Having made its mark and had its day, the USA is following a familiar path toward self-destruction taken by empires past, both famous and forgotten. Just as the 20th century, “The American Century,” faded into history, so too has the nation’s glory and prestige.
While politicians lie, the numbers don’t. On the economic front, according to The Pew Research Center, “Americans are less well-to-do now than at the start of the 21st century. For all income tiers, median incomes in 2014 were lower than in 2000. These reversals are the result of two recessions – the downturn in 2001 and the Great Recession of 2007-09 – and economic recoveries that have been too anemic to fully repair the damage.”
Once the “land of opportunity,” the gap between the rich and poor in America is the widest among all the developed nations. A report by the University of Michigan illustrates the Gilded Age wealth inequality that now prevails. The median American household was 13.6 times poorer than an average household in the 95th percentile in 2003. By 2013, the average household in the 95th percentile (top 5 percent) was 24.2 times richer than the median household and 426.5 times richer than the average household in the 25th percentile.
As America’s economy declines, its society decays. With less than 5 percent of the world’s population, Americans consume 80 percent of the entire global supply of pain killers… a 300 percent increase since 1999. Suicides in the US have surged 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Out of work, out of luck and deep in despair, the numbers add up to shorter lives. In a sharp reversal from earlier decades when successive generation’s living standards rose and so did their life expectancy… white Americans’ lifespan is now in decline.
Beyond these few examples, we have documented in the Trends Journal the mass of data of America’s decay, from millennial morass about mountains of college debt and low-paying service-sector jobs to boomers going bankrupt and retirees unable to retire.
Guns and Butter
With its “policeman of the world” penchant for regime change, nation-building and foreign entanglements, America has sacrificed the wealth of its nation for fighting unwinnable wars and projecting its military might. By choosing guns over butter and squandering its fortunes fighting enemies abroad, rather building the nation at home, America is repeating history that has brought down empires past.
Trend Forecast: The above is but a brief overview of an America in decay that we have detailed in much greater extent in our Trends Journals. But decline is not inevitable. Enlightened leadership and citizen movements outside the confines of the current political system can redirect the ship of state toward a future of peace and prosperity. We’re doing our part by launching www.Occupypeace.us.