Has the US lost its edge permanently?

[Cbrider]

The fact that the US Economy dictates what the world economy does as far as ups and downs, should display just how powerful we are.

China does own a lot of the United States, but lots of countries own part of China. The world is all interlinked to one another, no one stands "alone."

If we are talking about a military edge, then this isn't even a debate. We have ten fold more firepower and earth scorching power than any other country. We control the air, land and sea where ever we please. Nuclear arms have added a twist though, since a handful of nuclear warheads can literally decimate a small country. Other countries have warheads and stockpiles, but lack the means to deliver them. I saw a program on the Discovery channel a while back, that said we can deliver a warhead anywhere on earth in ~10 minutes within a 9 yd distance of a target.

We could all kill each other so fast that its almost a moot point.

[SirWagginston]

The US may have fallen behind in terms of education and wealth, but militarily it remains mostly untouchable.

[IndiReloaded]

India could rise up. Great growth AND a democracy. IIT is way harder to get into than MIT, based on admittance stats.

@ DM (before he LOLs), I don't think its the better school for a number of reasons. Not yet, anyway.

[CAM]

This is why I decided to become a teacher... to make a difference.

I'm a teacher and I want to make a difference, BUT....education is a sorting machine. Some students got it and some don't. At my level of teaching, I think that I should help those who are motivated, but those that are motivated...well, who am I to stand it the way of Social Darwinism? The ancient Greeks believed in fate...there are elements of truth but largely because some students actually create their own fates.


In terms of Gigas "greedy Republican" comments...yeah, there are greedy Republicans. There are also greedy Democrats and greedy Independents, too. What is worse than the greed, however, is the fact that all share a few common denominators...namely, greed without morals, greed for the easy buck rather than the hard earned buck, and an absolute lack of anything smacking of accountability or limits.



And, in terms of what I meant by losing one's edge? At one time, that would have been very clear because the US had the "edge" in nearly every aspect of human endeavor. The fact that one has to specify tells us all something about the US.


With rare exception, we have lost our edge in nearly everything.

[CAM]

The US may have fallen behind in terms of education and wealth, but militarily it remains mostly untouchable.

Well, that is true. But, one or two EM waves from a aerially detonated device of some particular type, and our entire power grid, our entire satellite management system, and nearly our entire information network would be wiped out...and our military and ciivlian world would be sent back to the 2nd century. In a very weird twist, we'd be in the situation in which the Afghan tribal people would be more "advanced" than us.


Remember a few years ago when our cellphone satellites went on the blink and nobody could communicate very well? Guess what, that wasn't an accident. That was another country "testing the waters" to see what our vulnerabilities are.

[Mish]

If we are talking about a military edge, then this isn't even a debate. We have ten fold more firepower and earth scorching power than any other country.

Except for Russia. They still have more nukes.

[SirWagginston]

Well, that is true. But, one or two EM waves from a aerially detonated device of some particular type, and our entire power grid, our entire satellite management system, and nearly our entire information network would be wiped out...and our military and ciivlian world would be sent back to the 2nd century. In a very weird twist, we'd be in the situation in which the Afghan tribal people would be more "advanced" than us.


Remember a few years ago when our cellphone satellites went on the blink and nobody could communicate very well? Guess what, that wasn't an accident. That was another country "testing the waters" to see what our vulnerabilities are.

The only such devices are nuclear, very massive, and extremely devastating to the world environment. The US is one of 2 or 3 countries in the entire world with that capability, and none of them will use it because of the guarantee of mutual assured destruction. A war would come down to conventional technology, as always, and the Pentagon is filthy rich enough to buy the cool toys everybody else dreams of. They can track terrorists using remote controlled warplanes armed with guided missiles, killing them from hundreds of miles away. They've also got a whole fleet of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers; the only other country that can compete with that is France--a NATO ally--and they only have one.

[IndiReloaded]

Ah another day, another dystopic topic turned Flame War on LF.

This kind of thing is cyclical. China or India's turn next, if only based on the numbers. Like when Rome decayed except this time we don't have Christianity to throw us into another Dark Age. I hope.

(there, that should do it)

[CAM]

Ah another day, another dystopic topic turned Flame War on LF.

This kind of thing is cyclical. China or India's turn next, if only based on the numbers. Like when Rome decayed except this time we don't have Christianity to throw us into another Dark Age. I hope.

(there, that should do it)

Rome without Christians is like an unlit garden at night ...literally. The Romans used to crucify Christians and light them on fire so that Nero's gardens were lit at night. Talk about renewable energy...

[Lipp]

Care file not found.

[Lipp]

As an actual response though, I'd wish that people would learn to compare properly, given the U.S's dominance in terms of country and population size in the western world it'd be a freakin huge deal if it wasn't ahead when compared one-on-one, which all too often seems to be the case.

[SirWagginston]

Well, the size is only a factor when considering political or military power. Analysts measure economies per person, instead, so that you can see the resources their average citizens have. When you look at it like that you can see several countries with better standards of living than the US has.

[Cbrider]

Except for Russia. They still have more nukes.

Correct, they have roughly 2.5 to 3 time more warheads than we do. The problem is they have no means to deliver them, rendering them useless. It's like having a box of .50 caliber rounds, but no gun.

[IndiReloaded]

You can't detonate a bullet w/o a gun?

[Cbrider]

haha, yeah right. Of the top 20 schools in the world, the US has 17 or 18 of them. The other 2 non-US schools being Oxford and Cambridge

The Derek Zoolander Center For Children Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too.

You forgot one.