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harsh times have come and gone, but the real question is whether or not our system has become so flawed that it's irreparable. to me, it seems like america was at the peak of it's power and influence, during the closing period of the cold war. during the late 80's and early 90's. since that time, particularly in the past decade, it seems that we've been in a swift decline, while other nations have grown in power and influence.

i feel like there are a lot of forces at work who would be happy with america being just another country, but perhaps that's beside the point. what i really want to know is, are you optimistic about america's future? is this just another passing phase, or is it the beginning of the end? i'm sure all civilizations have felt they were just experiencing another lull, prior to their ultimate collapse. can we right this ship? WILL we right this ship?

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I confess that I'm a little worried about the future of this country. There's a book I read titled "The Parable Of The Sower" by Octavia Butler that resonates with how I see the country's possible future unless we start being way more proactive about things. But I'm not sure such measures would be welcomed because of how babied, selfish, and irresponsible we've become with our 'freedoms'. There are certainly countries way worse. But I does feel like if we keep going the way we are, then in time, we'll be one of those worse off countries.

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well here are my thoughts. nothing lasts forever. no civilization/nation/empire has stood forever. so it's only a matter of time before america too falls. or at least our current system of government. and we've certainly set the stage for some kind of collapse with our massive deficit spending, and government over-regulation. this has weakened us economically, which has weakened our standing around the world.

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The historical American spirit has been one where men and women were willing to do the hard work and to feel pain in order to succeed.  No guarantees. Some will fail but most would succeed under their own steam.  And we were charitable to those who were more unfortunate.  Individual liberties and personal responsibility is what once made America great.

However, in the past 100 years, we've migrated more towards a socialist, collectivist state.  We've bred generations who increasingly think they're "entitled" to something ... growing classes of government-dependent rather than self-sufficient people.  Let someone else pay the bill.  Let the government become your decision maker and tell you what you can and can't do ... the nanny state.  As our President has iterated on numerous occasions, my "personal salvation" is no longer dependent upon me, it's dependent upon the "collective" salvation of everybody.

The good guys have been recast to become the bad guys.  The bad guys are the good guys.

So we're certainly capable enough to right the ship.

I just don't know if we will.

After all ... somebody else is supposed to do it for us now.  

The government will fix it!