Whether or not American retains its superpower status for my entire life is something that I’ve been thinking about on and off since Bush came to power. In a drunken moment on Monday I mentioned my fear that I might live to see my nation no longer the world superpower to the Canadian interning with me in South Africa. It was that conversation - along with the sheer boredom of my office and compounded by relatively light traffic this morning at Dkos - which prompted me to make this question a diary.
Under Bush we’ve seen the decline of US reputation abroad, even in countries that used to be friendly to us. To many in this community the damage to our reputation isn’t really something that we have to argue, since we regularly discuss the harm caused by the administration’s contempt for other country’s here. We have also talk about our dollar getting weaker and weaker and our jobs going over-seas. When you get your news here, it often paints quite a bleak picture. However, what effect will our current problems have on the country’s future? Will we be able to fix all the damage done or is has too much damage been done to ever fully recover.
I think that kossacks are often a positive community and we believe that we can change things. Given the purpose of this site its not surprising that we believe that we can make a difference. And while I have no doubt that we can improve the US and politics and that the world will be a much better place because of the efforts of so many here, I wonder how much better we can make it.
Until Bush came to power I felt certain that I would live as a citizen of the superpower. It was a heady feeling. Maybe I was simply naïve then. However now I am full of doubt and wonder what life after the fall out will be like should we topple. This fear, this disillusionment, is just one more thing I lay at Bush’s feet.
My Canadian friend’s take on this was slightly different. Her answer was that of course the US would not stay the superpower that long. However, she thought that our downslide was a long way coming and thought it was wrong to blame it on Bush. She seemed to view him more as evidence that we were on our way out. She said all this with such conviction in her eyes that I wasn’t sure whether it was just something she passionately wanted to happen or something that was obvious to anyone objective.
I’m not sure if it should matter to me whether we retain our superpower status or not. Maybe it’s not the kind of thing I should be concerned about, but regardless I am curious as to your thoughts.