Josh Levin of Slate Magazine looks into the bleak future of the God Bless'd US of A:
Hurricane Katrina proved that modern America is resilient. It didn't prove that we'll be around forever. After watching the place where I grew up avert total annihilation, I can't help but wonder what course of events will eventually wipe out New Orleans and America as a whole. When it comes to human civilization, entropy conquers all: Rome fell, the Aztecs were conquered, the British Empire withered, and the Soviet Union cracked apart. America may be exceptional, but it's not supernatural. Our noble experiment, like every other before it, has to end sometime.
http://www.slate.com/...
It is an unpleasant though irrefutable argument: If my great-grandfather, grandfather and father died it is reasonable for me to assume that I will ultimately die. Though death is, by necessity, a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence it is also true that death isn't at all unusual. Immortality and eternity are unusual though they are actually more accurately considered impossible.
What is true of the individual is also true of the nation, the civilization (regardless of any civilization's accomplishments ... including walking upon the moon), and species (including walking, talking, tool-making species).
As if to illustrate this point consider the grim fate of England:
Time is up for once-great Britain
Stryker McGuire
Britain’s bout of reflection on its last gasps of empire comes at a natural point in its history. The Great Recession came as a surprise and has accelerated the trend, but the rise of China, India and Brazil, and the changing ties to a declining America, have been visible for many years. As America turns to building new ties with the advancing powers of Asia and Latin America, Britain can only feel less special. The nation is in the totally predictable grip of the ennui and grumpiness that accompany the end of a political era.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/...
Pretty sad news, right? I cannot feel too much sympathy for England no more so than I can feel any sympathy for the God Bless'd US of A. Too many crimes were committed by these fading empires as they assembled and maintained their power over the globe. Both nations behaved in an irresponsible and reckless manner towards the planet and its inhabitants.
It doesn't actually matter how the empires end or at what pace they collapse, in the end all empires die and all nations cease to exist.
Life goes on as always. The sun kept shining after the Roman Empire collapsed, it kept on shining after the British Empire dissolved, and it will still be shining when the United States of America joins the ranks of has-been former superpowers.
David Mathews
http://www.flickr.com/...