The Decline of America: Causes and Consequences

America has been in decline for decades now. It is hard to point out one single incident or a specific date but the truth is America is in decline. The reasons for this decline are multifaceted and require a long debate and discussion. However, in part, the answer lies with the rise of right-wing extremism in the late 60s, fueled by the paranoia of the McCarthy movement and the anti-Commie scares of the 40s and 50s. We can even see the beginnings with the Hays code in the 1930s.

Right-Wing Extremism and Its Impact

But I suppose the true seeds lie with the problem that the Confederate States of America (CSA) lost the Civil War, but won the peace. Republicans often view the 1950s as a golden era for the US. And in many aspects, it was. What they ignore is the 90% tax rate in that time frame. Today, such a rate is anathema to them. People and businesses don’t like 90% tax rates, as they don’t like giving the government their hard-earned cash.

So, they conspired not to do so. And their plan was cunningly simple. Instead of declaring profits and seeing 90% go to tax, they invested in infrastructure, training, decent pay and conditions, and research and development. The workforce was happier and more productive, and the companies reaped the benefits of their research. The government collected very little money from its 90% tax rate; the money was spent, and the economy grew as a result. The tax did exactly what it was supposed to: get money into the economy by disincentivizing profiteering and encouraging investment and spending.

Economic Policies and Their Consequences

Today, the focus isn’t so much on research and development (RD) or investment or training; it is on pure profit. Manufacturing has been outsourced, which has allowed America to stagnate. Decaying infrastructure because the government lacks the tax revenue to repair and upgrade. Declining standards because education is de-emphasized.

These economic policies have led to a series of negative outcomes. The right-wing base, under the influence of figures like Donald Trump, has shown an anti-science paranoia that has infected large parts of the Republican Party. This has caused America to lose its position as a leader in green energy, despite having the opportunity to do so. Republicans have spent nearly 50 years denouncing green energy and climate change to keep the oil companies happy. Other nations have embraced the change, and the result today is that the US has squandered any hope of leading the next generation of energy. The green energy revolution could have supported millions of jobs in manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and design/innovation but was repeatedly rejected by the right-wing rather than embraced as a way to drive change.

Military Spending and Healthcare

The US spends over $700 billion on its armed forces. In terms of purchasing power, it reaps about ￡300 billion worth of benefit from that… the rest is waste, graft, corruption, and profiteering by the military-industrial complex. Huge amounts have been spent on needless foreign wars, interventions, and adventurism that offered no gain for the US but fueled the rise of big corporations who profited from those wars. This has led to a situation where America is spending more on its military than any other nation but facing diminishing returns.

In the field of healthcare, the US spends two or three times as much per head as other Western nations. Leaving aside the results of the top 1 (which skew the rest), the results of such expenditure are worse than other nations. The UK has one of the most socialized healthcare systems in the world, and it is also one of the most effective and efficient. What Americans reject as socialized medical and a huge waste of funds has health outcomes that many US hospitals would almost kill for.

But there are huge segments of the US population who prefer to waste their money rather than see government use it. They do not see the irony in that Americans get bad government because right-wing voters want cheap government and are unwilling to pay for good government. It’s like everything else – you get what you pay for.

Conclusion: The American Dream in Decline

Overall, you see a nation that has a huge amount of resources and potential, and is squandering those resources to build up the “1” at the expense of everyone else. The result of this is increasing poverty, declining ability, decaying infrastructure, increased tensions, increased corruption, and the rise of the theocratic GOP. It doesn’t stop being a crazed theocracy similar to Iran's simply because it is based on Christianity. The American dream is dead.

The current state of affairs is not inevitable; change is coming whether they will it or not. However, their 50 years of delay and obstruction mean it will be more expensive, harder hitting, and less beneficial to the US than it could have been. Opportunities like that need to be grasped, not crushed.