[atlanticus]

>But anytime you become close-minded and think that you are the best in the world, you close yourself to alternative ideas beyond your borders and will inevitably decline.

While it is easy to get up votes claiming America is like this the fact is we get the best and brightest to such an extent that other countries have to work very hard ro keep their smartest people.

[DougWebb]

It's also a fact that our country is collapsing in on itself. We're still on top in a lot of ways, but the trend is definitely downwards in too many ways. We'd hardly be the first "empire in decline", and like many we can probably last decades or centuries without becoming completely historical and overshadowed by the next great empire. So I guess it's not all bad.

Honestly, if someone else can take over the "World Police Force" job so we can stop with the insane military spending, we could probably start taking care of our debt and getting our economy into reasonable shape again.