The Dissolution of the United States as a Superpower

With oil prices in free-fall, Russians are back in bread lines. Not helped by Putin over-extending his military resources in the Ukraine. But with Superpowers Russia and the U.S. both armed to the teeth with nuclear missiles, we all depend on "cool heads" in a nuclear crises.

Such a crises occurred in 1995, and the "cool heads" prevailed, after a scientist launched a missile that the Russians read as a nuke incoming from the U.S. This is a fascinating story, leading up to the state-of-the-world today - and if "cool heads" would prevail if such an accident occurred today.

www.bostonglobe.com...
HOW A NUCLEAR "NEAR MISS" MIGHT BE THE "REAL THING" IF IT HAPPENED TODAY

Americans have long been suffering under this administration. But instead of answers and solutions, Team Obama's statisticians have been searching instead for new definitions that alter Reality:

www.urban.org...
(2009) THE POOR GETTING POORER UNDER THE INEPT TEAM OBAMA? JUST CREATE ANOTHER POVERTY CATEGORY: "NEAR POOR"

dailycaller.com...
(Nov. 2011) TEAM OBAMA'S SLIMY NEW BAIT-AND-SWITCH DEFINITION OF POVERTY

www.nytimes.com...
(Jan. 2015) U.S. MIDDLE CLASS SHRINKING, AS MORE FALLING DOWNWARD - INTO A TANGLE OF DEFINITIONS FOR "POOR"
Team Obama's Liberal Statisticians are now taking on the Middle Class. They are measuring "inequality" - not "want or need."

And in our cold-hearted country today, the oldest and most deserving (long lifetimes of hard work, after fighting and serving in WWII) are one-third of those living in Poverty. And now they're being subjected to "legal theft" under the almighty Bottom Line Principle:

www.nytimes.com...
NURSING HOMES DEMANDING "GUARDIANSHIP" RIGHTS TO ENSURE PAYMENT

Just pointing to (bedrock-of-democracy) Freedom of the Press laws doesn't matter to the Obamabots. They are closet fascists who never understood, that to get rid of an idea you don't like - come up with a better idea. And don't waste time and manpower skulking around in journalists' emails and other juvenile nonsense. DUH!

thehill.com...
POLL: 2/3s OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS THINK TEAM OBAMA SPIES ON THEM
About half of these polled journalists say they've changed how they store their documents now.

a reply to: MKMoniker

Unfortunately, I've only got three words in response to this....

Bread and Circuses




We are living in those times from Rome where the above three words were the approach taken to life.

a reply to: nullafides

I suppose "Nero fiddling while Rome burns" could fit too.

Team Obama can't lead or make the best decisions, but they are experts at Misdirection, Cover-ups, Partial Truths and Outright Lying.

Oh, and Hiring Relatives:

www.washingtontimes.com...
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ROCKED BY NEPOTISM CHARGES

No wonder so many people are registering as Independents! The GOP is for the Thinking Voter with business interests, but comes across as draconian on social issues. And the Democrats have become the Default Party For Everyone Else. Which must be why you keep seeing stories like this:

www.washingtonexaminer.com...
BILL TO REFORM "TRANSPARENCY" HEADS TO SENATE FLOOR
Transparency: Something Else That Obama Promised That Never Happened

Although the Obamabots never learned the finer points of what NOT to "share" ...

www.washingtonexaminer.com...
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION OVER-SHARED DISASTER "ROAD MAP" OF HOW TO ATTACK OUR ELECTRIC GRID

While the new GOP Congressmen have a "mandate" from the public:

www.breitbart.com...
POLL: NEARLY 60% OF REGISTERED VOTERS OPPOSE OBAMA'S "EXECUTIVE ORDERS" - WANT TO DE-FUND EOs
And 71% of voters would support tightening regulations on hiring illegal immigrants.

a reply to: MKMoniker

Whereas I hold no title to either being Republican or Democratic, I do not "do" the team blaming that has been en-vogue for some time.

That being said, all that I am prepared to comment on is that which we are currently dealing with. Given our current situation and our history as a nation, I can readily draw a rather straight line which is parallel to that of the fall of Rome.

a reply to: nullafides

Thanks for your post.

in some ways, I agree. We have by and large lost our ties to and respect for Nature. And our over-emphasis on sex-sex-sex! means that a whole lot of more important things aren't getting done.

On the other hand, we have a country with borders, not a far-flung empire always unraveling at one spot or another. Also solid laws with a judiciary to enforce them. As well as a somewhat participatory government, and a populace that at least follows issues crucial to their lives.

Human thirst for blood and excitement, like in the Coliseum, may never go away. But today the "excitement of bloodshed'" for the average citizen is sublimated into TV, movies, video games and professional sports. LOTS of choices for entertainment - and generally speaking, no one dies. Sophisticated populations have also slowly learned to value Life and have developed a sense of Empathy.

What HAS changed is the Internet, with "instant access" to news, and everywhere video-cameras that have caught criminals in-the-act, protected law enforcement from fraudulent "abuse" charges, and nabbed endless evil-doers who didn't know they were being videotaped.

This "immediacy" of news and uncovering of criminal acts, plus excellent investigative journalism of those who "thought they got away with it," make us light years beyond Rome.

If we survive, it will be because the average American citizen has a brain, morality and empathy. We can separate the important from the trivial (including charlatan manipulators), based on the Truths revealed by the Internet news, and can rise up en mass to to demand change.

a reply to: MKMoniker

As militaries shrink it is inevitable I also see the nations seperations thawing as we need each other.
RUSSIA needs us to help them develop the other parts of Russia.
EVERYONE needs to work on uplifting Africa and the Middle East war is falling out of vogue because we are talking now.
Our corrupt leaders and their attempts to smoke us will fail.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

Thanks for your enlightened post. And Yes, if all the global Superpowers have to be down-graded to uplift everyone else, that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

But the Global Elitists still have enormous influence, and every country's leader it seems, is automatically invited to Bilderberg - which considers itself "global resources management." Which mainly means making billions thru war-profiteering, and trying to manipulate everyone toward a NWO - which they alone will run, no need for elections anymore.

So we have to watch for global leaders who fall for this Elitist ploy, versus the very few who can rise above the corrupt-chumminess and do what's right for everyone - NOT the Elitists.

This Elitist Management of Resources (including people) was best explained in the second half of the movie "John Carter of Mars." To think an immortal, bored population of idiot "Qs" is selfishly pulling the strings on all of us, is a rather irritating concept:

www.amazon.com...=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1423247307&sr=1-2&keywords=John+Carter+of+Mars
JOHN CARTER (OF MARS)

a reply to: MKMoniker

THAT is a more difficult proposition.
WHAT about those who would see the west removed and controlled? Our freedoms downgraded and values obliterated?
I take great umbrance with those would would silence people's voices and fought for that idea.
OF COURSE I and my fellow warriors are wrongly USED but we are working on that as we can.
I know some of our decadence is quite ugly to some and others want us to just shut up and follow the line but then when the next monster rolls in we are desprately needed.
I will NOT pretend I have the answer BECAUSE I am one who fights,my answers could only reflect such.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

Good post - and I agree. The universe is a dangerous place, and we'll always need combat skills and weaponry. When in stifling civilian situations (our "freedoms downgraded and our values obliterated") occur, you can still carry your freedoms and values internally, and look for others like yourself - and new ways to express those cherished freedoms and values.

I have the greatest respect for the military. I hated the way this country treated the guys coming back from 'Nam in the last century. And I vowed to figure out why we had started getting involved in "local conflicts" on the other side of the world, when all we got out of it was bills and body bags.

It all led back to the Elitists stoking wars to profiteer/steal billions for their own warped "realignment" of global forces. The CIA found new illegal drug sources and routes in Asia during VietNam. So today the CIA is the Global Drug Dealer (to pay for their totally unregulated Black Ops), and we've set up bases all over the world to play global-cop.

But you are right. Even the looney-libbers are quaking in their boots when True Evil shows up, and your training and sacrifice are much appreciated.

a reply to: MKMoniker

I also know what we do isn't right or heroic,but it's value is WE do so that others aren't FORCED into messes where they can't fight or win.
IN THAT I celebrate our skills ,but the LIARS are totally in control.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

I'd say what you do IS "heroic." And with China now plotting how to destroy the U.S., you may find this article interesting:

nypost.com...

CHINA'S SECRET PLAN TO TOPPLE THE U.S. AS THE WORLD'S TOP "SUPER-POWER"
Basically, China's plan to topple (the stronger) U.S., is to hit at our weak spots - and make a "generational-leap" in military capabilities, by developing lasers and aiming for "electromagnetic combat superiority".

China's patient march to superiority involves "deception" - especially pretending to be our ally, to get us to cough up key technology and information.

(All the more reason for the next GOP President to put Jon Huntsman as head of State: He speaks Mandarin and was Ambassador to China.

(Of course, if the election machines are used and hacked ... Hillary has already "friended" Micronesia/Malaysia, and used them to great effect in Sept. 2012 when Benghazi exploded. Those countries predictably had loud protests of the "official excuse" - that lame anti-Islamic video. So she'll probably try to use those countries as leverage against China.)

a reply to: MKMoniker

This is why the overblown black budget scares them.
What we DO put out technologically is SO far above them to originally create,they have to inflate like a pufferfish to scare the world as Russia has always done AND our command did FOR RUSSIA during the cold war to keep that defense spending dime. I remember how impressive the many Russian armred vehicles seemed in the NCO's GREENBOOKs appeared but then when we engaged some ,they were so much CRAP. Bad welds,hardly survivable ,it's like Russia didn't give a crap about the average soldier at all.
I don't really WANT to be the worlds superpower and I HATE to be the policeman,but I really don't trust them with any powers to counter us either.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

Thanks for the reply. Your last sentence certainly gave me pause ... Sad but true.

Russia and China are no longer purely Communist. They allow their citizens financial freedom to make a living thru business not tethered to the government.

But keeping everyone employed is a problem in huge countries like this. So both Russia and China have inflated the number of "middle-men" - many just rubber-stamping party sycophants who get paid for doing nothing.

To keep these products/services affordable for the natives, the lowest rung - the actual workers or assemblers - are paid nearly nothing. So they are always poor and unhappy.

I read a novel one time about a Russian detective during the USSR days. It said that Russian consumers know enough to check the "product completion date" stickers on the back of something expensive they want to buy.

If the date is too near the beginning of the month, the workers assembling it were probably drunk. You needed to find a product with an end-of-month sticker, when the workers were sober and presumably putting a little more effort into assembling the product correctly.

Here in the U.S. we had another problem keeping low-skill assembler or manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Besides the lower wages of the worker-bees overseas, the new manufacturing equipment in the U.S. required some basic math and technology training to be programmed - which our high schools generally don't teach.

So which approach will help keep the U.S. SuperPower status? Continue shipping manufacturing jobs overseas for cheap labor, and up-ing the unemployment in the U.S. with too few low-skill jobs, for cheap products? Or getting our public schools more aligned to skills our U.S. manufacturers need with more sophisticated equipment? Even as companies continue robot-izing of our assembly-line jobs, and end up with a country where half to 2/3s of the people don't work and rely on government checks?

(And everyone wondered why Google went on a stealth buying-spree of robot companies a year or so ago. They were investing in the future U.S. "workforce"!)

a reply to: MKMoniker

First thing is get back to a durable GOODS economy and stop with the disposable products,go for the modular replacements for upgrades instead of whole objects.

www.nytimes.com...

YOUNG PEOPLE DRAWN TO ISIS BY WHAT IS LACKING IN SOCIETY: NOBILITY, HONORABLE PURPOSE, CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE - AND A CHANCE TO MAYBE BE A HERO

The U.S. and western Europe is just a pervert-led cesspool of atheism and just-believe-and-express-yourself-thru sex. We've all had past lives. We innately know what is right and wrong. And everything the politicians are saying to explain the lure of ISIS is just more pervert-propaganda and social dissonance.

Why do you think the movie "Sniper" had such overwhelming success at the box office? While the pervert-press couldn't have vilified and attacked it more?

Is our U.S. military in trouble? Even with downsizing the manpower in the branches, the Army is still 50% of our soldiers/sailors. And oversight is so poor, that certain bases have become so "specialized" as to parallel our Intel Agencies - who jealously guard their technology and information, and start operating (at least partially) autonomously.

And SpecOps (Special Operations) has mushroomed under Team Obama. Just how cohesive will all these "Special" bases and soldiers be in a real global-consuming conflagration? And how can a government consumed by bureaucuracy, trim and redirect a military where, paper-work-be-damned - can still fight?

Is our U.S. military losing their edge as a cohesive fighting organization?

www.theweek.com...
HAS OUR MILITARY BECOME JUST ANOTHER BUREAUCRACY? LUMBERING, INEFFICIENT AND TIED UP IN RED TAPE?

www.cnn.com...
STUDY: U.S. ARMY SOLDIERS AND OFFICERS LIE "ROUTINELY"

a reply to: cavtrooper7

The idea of "modular replacement parts for upgrades" sounds good on paper. But if your parts are designed in the U.S. and manufactured in another country, inefficiency (if not outright sabotage) could mean critical failures at the worst possible time.

That's why, when I read gov. bids at fbo.gov, more and more I'm seeing "(brand name) only or equivalent." The days of always taking the lowest bidder for critical projects is giving way to ONLY "reliable" top-grade, brand-name parts.

You get what you pay for. And cleaning up "failed" projects based on parts that didn't work, can take years to get back on track. And even longer to regain public trust, and outlive the negativity in the media.

The recent history of Boeing is instructive. They pulled out American Managers overseeing foreign manufacturers, and hired local managers, to cut costs. Then everything started to go wrong with their lithium ion batteries, and planes were catching fire. And some foreign commercial pilots totally refused to fly certain fire-prone Boeing models of planes.

IF you can maintain top-grade, supply-chain quality, fine, go with modular upgrades. If not ...