The United States of America is now a weakening state that will become a failed state. Ask anyone if they consider the USA a weak state or a failed state, they will immediately follow with a laugh or a confused look because of how outlandish that rare combination of words sounds. Look at 2013 Failed States Index, and it stands in the top 10% of least weak or failed states. It is obvious that the US is a major power, if not the major power of the world. It would be ridiculous and completely erroneous to say anything close to the idea that the US is a weak or failed state, but if you stopped and decided to look at the country not at an international level, but as a group of people in a vast land ruled by one government, it would be obvious that unless the great United States of America takes action in order to maintain its current prestige and power, the nation could be headed into weakness and eventually failure.
People need to start remembering how many large and powerful empires, such as Greece, Rome, and even the British Empire, all rose to power and all fell eventually. It is not a ridiculous thing then to consider that the US could be headed in that direction, unless of course we look to learn from the past in order for this country to continue being a great one, even if for just for a little longer.
If we focus solely on the factors used by the Failed States Index of 2013, we can see how the US is beginning to suffer more and more in respect to each category. Unplanned for troubles such as widespread disease and natural disasters make it difficult for the government to protect its people. With the recent Ebola virus outbreak, there is major panic by the population with fear of it killing thousands of people and the government not being able to protect its people. In 2005 with Hurricane Katrina, many died and were displaced from their homes, and help took way too long to arrive, making all question the effectiveness of our government. Another event that left us questioning everything was the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the question of our safety in a country that many believe the rest of the world hates them.
Other indicators of weakness, such as group grievances and violations of civil/human rights, with events such as the murdering of multiple (black) teenagers all around the country, or the 99% protesters on Wall Street, have led many to protest, creating social unrest. They contribute to the foreshadowing of a state in the dawn of weakness and failure. Tying all the indicators together such as government inefficiency, group grievances and violation of human rights, many Americans truly fear and oppose the US government. It is my belief that unless the United States begins to fix the overall consensus that the government will not look to help its citizens unless those running it benefit, the country will eventually make its way up the Failed States Index until a second civil war for social equality brakes out.
I think you bring up an interesting and unique point. Whenever I think about possible failed states, the U.S. is probably the very last one to come to mind. Are you predicting a failure in the United States anytime soon (say... the next 30 years)? Or farther in the future than that, about 150 years or so? By the way things look right now, I don't think the U.S. is bound to fail any time in the foreseeable future. Many Americans are still very patriotic and take a lot of pride in our nation, so I can't really agree with you. And as far as social justice and human rights go, we've made remarkable improvements in equality (even though we still have much more to improve).
ReplyDeleteWhilst I agree with Sara that your timeline for US collapse is unclear I think this is a really interesting post - good application of material to a case study. The triggering of collapse through environmental/natural disaster seems particularly relevant given climate change.
ReplyDeleteWhat changed would you propose the United States should make in order not to become a failed state? If the US does become a failed state, I don't think there will be one "thing" to blame. For example, I think it would be because of a mixture of failures, not just one big failure. It might also be because other countries, such as China, are on the rise and America may not have enough fuel to keep out-powering countries on such a high level. I think there will always be room for improvement, it's just a question of whether the US will have a chance to make the improvements, or if it will collapse before it gets the chance.
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