The Unraveling of America - how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era

Sitting eating my breakfast this morning and found this Op-Ed on the Rolling Stone Website

The Unraveling of America

This is a long read, but it is an extremely well written, well thought out article, and it raises some intriguing points about current state of affairs in the USA and how - either by accident or design (you decide) the balance of world power is moving to SE Asia and China.

It is massively thought provoking , running through the history of the USA and its rise to prominence post WW2 and then moving into the current era. It refers to highlights and mistakes, and comes right up to modern times and the handling of the Covid19 crisis.

People here may think it is just anti-american (it is written by a Canadian), but I would urge them to read the whole article and think about it for a while before responding. Its best to let it sink in a bit.

I'm curious to see how people recieve it, and would love to read some well constructed thoughts?

This is not the mud pit - if all you want to do is sling insults and catch phrases there is - no doubt - a kindergarten somewhere nearby.

a reply to: neformore

I will try and read it but USA was unravelling from JFK also then going off the Gold Standard ....etc

Cool thread

Have not read it yet.

However, history seems to swing east to west and back again.

I will read it today and have more comments later.

a reply to: neformore
That reminds me of my favorite John Trudell poem.

You wanna know what happened to Elvis?
I’ll tell you what happened
I oughta know man I was one of his army
I mean man I was on his side
He made us feel all right
We were the first wave in the
Postwar baby boom
The generation before had just come
Out of the Great Depression and World War II
You know heavy vibes for people to wear
So much heaviness like some kind of
Voiding of the emotions
Their music you know the songs
Life always carries
You know every culture has songs
Well anyway their music was
Restrained emotion
You know like you didn’t wanna dance
If you didn’t know how
Which says something strange
Well anyway Elvis came along
About ten years after the nuke
When the only generals America had in
The only army she had were Ike and Mac
And stupor hung over the land
A plague where everyone tried to
Materially free themselves
Still too shell-shocked to understand
To feel what was happening
Everything was getting hopeless
Then when Elvis started to rock
The roll just picked up
I mean drabness the Beaver showed us
Could only be a foretold future
Who wanted to be Ward and June
and I mean father never did know best
He was still crazy from surviving the war
Like there was this psychotic pall
So widespread as to be assumed normal
Heavy man you know really
Anyway Elvis showed us an out
You know he showed everyboyman and
Everygirlwoman there’s something good
In feeling good
Like a prophet for everyboy everygirl
When someones mom and dad lied
Something about him told us
To be sensual is really okay
Someones mom and dad waltzed us around
Everygirl wasn’t supposed to enjoy it
If she did she was bad and everyboy
Well boys will be boys don’t feel anything
Take what you can
Marry a decent girl when the fun’s done
Like no matter what we did we all were guilty
Maybe someones mom and dad resented
What they missed and while
They were trying to pass it on us
We heard Elvis’s song and
For the first time we made up our own mind
The first wave rebelled
I mean we danced even if we didn’t know how
I mean Elvis made us move
Instead of standing mute he raised our voice
And when we heard ourselves something
Was changing you know like for the first time
We made a collective decision about choices
America hurriedly made Pat Boone
A general in the army they wanted us to join
But most of us held fast to Elvis
And the commandants around him
Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent; you know
Like a different civil war all over again
I mean you take don’t be cruel I want you I need you I love you
And jailhouse rock
Or you take Pat and his white bucks
Singing love letters in the sand
Hell man what’s real here?
I mean Pat at the beach in his white bucks
His ears getting sunburned told us
Something about old wave delusion
I mean wanting and needing and imprisonment
We all been to those places but what did White bucks at the beach understand
Other than more straight line dancing
You know what I mean
Anyway man for a while we had a breather
Fresh energy to keep us from falling into the big sleep
Then before long Elvis got assassinated in all the fame
Taking a long time to die, others seized
Control while Elvis rode the needle out
Never understanding what he’d done
It’s like we were the baby boom because
Life needed a fresher start
I mean two world wars in a row is
Really crazy man
And Elvis even though he didn’t know he said it
He showed it to us anyway and even though
We didn’t know we heard it we heard it anyway
Man like he woke us up
And now they’re trying to put us
Back to sleep so we’ll see how it goes
Anyway look at the record man
Rock ’n’ roll is based on revolution
Going way past 33 1/3
You gotta understand man he was
America’s baby boom Che I oughta know man
I was in his army

John Trudell- Baby Boom Che

a reply to: neformore
I'm an older man, and I have seen these kind of long-winded, self-serving, wishful thinking articles most of my life written about America as well as other countries. According to some writers in the past and the present, the US has been dead and buried many times. Maybe it was and is, and I'm just too damn close to the situation to see it, but I don't think so.

We were down for the count during the great depression too by those who underestimated us, just as they underestimated the British during WW2.

Do we have some big problems? You bet we do, but they are not insurmountable as of yet. Instead of secretly desiring our demise, wish us well. Instead of secretly wishing for the US to become a third world country, wish the best for us. The vast majority of US citizens have no desire to be a super power on the world stage. We just want our freedom and a good life for ourselves and our children, as well as peace for the rest of the world.

a reply to: neformore

Interesting read.......based his idea on the demoralization of the US population. He may be a bit premature in that, but if the economy slumps again, as mortgage and rent moratoriams end, he might be on to something as to the future. There can be little doubt the worst is yet to come.

He will certainly be correct if Biden wins.......if the Dems win the Congress and turn the US into a One Party Nation ruled over by voters, many of whom are ilegal or dead, from the Left Coast and the Yankee states.

Then again, I would have to note, I have rarely read a piece by a Canadian pseudo intellectual that didnt critisize the US. They are renowned if for nothing else, their hatred for the US. Today, they have closed the border to the US and there are reports of Canadians vandalizing cars with US plates.

a reply to: Klassified

You pretty much nailed it.
The constitution was written to evolve with time and the country was built the same way.
People here adapt.

a reply to: neformore

It depends on how we define "America".

As an imperial seat of power, the Project for a New American century has ensured that the 21st century will be dominated by the US interest.

China and Russia aren't threats, they are partners in asserting global dominion and hegemony.

America's evolving as it happens every few decades, among the big 3 with China and Russia America is the only one who does evolve. It's had nothing to do with being a "super power "militarily it's in the strength and diversity of our people. No other free nation has that long standing diversity, nor can they understand it. Nobody defends and spends throughout the world like America does. No other country wants that job, No other country,union or colony could do that job. Would be great if that job is finally "shutdown" and no longer needed in the "new normal world", but I'd imagine those countries are still going to want those checks and likely still need defending too.

a reply to: Klassified
Great post Klassified. I wish the US all the best for recovery, especially as I am getting old and as of yet never rode route 66(corny I know), saw a small town rodeo and watched a rocket launch.
Being as I'm 6.6 tall, i could only fly 1st class and can't afford that. Still I live in hope. Good Luck.

I’m not going to read it because things are already depressing enough. I’m well aware we have huge problems caused by incredibly bad decisions and lack of foresight throughout our history.

Yet the USA is still by far the leading nation in so many ways — including economically, militarily and culturally — and we’re far from finished. We’ve faced worse times than these and survived to become stronger.

Are these troubling times worse than the War for Independence, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II or the late 1960s? I don’t think it’s close compared to most of those eras, though we might be rivaling the 1960s on the all-time list of bad times in America.

China isn’t without its share of problems. Its population is aging much more rapidly than ours and they’re going to have a hard time supporting their old folks soon, just like Japan. And how is China going to provide good jobs for its people with the world economy hobbled by covid19, global resentment against it for causing the pandemic, and a growing desire to be less dependent on Chinese manufacturing?

Additive manufacturing, robotics and automation could greatly reduce the need for cheap foreign labor to meet First World demand for many products. India and many other desperately poor, overpopulated nations would love to manufacture stuff for the First World, and wouldn’t be as manipulative and predatory as China. The trend to relocate manufacturing will continue and increase.

I’ve always thought China’s wealth seemed too good to be true, accruing so quickly it now has the four largest banks according to reported assets, and 19 of the 100 largest banks in the world. It has huge debt problems, much of it hidden due to corruption and lack of transparency. While its economy uses capitalist methods, it’s centrally directed and ultimately controlled by Marxists. This might seem effective when foreign industries are destroyed by flooding the market with below-cost goods, but it’s going to bite China in the ass some day.

And if you think America has environmental problems, at least they’re not as severe as China’s. With 4.25 times more people to support in an area only slightly larger than America, I don’t envy China one bit, although I do fear and resent it for many reasons.

We've gone from a proud, robust and industrious nation to one that fears our fellow countrymen, kisses the government's ass, hides behind cloth masks and labels or insults everybody who doesn't think or look like us

One thing that gives me hope is America’s dominance in space activities. No other nation comes close. The USA has four heavy-lift launch vehicles: the Atlas V, Falcon 9, Delta IV Heavy and Falcon Heavy (the world’s highest capacity launch vehicle).

In the near future the USA will be rolling out five more heavy lift space launch vehicles: OmegA, Vulcan, the partially reusable New Glenn, the SLS, and the fully reusable Starship Super Heavy. The latter two will rival the Saturn V in payload capacity.

Four to six different U.S. manned spacecraft could debut within five years. The SpaceX Crew Dragon just completed a successful manned flight. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will do another unmanned flight late this year, and should fly a manned mission no later than next year. The Dream Chaser spaceplane is scheduled for an unmanned first flight in 2021, and Sierra Nevada says a manned version will fly within five years.

Artemis 2, the first manned Orion spacecraft mission, is scheduled for late 2022. It’s planned to fly a circumlunar mission.

SpaceX will attempt a manned circumlunar flight with its reusable Starship vehicle no sooner than 2023. Starship was recently selected by NASA to fly cargoes to the moon’s surface.

Artemis 3, scheduled for 2024, could see the first manned lunar landing since Apollo 17.

A manned capability is reportedly in development for New Glenn, but it’s very hush-hush.

America stands an excellent chance of being the first nation to exploit extraterrestrial resources, which dwarf those on Earth. China is pushing us hard in science and technology, but the United States will lead the world aerospace industry for at least another decade.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: neformore

I will try and read it but USA was unravelling from JFK also then going off the Gold Standard ....etc

Cool thread

I agree.

a reply to: neformore

It is a bit of history. American Exceptionalism was reenforced by the post-war boom. But why did the US have to become a hyper-vigilant police force for the world? Because of WW2.

The navel gazing of a collapsing British Empire brought about Neville “Can’t We Just Appease Our Way Out Of This” Chamberlain. His failures to prevent WW2 is why the US never deals with terrorists. All because it didn’t stop with Austria and it didn’t stop with Poland. As much a war criminal as anyone in the middle management of the Third Reich.

Thus the US would never let “Europe handle Europe” again. Post WW1, we found that you couldn’t be trusted. The League of Nations and later UN was not enough. NATO was needed to have military control over the feckless politicians that used peerage rather than capability to gauge greatness. Still happens in Europe. Equality of commoner classes is still a foreign concept, but you are getting there.

The US has toyed with Socialism far, far longer than it claims. Late 1800’s in fact. It was only because of WW2 that our quick march to full on Communism was halted. It would have been more Trotsky than Stalin but still darker than Marx or even Lenin. What saved the US was Ike, JFK, Nixon, Carter and Reagan. LBJ, Bush, Clinton, GW Bush and Obama would have sold us out in second if they could have.

Which brings us to Trump. He is fighting it as well and could easily join the above ranks as the first to fight the creeping Socialism in over 30 years. Any guesses as to why he is hated and has a full court press from the propaganda machine? I just told you. First in over 30 years. Rough and crude? Yep, the US doesn’t need appeasements right now...we need Churchill...what we got is Trump. Which means rather than drinking Lady Astor’s poison...he’d break the bottle over her head and probably fart.

As for the Covid...the article touched on that as well. We as Americans had been less and less social with digital lives, etc. Covid is exaggerating that distancing which is destructive...which party of anti-Americans encourages that? The same ones that are against Trump...imagine that.

What is the future? I say get rid of them. Kick them out of the US if they hate it so much. Give them California if need be so long as they are gone. But what of your fellow Americans, you ask? What about the Manx, I will ask back since The Isle of Man is not part of the UK? We don’t hear of any problems about that situation over here. Is there one there?

originally posted by: TXRabbit
We've gone from a proud, robust and industrious nation to one that fears our fellow countrymen, kisses the government's ass, hides behind cloth masks and labels or insults everybody who doesn't think or look like us

I'm much more afraid of boogaloo boiz, proud boys, white supremacist than anyone from China or Russia My exwife was a Hispanic born and raised in Texas and you wouldn't have believed the racist sh!t she had to constantly put up with from her fellow Americans. And it's getting worse!!

a reply to: olaru12
Same. I worry about the same groups.

i'm also a Texan.

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a reply to: neformore

I'm new to ATS and have direct evidence of new world order conspiracy related COVID pandemic. It's weird because any conspiracy worth its salt has to be convoluted or it will be seen for what it is coming out of the gate. Like even with kids stealing liquor from their parents, they add water back into the bottle so the parents will think "no way, it must be my taste buds, my kid would never do that, people simply don't think like that, I mean comedians do when they need a good punchline, but that's the extent of it".

When I was growing up, anyone who thought the CIA was involved in a conspiracy was thought to be nuts, could even get somebody who thought they were sent for a mental evaluation. This is even though that's what their expressed mission is, engaging in conspiracies at the same time, now that the internet has arrived, it's common knowledge the CIA was founded to handle Nazis who went to work for us after WW II. Still though, pointing out that common everyday fact still gets rolled eyes from many.

So I look at this evidence of a conspiracy involving COVID that's multiple layers deep realizing there's nowhere to go with it because apparently there's no such thing as conspiracies. It's like the people who'd you'd expect to take something like this seriously are afraid of being pointed to by their colleagues and laughed at for vetting anything that's complicated because it's somehow common knowledge among everyone but kooks that human beings don't do complicated. We rather do soccer moms and Brittany Spears, not bikers and heavy metal, which is another way of saying "go ahead and attack us with biological weapons because we're not crazy enough to think you actually would even though we have them on our own WMD menu just in case we need to use them"

It's all very strange, but hey, at least there's ATS where we can all watch the world go down in flames together while knowing full well who and what are behind it even though nobody but us cares to listen. It's like we're living in a soccer mom's eulogy for how she wants to see the world when it ends, which is even though I bet there's a lotta soccer moms on these threads. I would say it's too bad Antifa and BLM are not rallying around exposing the new world order, but then why would they when they're apparently it's speartip.

That's the damnedest thing though, what is the point of it all? It seems to me they wanna take over the world simply for the sake of doing it. Because as far as I can figure, the people behind it would be better off freeing mankind rather than enslaving it, which points to the fact that they're likely nuts while anyone who tries to expose them as such gets sent to a psychiatrist. Gotta admire their diligence though, they leave no stones unturned to get what they want.