Is America going to collapse?

[Seneschal]

I live in the US, and I'd say within 2 years something big will happen, I highly doubt collapse, probably just some rioting until things get back into control.

Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but Americans have always struck me as somewhat more... umm, unanimous, maybe? Especially for such a large country. I mean, yeah, racial disorders, Stonewall riots, but was there ever any big animosity towards the government? Besides just people not trusting it (that's common everywhere). Trying to bring down a corrupt government just doesn't seem like a very American thing to me; the whole "people's revolution" has those socialist overtones that Americans are a bit allergic to.

Again, I'm speaking from an ignorant outsider's perspective. The whole Jasmine Revolution is slowly spilling into Europe right about now, and there have already been protests in every major city in my country, and it seems like it's about to get rough in the neighbouring countries too. A sense of social unrest and civil responsibility springs up rather easily around here, and for the most part it's a good thing, a big equalizing force in politics. I never got the same vibe about the American public, it seems much more stable (or complacent, if you prefer) even in the midst of a financial crisis.

 

[Smagmuck_]

God I hate it when people make generalized assumptions based on obvious bias media.

OT: I don't think we should expect a Homefront esque scenario but we should expect, besides we're starting on another upturn in the economy... And if some starts with the "ZOMG UNEMPLOYMENT" garbage... Remember this, during the Great Depression it was a 25% unemployment rate... 9% ain't got nothing on the 25%...

 

[LikeDustInTheWind]

Recession? Yes. Depression? Possibly. Total collapse? Not yet. Everything will collapse eventually, but the U.S isn't going to implode for a while. Times are hard, but they'll get better. Just wait.

 

[xdiesp]

No country in the world named "America", so no.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Short answer, yes. It's build into the system. It's the nature of a federal bank / fractional reserve system.

Watch this to learn more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EewGMBOB4Gg

Ps. Anyone who tells you that it's ok because GDP is going up likely has no idea what it really represents because it certainly isn't the well being of the people.

No, but its the measure of a country. What do you measure a country's wealth on, if I can ask? You think China's people are happy? Cause China is supposed to be doing rather well.

 

[Suijen]

I'm American but I've stayed in China for the past 2 years. China's much more dynamic than the US, and there's definitely a lot more optimism here. What I've noticed is that most Americans now are really pessimistic now; it's either the US is going to collapse, China's going to buy up the US, etc etc. Have a little faith in your own country. It's bad, sure, but things will get better. In the meantime, try to look for jobs in things that don't have overcapacity. There are a lot of foreigners from English speaking countries in Beijing, and many of them teach English, which nets a pretty nice 150 RMB an hour ($23 USD), without taxes. The students who learn English then flock to the US for study, providing universities with much needed cash. I'm going to assume that the educational sector will probably be hiring then.

 

[Khada]

Short answer, yes. It's build into the system. It's the nature of a federal bank / fractional reserve system.

Watch this to learn more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EewGMBOB4Gg

Ps. Anyone who tells you that it's ok because GDP is going up likely has no idea what it really represents because it certainly isn't the well being of the people.

No, but its the measure of a country. What do you measure a country's wealth on, if I can ask? You think China's people are happy? Cause China is supposed to be doing rather well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b7mgxaxN1U

 

[Jake0fTrades]

No, if America survived the Great Depression, we'll survive this one.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

It would be naive of me to say that the United States isn't having a rough patch, but our country is nowhere near collapse. Look at us. We may no longer be the head-honcho in the world, but we have a strong military, a stable government, and we enjoy rights some people in the world can't even think about.

Our country isn't under attack, we're not under the rule of a dictator and violent riots are essentially unheard of.

I'm feeling pretty optimistic.

 

[Thaa'ir]

Collapse in the near future? I doubt it. Not be the #1 superpower? Likely. Perhaps the world will shift into a balance of multiple superpowers. What does it matter? Even assuming the worst, Europe decimated itself in two world wars, yet it is an important and influential force in the world today.

Learn Mandarin? Not a bad idea, but I seriously doubt it will be as widely studied or necessary as English is in much of the rest of the world for a long time.

One day America (the United States of America if you are hung up over names) will cease to exist...as will France, Russia, England, China (yes, even China will eventually come to its end) their languages, the Christian and Islamic religions, and many species of animals.

 

[Lyx]

Actually, everyone will just turn to the EU and China. No one country is so important that it takes the entire world with it when it commits suicide.

Maybe - just a little problem: Europe is gonna go down too - it just takes a *slightly* more disciplined approach at it. It may not suffer as hard as the USA, but it will have to kill the EMU, sooner or later.

So, that pretty much leaves only china. Problem is just: Who's gonna buy all their stuff during the crisis, considering that they rely so heavily on export?

Exactly. China relies so heavily on America buying things from it that when America collapses, so will China. In fact, that's pretty much going to happen to most major powers. America probably will take everyone down when it goes because of all the money it pumps out buying things from everyone else. Not the most sound move on our end, no, but when we stop fueling the economies of other countries, they'll go down too.

Well, yes and no. It's more like a "coincidental" perfect storm. The problems of europe are self-made. The majority of the countries of europe, except of germany and france, are basically broke. And germany and france cannot bail them all out. This european timebomb is actually independent of the usa, though with europe being as financially fragile as it is now, a financial disaster in the USA could accelerate the timebomb, so that indeed it would all go boom together.

In theory, the european issue could be solved by amputation - the EMU could be killed on purpose, so that the weak countries can restructure, while germany and france come out mostly undamaged - but just as in the USA, the doctrine appears to be the opposite: Try to prevent until the last drop.

You are however correct that at least china indeed is in a strong economic relationship with the USA. That after all is the whole reason why china has not given the USA the finger it financially deserves. China depends on the USA, so until now they have played along. Though, china is showing subtle signs that it has enough of USA's monetary policies - i.e., since 2008 it has slowed down on buying bonds (which is just a different way of saying that it is slowing down on financing USA's debt. Which considering the circumstances leaves pretty much just one interpretation: They're losing trust in monetary policies of the USA, and are trying to limit damage, without setting off a panic on bonds (which would at this point instantly crash the USA)).

 

[Dragonclaw]

In all honesty we've lost a lot of jobs that quite frankly aren't coming back, ever. The retail sector especially is still hemmoraging jobs. This is still partially due to WalMart and Target with their predatory pricing killing small businesses, but we're also conviniencing ourselves out of jobs...One small company can decimate entire chains of stores with 10 times as many employees or more that end up entering a much smaller job market. Look at the Ipod...anybody remember music stores? I used to love those, my first job in high school was at my local music store...now all 3 in town are long gone...We all love Netflix, but how many video stores are shuttered? Tower is GONE, most mom & pop shops are empty storefronts, and Blockbuster isn't coming out of bankruptcy...a possible purchase will be closing hundreds more stores next month...Amazon and e-readers have killed local bookstores, and now Borders has toppled (they are closing all 11 stores in my area!) while Barnes and Noble hangs on by a thread.

Say the economy is improving, but I have people offering me resumes...to try and get a job at a comic book store! And unfortuinately I'm not hiring either...with so many people out of work or hurting themselves comics and toys are a non necesity so I'm certainly feeling the pinch myself.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Snip

Oka, that guy is clearly living in fantasy. He's a liberal talking about a liberal world. If what he talks about is true, then the best economy is no economy. The point is countries are measured by the growth they make. No matter what it is, its growth, and it makes the country better, cause there's more employment. Crime, sickness, death, all of that will still exist. To say that because GDP is made up of whats used to make combat them is bad doesnt mean anything.

Cause if thats true, then those countries in Africa where the birth mortality rate should be among the richest in the world. What with AIDS and such running pretty much rampant.

there's a completely seperate measure called HUman Development Index, which measure GDP, Birth rates, edecuation levels (efficency of it basically), and mortality rates to measure the people's happiness. Here's the complete list of that:
1. Norway
2. Australia
3. New Zealand
4. United States
5. Ireland
6. Liechtenstein
7. Netherlands
8. Canada
9. Sweden
10. Germany
11. Japan
12. Korea (Republic of)
13. Switzerland
14. France
15. Israel
16. Finland
17. Iceland
18. Belgium
19. Denmark
20. Spain
21. Hong Kong, China (SAR)
22. Greece
23. Italy
24. Luxembourg
25. Austria
26. United Kingdom
27. Singapore
28. Czech Republic
29. Slovenia
30. Andorra
31. Slovakia
32. United Arab Emirates
33. Malta
34. Estonia
35. Cyprus
36. Hungary
37. Brunei Darussalam
38. Qatar
39. Bahrain
40. Portugal
41. Poland
42. Barbados


High Human Development

43. Bahamas
44. Lithuania
45. Chile
46. Argentina
47. Kuwait
48. Latvia
49. Montenegro
50. Romania
51. Croatia
52. Uruguay
53. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
54. Panama
55. Saudi Arabia
56. Mexico
57. Malaysia
58. Bulgaria
59. Trinidad and Tobago
60. Serbia
61. Belarus
62. Costa Rica
63. Peru
64. Albania
65. Russian Federation
66. Kazakhstan
67. Azerbaijan
68. Bosnia and Herzegovina
69. Ukraine
70. Iran (Islamic Republic of)
71. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
72. Mauritius
73. Brazil
74. Georgia
75. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
76. Armenia
77. Ecuador
78. Belize
79. Colombia
80. Jamaica
81. Tunisia
82. Jordan
83. Turkey
84. Algeria
85. Tonga


Medium Human Development

86. Fiji
87. Turkmenistan
88. Dominican Republic
89. China
90. El Salvador
91. Sri Lanka
92. Thailand
93. Gabon
94. Suriname
95. Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
96. Paraguay
97. Philippines
98. Botswana
99. Moldova (Republic of)
100. Mongolia
101. Egypt
102. Uzbekistan
103. Micronesia (Federated States of)
104. Guyana
105. Namibia
106. Honduras
107. Maldives
108. Indonesia
109. Kyrgyzstan
110. South Africa
111. Syrian Arab Republic
112. Tajikistan
113. Viet Nam
114. Morocco
115. Nicaragua
116. Guatemala
117. Equatorial Guinea
118. Cape Verde
119. India
120. Timor-Leste
121. Swaziland
122. Lao People's Democratic Republic
123. Solomon Islands
124. Cambodia
125. Pakistan
126. Congo
127. São Tomé and Príncipe


Low Human Development

128. Kenya
129. Bangladesh
130. Ghana
131. Cameroon
132. Myanmar
133. Yemen
134. Benin
135. Madagascar
136. Mauritania
137. Papua New Guinea
138. Nepal
139. Togo
140. Comoros
141. Lesotho
142. Nigeria
143. Uganda
144. Senegal
145. Haiti
146. Angola
147. Djibouti
148. Tanzania (United Republic of)
149. Côte d'Ivoire
150. Zambia
151. Gambia
152. Rwanda
153. Malawi
154. Sudan
155. Afghanistan
156. Guinea
157. Ethiopia
158. Sierra Leone
159. Central African Republic
160. Mali
161. Burkina Faso
162. Liberia
163. Chad
164. Guinea-Bissau
165. Mozambique
166. Burundi
167. Niger
168. Congo (Democratic Republic of the)
169. Zimbabwe
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

Notice how the US is number 4 in that department?

 

[Flav.F]

You're going to see a lot of chest thumping "USA USA USA, WE R NO.1" crap in this thread.
To be as frank as I can a collapse is extremly unlikely, but a demise isn't.
The main problem being this;

There are two field in which the United States can make money

1) Agriculture

2) Science

However, it will be beaten in Agriculture by China,India,Russia and Brazil by the simple fact that people in those countries are willing to work longer hours for a smaller pay.

So logically the U.S. would need to invest heavily in Science, but itonically it isn't.
Well, Obama seems to have caught on to this and is trying to boost science funding but the republicans are telling him to go fuck himself.


The ammount of creationists, and anti- evolution hype in the U.S.A. is apaplling. If nothing is done about your country's relationship with science, it will ultimatly stagnate and start to loose economic power and scientific credibility.


It's important to note that the U.S.A. become a superpower by investing heavily in science in the first place.

 

[Chris646]

No. America will not collapse. The economy is on the rise, it's just that the future will require degrees to get jobs. I mean, it's just that all the immigrants and adults have taken the jobs meant for teenagers.

 

[Hawkeye16]

Remember the Great Depression? Remember how we recovered from that, like, alot? Kinda like that, except we aren't as worse off as we were then. So the epic comeback should come easier.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Yeah sure at some point the USA will blow away, everything does. Will it happen anytime soon? Dunno probably not. I doubt if the economy will be the end of the US though since if the economy ends the US it will also kill numerous other smaller countries along the way and I don't see mass revolutions and political action yet (well no more so then usual).

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Your overdramatizing this a bit aren't you? Germany was a lot worse off at the end of WWI, granted it is a bit overshadowed by something a little later.

Just because we had economic problems does not mean we're going to turn into a third world nation, you not getting a job doesn't mean the country is dying.

Again, its not just me. How is the nation's Poverty stricken families going to get to work when they spend $5 a gallon on gas to get to work? Maybe its worse where I am, as Florida has never been all that great.

try biking. (i'm in nebraska) so i can't bike all the time, but biking to and from work saves so much money and it's a decent workout (i live 6 miles from work, so thats 12 everytime i have work)

and you live in florida, which is tropical weather mostly, so is there any reason you can't bike to and from work?

or bussing? or carpooling?

just saying, gotta work your options, think outside the box.

hell if anything, in my area, my field is opening more and more and they are begging for us to basically graduate college so we can fill in the spots, in which ill be starting at 65-70k and looking upward towards 100-110k later on

also, for jobs, try looking all over the place in odd places, lawn care, federal jobs (roadwork and whatnot), any kind of a laborer.

 

[Toriver]

I'm American but I've stayed in China for the past 2 years. China's much more dynamic than the US, and there's definitely a lot more optimism here. What I've noticed is that most Americans now are really pessimistic now; it's either the US is going to collapse, China's going to buy up the US, etc etc. Have a little faith in your own country. It's bad, sure, but things will get better. In the meantime, try to look for jobs in things that don't have overcapacity. There are a lot of foreigners from English speaking countries in Beijing, and many of them teach English, which nets a pretty nice 150 RMB an hour ($23 USD), without taxes. The students who learn English then flock to the US for study, providing universities with much needed cash. I'm going to assume that the educational sector will probably be hiring then.

I'm doing the same thing in Japan right now, and what I have to say to respond is, I hope either you've got some other higher education or experience somewhere, or you are really into mastering Chinese, because:
1) the whole English teaching job market has a very high turnover rate and was never meant to be any sort of long-term employment for teachers
2) I know from the experiences of many people I know who have gone home, the experience you get from it, while certainly fulfilling in other ways and worth it if you have other experience or connections, will do absolutely nothing to aid you in getting a job back home. Teaching English in another country isn't really an experience that can be applied to any industry aside from ESL education itself, unless you take the time to master the native language and culture of the place you teach in. If you manage that, you MIGHT be eligible for a job in a cultural center, or as an interpreter/translator, or teaching that foreign language, if you have the other qualifications you need. However, this is coming from the viewpoint of someone teaching in Japan. With China on the rise and Japan on the (relative) decline, there may be a larger and growing market out there for someone with experience in China, so perhaps you will have an easier time with going home than I expect to. I'm looking to be able to master Japanese in an attempt to simply stay here long enough to ride out the downturn before I go home, and I refuse to go home unless I have something lined up. My student loan debt level won't allow me to do otherwise.

 

[Hawkeye16]

Remember the Great Depression? Remember how we recovered from that, like, alot? Kinda like that, except we aren't as worse off as we were then. So the epic comeback should come easier.

We recovered from the great depression thanks in major part to a massive war that stimulated the economy. Other things did help sure, but nothing like people finding jobs suddenly as mechanics and working on production of armaments.

Then we'll just start a massive war! We're AWESOME at that!