On America

I suspect somewhere that Osama might actually deserve the credit for bringing down the United States. He elicited a reaction that exhausted the world’s most powerful entity and led them down a path where they were unwilling to wage war when it was necessary. Or at least gave the world the impression that they were unwilling. As they lost the wars, their population split down the seams. Old arguments rose to the surface, and the nation began to divide. The country began to fall down familiar patterns of civilizational decline.

One small thorn defeated a goliath.

In this background, it might be worth considering whether the goliath was a true force for good in the world. Americans themselves are pleased to describe to us exactly how terrible a country it is that they live in - an interesting outcome of providing free speech. That being said, I’m not so certain I agree with them.

Technology is the fire that ignites our minds. With technology, more and more forms of life will find a home in this blisteringly large universe. And America brought us to the stars. That, in itself, is a remarkable contribution to humanity.

Perhaps, if one is to consider what seems to be the inevitable - America fails and somehow the rest of the world manages to emerge unscathed. What lessons might we learn from her glorious fall?

The free market certainly has merit. I suspect the answer lies somewhere within the framework of ‘Leave people to do the best for themselves in their given environment - focus only on improving the environment’.

Free speech is a confusing one. It’s driving the wedge between two poles within the country, which perhaps is an indicator of the last wall preventing the dam from breaching. The first and second amendment being under siege seem to be barriers of how low the United States can sink. By necessity, there must always be a limit to free speech, so it is never truly free. Defining these limits is where the breakdown occurs.

Diversity of cultures is another confusing one. Cultural diversity is one of the driving forces of innovation - in the quality of arts, food, theater, as well as science (remember how a jewish - german immigrant gave the United States the nuclear bomb) - the more diversity, the more innovation. But there are cultures where compromise on both sides is the only way to bring peace - else they will always remain at tacit war. One might find that in the absence of violence, competing cultures help in the pursuit of ‘The Truth’ - defined abstract concepts about the state of the universe.

There are clear indicators of success in America though - economic clout, military clout, winning the cold war, contributing the machinery and infrastructure to win both global wars.