Will America always be a superpower?

No, we are not that more advanced than other countries right now as this study shows: The 2007 statistics show China with a technological standing of 82.8, compared to 76.1 for the United States, 66.8 for Germany and 66.0 for Japan. Just 11 years ago, China???s score was only 22.5. The United States peaked in 1999 with a score of 95.4. -http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?id=1682We are really not that advanced anymore. Did you here about the incedent were China claimed they could "ping" our satellites with lasers? If they did that all of our cell phones, nukes, and gps would be disabled. The US isn't going to fall overnight but we are already on the road to ruin. (And are screwed if Hillary is elected.)

hmmmm I guess a country where most people ride bikes and sell chickens on the street is way more advanced than us with the 2 cars per family, the latest video games, etc.

You do realize that we have secret miliraty technologies and other technologies that would cause your jaw to instantly hit the floor?

Here it is plain and simple, to my knowledge the US is the only nation that allows almosts alls its citizens to carry a fire arm if they want to. This means that the peolpe do control the gov't and the gov't has to answer to them. In most of these other nations the gov't can do what it wants and scwer the people. Also america is providing the most advances in technology that actully helps an entire nation. If China is truely so smart that they can not down are satillites and missles then why the hell don;t they do to twian like they do to tibet. Amerca in one way or another will remain a superpower.

Plus oil companies have shot down new fuel sources before and will do it again.

Yes, sadly money makes the world go round.

Tell me, how will America die? For us not to be a country anymore, we would have to be all killed enough where the few survivers essentially give up. I mean, crap, Europe was a war zone for centuries and we still have France, Germany, Spain, etc. right?

Yes, but you forget that Americans are really a Nationalty. We're kinda like a melting pot. A bunch of races thrown together. Also many countries were snuffed out and/or recreated during the time of the WW's. Plus America isn't nearly as old as Europian countries.

I would say the real people that have all the power aren't the United States,
USSR, England or even China ... It's the people that own big business. The
people that own ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and OPEC ...

Big business control things and they will for a very long time ...

hmmmm I guess a country where most people ride bikes and sell chickens on the street is way more advanced than us with the 2 cars per family, the latest video games, etc.

China is getting more advanced than you seem to relize.
"Number of Cars in China Reaches 22 Million" -http://www.impactlab.com/2007/02/16/number-of-cars-in-china-reaches-22-million/
China has 1.26583 billion people, thats almost 1 vehicle for every 60 people. While this may not seem like much China has a thriving train system so people who live in big cities (most of China) do not need to worry about buying a car.

I agree about how Republican leadership has destroyed what the U.S. is and what it stands for.

About the wars: The trigger-happy Republicans will probably stay in Iraq, and start more wars. The U.S. keeps its superpower title by military force, and pushing other nations around. We also use war to secure our interests. We have become a military society, something we originally opposed. Eventually, the world will decide that they've had enough of our shit, and impose penalties on our country. Several countries might even declare war. We need to stop attacking things to "spread democracy", in other words, be a bully

Also, the rich now rule us. There are almost no middle-class politicians. And all these these rich folks are stuck up, bigoted, and just plain corrupt. It may be time for another "Reform Era" if the U.S. wishs to remain strong.

Finally, other countries will rise to superpower status. Russia may be heading back, and India on the path, too. I doubt China will remain a power for long, because sooner or later, the citizens will decide they've had enough of the Communist shit.

As for America dieing, we wont just die and go away. We will always hold a high place in society, we just wont be what we are today. Full scale civil war is highly unlikely. By the time the U.S. totally breaks apart, the world will probably be on the path to global unity.??

??

Don't believe the government's lies, stay strong, don't listen to propaganda, and vote for Obama.

Etrius

Yeah, I guess I agree with GeneralEltrius but honestly, the 2 party system is crap. Listen to George Washington and just have everyone different.

Once China will loose Tibet (IT WILL LOOSE TIBET) it'll collapse in on itself like a newtron star because its way to impoverished and dependant on imports to actually become "the greatest nation". We have 13 times higher GDP than China and that country isin't even number two in terms of that statistic. Japan has 4 times larger GDP then China!

Trigger happy republicans? OMG do you drink the kool-aid or do you bath in it?

Just cuz Jon Stewart plays at being a reporter, doesn't mean he is one people.

Somalia? Bosnia? Serbia? Asprin factories? any of those ring a bell? Forget about or yearly skirmish under the clinton regime against something? I think they did a movie about it, Wag the dog.

or how about Operation Desert Fox? you know, Clinton using military force against Iraq too. Know why? Well it's because Iraq declared war on us. During the gulf war to be exact. Not only that, we've been at war with them since the start of the 90's. There was no peace treaty or surrender. We simply didn't invade, and let the UN try and set things straight. They didn't, instead the Head of the UN was a corrupt politician, and france broke every trade embargo the UN set up against iraq. So even the much beloved Clinton had to use military might against Iraq.

Bush invades Afghanastan. Why? because intel points to Bin Laden being there, as well as most of his nasty little band of terrorists. So why Iraq? I mean other than us being their sworn enemy. They didn't sponsor the 9/11 attacks? Can't link them to the trade center...... BUT WAIT!!! you can. Iraq is the key sponsor of the 93 terrorist attack on the WTC.

So why keep our military there now that it's done and over right? Well notice how our sword and shield is in the middle of the serpents nest, and our sworn protectors are fighting the enemy over there, instead of over here? I generally like the idea of not being stuck in the middle of a war. It sucks that our troops have to fight like this, but while they are there, that makes it hard for enemies in that region to make a big plan against our homeland, especially if they have the most poweful military on their doorsteps.

But don't listen to me. I know i'm not Jon Stewart, Keith Olberman, Bill Maher, or any other extreme left winger posing as a fair and balenced journalist.

I generally don't like the Bush administration either, but i don't care for mindless drones repeating what they are told any more. The moment bush didn't shot down the min. wage increase is the moment he became a true failure. I mean post ww1 germany ring a bell to anyone? making more money only makes it worth less. All it did was drag more of us down. The bottom is the bottom, no matter where it is at.

Vote Obama! He promises change left and right, but does anyone know exactly what he plans on changing? yeah, I don't think so.

-sigh-

China doesn't need entertainment centers, they need to build and launch as many colony ships they can so they can not only fight over population, but settle and expand there empire across the galaxy. if they are lucky they will stumble upon some good settlement events.

I'm still coming to terms about the small decline in the Roman Empire - which is doing just fine dammit!

Also, the rich now rule us. There are almost no middle-class politicians. And all these these rich folks are stuck up, bigoted, and just plain corrupt. It may be time for another "Reform Era" if the U.S. wishs to remain strong.

Another thing about all rich people is that they all stereo type. They make me sick. If I had my way, I'd build some sort of...place to put them all in. Some sort of way to provide a final...I dunno some sort of solution to the rich people question because they're all the same. Every rich person is stuck up, bigoted and just plain corrupt. They sicken me.

Another thing about all rich people is that they all stereo type. They make me sick. If I had my way, I'd build some sort of...place to put them all in. Some sort of way to provide a final...I dunno some sort of solution to the rich people question because they're all the same. Every rich person is stuck up, bigoted and just plain corrupt

There is a place like this...it's called Hollywood.

Tell me, how will America die? For us not to be a country anymore, we would have to be all killed enough where the few survivers essentially give up. I mean, crap, Europe was a war zone for centuries and we still have France, Germany, Spain, etc. right?Yes, but you forget that Americans are really a Nationalty. We're kinda like a melting pot. A bunch of races thrown together. Also many countries were snuffed out and/or recreated during the time of the WW's. Plus America isn't nearly as old as Europian countries.

Umm a correction here. The United States of America is the oldest government on Earth!

All the governments of all the counties on earth have been changed in the last 200 years. Before you go and try to argue this point lets go over a few examples.

The entire continent of Africa, All countries in Africa today sprung up from the remains of colonial governments from the 19th century. (One down)
Australia (former British colony) 19th century (two down)

Almost all countries in eastern Asia (the Arab states) British colonial governments (mid 20th century)

Europe:
Germany new government 1947
Italy new government 1943 (and about 50 more times between then and now)
Spain 1980's (Monarchy was replaced)
England (Parliamentary government in 19th century) no longer a real monarchy
France (are they a country?) Just kidding French revolution 18th century (after the American Revolution)
China 1949 when the communist took over
All of Eastern Europe 1980's after communism collapsed

You get the point. Anyway America is no longer a young country; we are the oldest on earth

Thats how dad did, thats how America does it, and it seems to work pretty good so far.

Also, the rich now rule us. There are almost no middle-class politicians. And all these these rich folks are stuck up, bigoted, and just plain corrupt. It may be time for another "Reform Era" if the U.S. wishs to remain strong.

Another thing about all rich people is that they all stereo type. They make me sick. If I had my way, I'd build some sort of...place to put them all in. Some sort of way to provide a final...I dunno some sort of solution to the rich people question because they're all the same. Every rich person is stuck up, bigoted and just plain corrupt. They sicken me.

Oh, you got them good with this one I know you have grossed no less than eight million so far this year. You are so poor Frogboy. You have personally cleared over $1,000,000 in liquid assets. That is not all of it is no less then that number as that is for 2008 alone!

I have known many millionaires. Most of them are very nice people.

As for middle class politicians I can name two who spent most of their adult lives living in government subsidized housing. Neither owned a home until they were over 50! And neither of them were millionaires until they were in their 50's. In fact one of them until his last 8 years holding public office did not even make $100,000 a year!

Do you know who they are?? Well let me tell you, the guy???s wife is running for office right now. Her name is Hillary.

I have known many millionaires. Most of them are very nice people.

You may have met the wrong ones.??

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Do you know who they are?? Well let me tell you, the guy???s wife is running for office right now. Her name is Hillary.

Hillary is not middle class! She's a rich jerk. What you could call a manlady. If she wins, America will be speeding down the road to ruin. Just my opinion.

Etrius

You get the point. Anyway America is no longer a young country; we are the oldest on earth

Your logic fails. Simply because they have had governmental reform, doesn't mean that places -- like England -- haven't had a continuous national identity for centuries longer than the United States has existed as a nation, or had its current government. And in places like England, the old government was overthrown at all, it was simply reformed into a constitutional monarchy that bears a remarkable resemblance to representative form of government. (And don't forget, parliament has existed for centuries before the US was around, it just wasn't as "primary" as it now is).

Anyway, more important... nothing lasts forever. Whether tomorrow, or the day after, or a thousand years from now, something will have changed. When the US falls off its superpower pedestal -- and that day is inevitable, if only because others are busy trying to build themselves up -- is open to debate, but not that its going to happen. Only question is, is it going to go away with a bang, a slow decline, or is everyone else simply going to catch up.

Edit:

Here it is plain and simple, to my knowledge the US is the only nation that allows almosts alls its citizens to carry a fire arm if they want to. This means that the peolpe do control the gov't and the gov't has to answer to them. In most of these other nations the gov't can do what it wants and scwer the people. Also america is providing the most advances in technology that actully helps an entire nation. If China is truely so smart that they can not down are satillites and missles then why the hell don;t they do to twian like they do to tibet. Amerca in one way or another will remain a superpower.

People overestimate firearms. They make killing a lot easier (and, in fact, negated many of the advantages that made the rich "unnasailable" by the peasantry...) but now that they've reduced the need for years of training to hold your own in hand-to-hand, the dynamic has shifted.

I disagree with the argument, but it is true that "people kill people", not guns. Guns are a tool used to make it easier, quicker, surer, but if I want someone dead I can do it bare-handed, with a knife, with a shovel, a car, heck an aluminum soda can makes a great knife if you use it right!

The only thing a gun does is create a situation wherein its possible to kill, at a distance, with a relatively limited amount of training. Soldiers spend years training how to fight on a battlefield, and thats why they can't control the government. With very few exceptions, the armed forced are trained in combat, not "regime enforcement" -- they'd smash the very machinery they were trying to protect if it came down to it. (That said, they could of course smash the machinery any time they feel like it, and there is very little anyone else could do to stop it, if it came down to that)

Edit: Sorry to rant on, the firearms thing is one of my pet peeves. While I do support firearm controls, the arguments most people use just tick me off. The problem isn't that they make it possible to kill, or even that they make it easier to kill; its that they are way to prone to stupid accidents causing accidental deaths. If you really want to "protect" yourself, don't invest in a gun -- invest in some training.

Ok whoever has a problem with rich people is just jealous of their success. Face it, everyone has always wanted a waverunner...

China is already a superpower. However, if they keep up their heavy industrialization and unrestricted pollution within 30 to forty years you will probably see an ecological disaster occur which may seriously damage infrastructure. I also see the China as sharing the same fate as the Soviet Union. Thats the problem with Communism, it starts with revolution, then the new government takes over, and then comes the redistribution of wealth and power. During this stage the new government takes control to redistribute everything and then according to Marx's theory hands over power to everybody. The only problem is that people seek power and governments are seldom willing to relinquish power to the people even in the so called "free-world".

I could not agree with your statements about guns more. Guns are good for protection but they are completely useless and even dangerous without proper training.

The problem isn't that they make it possible to kill, or even that they make it easier to kill; its that they are way to prone to stupid accidents causing accidental deaths.

This is due to a lack of respect for the firearm. The amount of "training" it would take to avoid accidents is literally minutes. As someone who grew up in a house that contained firearms, it is truly difficult to understand why a prospective owner wouldn't take the necessary minimal precautions to avoid accidents (trigger locks, keep the gun UNLOADED, lock up the ammunition, RESPECT THE GUN). But, this is a discussion for another forum. I'm done now.

Yeah, I guess I agree with GeneralEltrius but honestly, the 2 party system is crap. Listen to George Washington and just have everyone different.Once China will loose Tibet (IT WILL LOOSE TIBET) it'll collapse in on itself like a newtron star because its way to impoverished and dependant on imports to actually become "the greatest nation". We have 13 times higher GDP than China and that country isin't even number two in terms of that statistic. Japan has 4 times larger GDP then China!

If you ask me political parties should be outlawed in the U.S. look at how much trouble the Democrats and Republicans have caused. Political parties lead to groupthink and stagnation. Anyone should run for office and all campaigns should be grassroots and not be funded by corporations and "special interest groups" who want a puppet in the White house. This is why I hate this election Obama, Clinton, and McCain are all the same. They should really call this election " Who gives a Shit 2008"

If we're talking military power, the U.S. is extremely superior. We have about 120 F-22's that COULD PRETTY MUCH take out the Chinese Air Force by themselves. Four of our F-15's (currently as good and the new Chinese j-10) went up against 1 F-22 and they were all destroyed in a mock battle before they even realized the F-22 was in their airspace. One of our Naval battle groups could LITTERALY wipe out the entire military of some countries in Europe. It is ridiculous how much physical power we posess.

i don't think U.S is going to be going away as a superpower anytime soon, and i don't think china wants it either. Well...not directly or intentionally. It is true that they are the world's factory, other than that, they want to tend to themselves. It is also true that they like to have as much money as the U.S, but then.they don't want to be as noisy and stick their noses in other country's internal matter. That might be the only good thing about chin, if it does become a super power, it won't care whether places in middle east has human rights or no human rights. Even if it suddenly changes to have a 100 percent perfect human rights record, it just won't care about whether other country does anything bad or good to its citizens.

for everyone and anyone in the west who thinks 9/11 is a sad event, etc, etc. I do know many people from the mid east and the near east, even some in asians who thinks that the U.S deserves what it got that day. Why, well all the military conflicts it got itself involved in the interest of serving American interests, the number of lives lost far exceeds the number of deaths on 9/11. But then..that is the consequence of being a superpower when it likes to leverage its influence to tell other people what to do even to the point of being told to screw off in no uncertain terms. I think the more interesting thing about 9/11 is not whether America deserved it, but rather what it has done to the pride of Americans. After all, before that, it thinks of itself as invinsible, because of its military and economic might. I guess after 9/11, how such a mighty super status has fallen.

And those who really think that the might of the american military can really be use against other less advanced militaries if push comes to shelve. Well the truth of the matter is, if it does not serve american interests, military or no military, the U.S won't use it. Also, the world hates the U.S as it is, so the poltiical consequences will not be pretty for the U.S. Besides, isn't Iraq and Afaghan enough a drain on its military as it is. Does it need another war. It keeps on whining about north korea and its nukes, but seriously, i don't think it wants to commit military force to topple the government. It is simply too expensive and it won't do its public images any good. we can all forget about iran and how the U.S is going to save the iranians, because it will be like another iraq if ever invades. The Iranians don't like the U.S period. And it will be ugly if it ever invades. So it has to do it through other means like the UN, but lets not forget, U.S is not the only UN voting power, there are Russia and China. And talking about Russia, it is such a contradiction, it became a great nations again without such a thing call democracy.

It is interesting to read all these views...

I think it is a little pointless to try to predict future events in this way because so many potential factors could completely change things e.g. the caldera (supervolcano) beneath Yellowstone National Park could put an end to the United States and begin a global ice age tomorrow, or an asteroid could collide with China and change that completely - who knows? One person can change the course of history. I think China has its eyes on Zimbabwe and other territories and are looking for expansion. The arms shipment they attempted to send there is in aid of a dictatorial, totalitarian government. China has been involved in shady international deals in the past - they are a definite opposition to democracy, lets hope their people can one day push for democracy.

But as to what happens tomorrow - who knows? Recall 9/11 and other such world-altering events. The only thing we can say for sure is that we'll all be dead in a century or so

I hope our descendants can live in a decent world - and they may know some of the answers to these questions we now ask

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Will America always be a superpower?