5 Signs That the US Is Collapsing

The US has always been a famously optimistic country. From our beginning, rebelling against the greatest empire the world has ever seen in a bold attempt to gain independence, we’ve always looked to a brighter future.

Through our history millions of people have come to what they see as a land of opportunity. The American Dream – the idea that if we work had we can succeed – is one of the key threads that runs through our culture.

How optimistic are you feeling now, though? Does it look as if the US is headed onward and upward to a brighter future? Or do you have an uneasy feeling that the American Dream is on the edge of collapsing into a nightmare?

If you do, and you’re looking for reassurance, I’m sorry to say I can’t give you any. We’re not past the point of no return yet, but there’s evidence all around us that points to this country being in a dangerously unstable condition.

We could manage to turn things around – but right now we’re heading in the wrong direction. The End of the World I... Zeihan, Peter Best Price: $8.65 Buy New $13.21 (as of 07:36 UTC - Details)

A House Divided

These states don’t feel very united right now. In fact this country might be more divided than it’s been at any time since Richmond fell to US troops in 1865. Our politics have become terrifyingly partisan.

Decades ago, in the golden age of the 1950s, the Republicans wanted to build a prosperous by cutting federal taxes and letting people keep more of their money.

The Democrats wanted to build a prosperous nation by using federal law to give people more rights at work.

OK, that’s simplifying it a little, but both parties wanted pretty much the same sort of country; they just had different ideas – and, really, not that different – about how to get there.

Look at things now. Some moderate politicians still exist (and they get elected, so some people still like what they’re saying) but overall political debate has swerved wildly towards the extremes.

We live in a society that’s financed by reckless borrowing, constantly kicking the can down the road and pretending the day the world won’t lend us money anymore is never going to arrive.

Along with crazy, extreme ideas comes a level of political hatred that’s hard to comprehend. Just a generation ago, we tended to think people who didn’t share our political views were wrong but basically well-meaning.

Now, if you don’t hold exactly the right set of constantly changing and ever more extreme opinions, you’re literally evil. You’re heartless, selfish. You’re not just someone that voted for the other party; you’re the enemy, and you must be destroyed. A society where a large number of people think that way is badly broken. And that’s where we are now.

Violence Is The New Protest

Protesters used to turn up with placards and maybe a bunch of flowers. Now they’re as likely to bring a bike lock, a knife or a gun. Almost any protest is liable to turn into a riot.

Any society will have the occasional outbreak of unrest, but doesn’t it seem like they’re happening a lot more now?

If the police shoot someone – even a violent criminal who was trying to stab an innocent victim – that’s an excuse for an orgy of looting and destruction.

If the Supreme Court makes a decision someone doesn’t like, justices find angry mobs outside their homes – and armed maniacs trying to kill them.

Far too many protesters are going armed. Carrying a gun to protect yourself and your family is a long and honorable American tradition. Carrying a gun to intimidate people you disagree with into silence is not.

The Country Is Falling Apart

In a literal way, America is disintegrating. Our infrastructure is suffering from decades of under-investment. Our power grid is so old and overloaded that it doesn’t need an EMP strike to collapse it; two hot weeks in June could be enough to do the job.

Even a simple blizzard can take down big chunks of it. We’ve been running power cables to homes for over a hundred years, and we haven’t figured out snow yet?

The current administration loves to talk about how it’s going to sort out our crumbling infrastructure, but its big idea is to make us all buy electric cars – then recharge them from the grid that already can’t cope with the load. Everyone knows our infrastructure is in a mess, but nobody has a serious plan to fix it.

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