
They hate Condolezza Rice but loooove Hip Hop music!
They hate the Pentagon but loooove Linkin Park!
They hate the White House but loooove Michael Jackson! (No wait! Not anymore!)
They hate the American government but loooove Celiene Dion! (No wait, DaMN! I forgot, she’s Canadian)
But hey even though u were sleepy Tommy… thanx.. great comment
According to Christian biblical texts, the west will fall to Islam, then there will be a few months break before Israel will be attacked by all the nations on earth. Just when Israel is about to fall to Islam, they will be saved, however the Jewish people will suffer greatly in this war. During the war, the Dome on the Rock will collapse and the temple be rebuilt.
Correct me if I am mistaken.
it’s almost the same case according to Islamic prophecies… following that will be the destruction of the Ka’ba in Mecca signaling Day of Judgement is on humanity and then finaly the world will end…
after that i guess we will all find out if Jesus is the son of God or a great Prophet… =)
Steven, I think your smoking crack or maybe just watching too much of the 700 Club!
Look, evangelical Christians have interpreted the apocalyptic menace mentioned in the Bible as anything currently threatening the US time and again. They’ve been wrong constantly. For instance, in the ’80s it was Communism, today it is Islam. Tomorrow it will be something else.
Somebody ought to call these ‘false prophets’ in the televangelist crowd on their wrong predictions for a change.
And I though only Muslims argued amongst themselves regarding religion..
“What do you think???”
I think that citizens’ rights are a fairly new thing and have not been a feature of previous cultures. An erosion of civil rights is thus not really an indicator that a civilisation is coming to an end.
Empires have lasted for thousands of years without any civil rights at all.
The rights the patriot act takes away are rights that have never been recognized before a few decades ago in the US or perhaps before 100 years ago in the US and the British Empire.
I don’t think the US are their own civilisation like Persia or ancient Egypt. The US are an extension or off-shoot of the British Empire.
And the British Empire (and its off-shoots and remains) are barely 500 years old, perhaps, if one counts 1066 as the start, almost exactly 1000 years. To expect the demise now might be a bit early.
And considering that the living standard in the Anglo-American world is still the highest in the world (and rising), that their universities are producing ever more scientific results, and their factories and other production producing what the world consumes, I think there is not even a hint of the end in the air.
Everybody in the world uses American software, watches American movies, and eats, more and more, American food. This trend has been increasing in the last 20 years.
English is the major language of trade and information exchange in the world, and while a few decades ago French and Russian (and before WW2 German) were competitors to English in the trade and information exchange area, they are not any more.
So how exactly do people come up with the idea that America is dying? What evidence is there? What anecdotal evidence even?
America is now behaving as it was in the early and mid-20th century. And with war and otherwise, American customs and the American way of life spread everywhere.
I was born in Germany. I now live in an English-speaking country (Ireland), speak only English, and work for an American company. If any culture is dying in the west, I think it’s the continent (France/Germany).
Andrew Brehm, Dublin.
Andrew Brehm,
It’s always a pleasure reading your comments whichever blog they maybe on. I like how you lay down things in a simple yet comprehensive way and most importantly without emotions messing them up… Very nice. Please post your blog address if you have one.
andrew brehm:
Hey, my fellow ethnic German. How are you enjoying Ireland, beautiful country, hey?
I have to disagree with you about the United States being a simple offshoot of the British Empire. The rights enunciated by the Founding Fathers in the United States were exactly opposite to prevailing political thinking in the British Isles at that time. Also, the United States, like other New World countries, has no prior history of feudalism; a force which tends to shape so much of Old World thought.
The US has been influenced significantly by the British, no doubt. Especially linguistically and culturally. Of course, it was a colony of the British (at least the original colonies were.) I don’t think, however, that the US can be dismissed as a simple offshoot of the British Empire, though.
Saying Mexico is a simple offshoot of Spain or that Brazil is a mere offshoot of Portugal would be ignoring enormous differences between former colonies and their mother countries. In the case of the US, those differences aren’t just cultural but political as well.
“It’s always a pleasure reading your comments whichever blog they maybe on. I like how you lay down things in a simple yet comprehensive way and most importantly without emotions messing them up… Very nice.”
Thanks. But I have to admit that I have a tendency to become angry and oversimplify things.
“Please post your blog address if you have one.”
http://citizenleauki.joeuser.com/
The politics channel is probably relevant.
“Hey, my fellow ethnic German. How are you enjoying Ireland, beautiful country, hey?”
Yes, indeed. Love it here.
“have to disagree with you about the United States being a simple offshoot of the British Empire.”
We Europeans have a tendency to take ourselves more seriously than others. That’s why “Chinese” is one language while Dutch and German are two.
In the grand scheme of things, the US and the British Empire are not more different than the pre-Christian and Christian Roman Empire. Yet few people consider the Roman Empire of Constantine as something that is clearly not an ofshoot of the Roman Empire of Augustus.
The Roman Empire changed from pagan with Latin as the major language to Christian with Greek as the major language. Yet when exactly the change occured is not clear. And neither are the huge differences between the US and the British Empire.
Seen among the great cultures of the world, I cannot claim that the US and the British Empire are really distinct cultures, like, say the Egyptians of old and the Chinese.
That’s why “Chinese” is one language while Dutch and German are two.
Actually, the reason that Chinese is only a considered a single language is not because of a lack of seriousness among the Chinese. Quite the contrary, it is due to a certain haughtiness and cultural arrogance among the Han majority in China. An arrogance that refuses to allow that the Chinese might be much less monolithic than they would like to officially admit.
No serious linguist (outside of China) considers Chinese to be a single language. Whether Dutch and German are separate languages, in a linguist’s mind, depends on what criteria are considered applicable in distinguishing languages from dialects. Sometimes political factors are considered important, thus the distinction between Dutch and German. If not, then Dutch is simply a dialect of German.
I know that this was not the point you were trying to make, but I couldn’t help but bring it up anyway…
I suppose your point about cultures and their origins is valid. It all depends on what factors you consider important and how marked the difference must be between cultural traditions. Like the language situation I mentioned above, it comes down to criteria.
You say, for instance, that we cannot fix a date on when Byzantium civilization became something different than Roman civilization. You might be right, we cannot fix a specific date, but few historians consider the Byzantine emperors to be the true successors of their Roman antecedents.
At least, not any more than they would consider the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire in the west to be the true heirs of the Caesars.
It is interesting to note that the Muslim East was significantly influenced by the Byzantine Empire. If you look at some of the outstanding works of architecture commonly attributed to the Turkish sultans you’ll find that they made extensive use of Byzantine architecture. In fact, even the Dome of the Rock was designed on Byzantine models and actually built, not by Muslims themselves, but by Byzantines who were employed by them.
Islamic culture was heavily influenced by Byzantine and by ancient Greek civilization. It hardly existed in a vacuum, either.
Have a nice one!
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