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Dan Simpson: Is America in decline?

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Dan Simpson: Is America in decline?

How long can the U.S. claim to be the world's greatest nation?

America's current situation has prompted some speculation that we, as a nation, are in the decline; that this is the last quarter of America’s time as a successful nation; that the country is, in fact, decadent.

There is some evidence to support that contention. The Democratic Party is in massive disarray. It has an uninspiring set of candidates hoping to contest a second term for the truly appalling Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has dragged the American presidency to an unprecedented low through blatant nepotism, reckless hiring and firing, and shady financial ties that dredge up justified questions about his ties to other countries, namely Russia.

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It was only a Republican Senate majority that saved Mr. Trump from removal from office after he was impeached for trying to use military aid as a bargaining chip for getting dirt on a political opponent. The Republican senators who backed the president must have been unwilling or afraid to read what was so clearly written on the wall.

President Donald Trump walks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Jan. 28 before announcing the Trump administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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There are other important signs of America's encroaching decadence. The long-lived tradition of the Iowa caucuses came unstuck this year. It may have been a question of technology's exceeding man's capabilities, in other words, Machine, 1, Man, 0. Or there is a story circulating that Republican zealots deliberately jammed the phone lines by which Democratic election officials were reporting vote totals. Either way, bad news.

Then there is some alarming data in America's suicide and birthrate statistics, which indicate that there is not much hope in American society out there. Things may only get worse as automation consumes the workplace. Apart from the implications this would have on employment, the idea of being cared for in my latter years by a machine does not fill my heart with joy.

One is also confronted by the phenomenon of Boeing. It appears that the aircraft behemoth's desire for profits caused it to risk the safety of crew and passengers as it put a dangerous plane into circulation. Nearly 350 people paid dearly for this greed.

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The list of issues is expansive: climate change, budget deficits, soaring national debt, education, health care. infrastructure. All are being neglected by our elected officials, most notably the president, at our immense peril.

Probably the worst of the picture is the low quality of the available presidential candidates. If we are a great country, why are our political parties seemingly incapable of finding better candidates? Lochinvar shows no signs of riding in from the West. South Bend? I don't think so.

So where are we? Slip-sliding away? Decadent? Maybe. But there remain two significant reasons for hope. First, we still hold a first-class piece of real estate with a lot of inalienable wealth. Second, if the U.S. can avoid Mr. Trump’s cutting the ground out from under our labor resources through stupid immigration policy, the country still has a decent personnel base to work with. Many of us still actually like to work.

Finally, the U.S. still has a reasonable record of wanting to resolving its problems and actually managing to do so. There aren't many examples out there for us to follow. The British appear to have doomed themselves to insignificance. Anyone who has ever lived in a communist-ruled nation knows just what a failure that is. Monarchies can be amusing, but who gets to be king? Or queen? The word "socialism" makes Americans go all rigid.

Russian President Vladimir Putin
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So let's just hang in there and try to fix what we’ve got. I hope we'll get a good chance to do so in November.

Dan Simpson, a former U.S. ambassador, is a columnist for the Post-Gazette (dhsimpson999@gmail.com).

First Published: February 12, 2020, 10:00 a.m.

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