For Reprints and Permissions, click here. Relevance? var inline_cta_text_370842 = ''; You can read our Privacy Policy here. var inline_cta_font_color_370842 = ''; Getting GOP support is going to be rough, considering the plan is slated to be paid for by raising corporate tax rates and reversing most of the Trump tax cuts, both of which are anathema to most congressional Republicans. On entering the Oval Office, Trump would still offer them blunt words, which would ring bells in rally after rally where they could cheer him to death. That is what Germans thought with Hitler..did not turn out well. View our current issue By then, the abandonment of the white working class and lower middle class by the “new Democrats” was history. America's Existential Crisis / By Hohenzollern. And that, of course, was four years before the pandemic struck or there was a wildfire season in the West the likes of which no one had imagined possible and a record 30 storms that more or less used up two alphabets in a never-ending hurricane season. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. jQuery("#magazine_button_370842 a").attr("href",magazine_button_url_370842); inline_cta_button_text_370842 = ''; slotId: "thenation_right_rail_370842", 0 0. pearl. ", Minneapolis police chief to testify against Chauvin, Capitol Police union reeling from fatal attacks on officers, Protesters hurl petrol bombs at police in Northern Ireland amid Brexit tensions, Florida county evacuated after breach in wastewater reservoir, Worshipers celebrate second Easter of the pandemic, Southern border facilities "stretched beyond thin," report says, Ethiopia says Eritrean troops have started withdrawing. Instead, it set staggering records for Covid-19 cases and deaths, numbers that previously might have been associated with third-world countries. Today, the coronavirus here in the United States might be more accurately relabeled “the Trump virus.” After all, the president really did make it his own in a unique fashion. America is falling apart at the seams. It would, more controversially — though no less importantly — do things like help curb the affordable housing shortage in the U.S. and spend $125 billion on upgrading public schools and child care facilities. A quarter-century later, Donald Trump would be the living evidence that this country was anything but immune to history, though few then recognized him as a messenger of the fall already underway. if( cta_2_check_370842 ){ The moment when he returned from the hospital, having had Covid-19 himself, stepped out on a White House balcony, and proudly tore off his mask for all the world to see summed up the messaging of this all-American 21st century moment perfectly. The period we know as the time of the … }. America Is Falling Apart And It's Your Fault We all say we want accountability, but what we really mean is we want everyone else to be accountable. 3 1. oil field trash. From the Black Death (bubonic plague) of the 14th century to the Spanish Flu of the early 20th century, pandemics have, in their own fashion, been a dime a dozen. I found a fantastic article on The Federalist about a topic I’ve been wanting to write about for a long time: “Once upon a time, you had meaning. Even at the time, it should have been obvious enough that the United States would sooner or later follow the Soviet Union to the exits, no matter how slowly, enveloped in a kind of self-adoration. In this century, even a “limited” regional war with such weaponry could create a nuclear winter that might starve billions. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. It's the kind of thing both parties usually wind up agreeing with, even if they haggle over the overarching bill and how to pay for it. inline_cta_url_370842 = 'https://www.thenation.com/donate-website/?sourceid=1020084'; You can practically hear the chants now as those figures continue to rise exponentially: USA! Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has already said his caucus is against raising taxes to pay for infrastructure spending. Can it be rebuilt? if( magazine_button_bg_color_370842 !='' ){ They had been losing ground—to the tune of $2.5 trillion a year since 1975—to the very billionaires whom The Donald so proudly proclaimed himself one of and to a version of corporate America that had grown oversized, wealthy, and powerful in a fashion that would have been unimaginable decades earlier. cta_1_check_370842 = true; Officer Ken Shaver is recovering from his injuries after Friday’s car assault at the Capitol which killed Officer Billy Evans and the suspect. magazine_button_url_370842 = 'https://www.thenation.com/email-signup-module-donate/'; jQuery("#inline_cta_2_module_370842").addClass("tn-inline-cta-module"); Protesters in pro-British parts of Northern Ireland hurled petrol bombs and other missiles at police in a second night of rioting in the country. FTA: •32% of U.S. adults “strongly agree that America is falling apart”; 41% of Republicans, 29% of independents and 29% of Democrats agree. Lawmakers are grappling with how to secure the Capitol while keeping it accessible to the public. The American empire is in decay, but that doesn’t mean things can’t get worse. if( inline_cta_2_button_text_370842 !='' ){ inline_cta_url_370842 = 'https://www.thenation.com/donate-website/?sourceid=1020084'; } America is prewar country, psychologically unprepared for one thing to go wrong. if( inline_cta_2_text_370842 !='' ){ It soon became apparent that such weaponry, collected in vast and spreading arsenals, had (and still has) the power to quite literally take history out of our hands. His next book, A Nation Unmade by War (Dispatch Books), will be published later this month. At the same time, with the help of Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, he continued the process of abandonment by handing a staggering tax cut to the 1 percent and those very same corporations, enriching them ever so much more. tn_pos: 'rectangle_4', if( is_user_logged_in != null ){ And none of this, as I say, is in itself anything special, not even for a genuinely global power like the United States. Whether, on such a changing world, the next empire or empires, China or unknown powers to come, can rise in the normal fashion remains to be seen. } } four years' worth of "Infrastructure Week" jokes, six and 10 years since Congress has passed a major infrastructure bill, 13th in quality of overall infrastructure, against raising taxes to pay for infrastructure spending, an analysis from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. }else{ In the 21st century, there were to be no “new deals” for them and they knew it. “After all, can anyone really doubt that representative democracy as it once existed has been eviscerated and is now—consider Congress Exhibit A—in a state of advanced paralysis, or that just about every aspect of the country’s infrastructure is slowly fraying or crumbling and that little is being done about it? Lv 7. tn_keyword: ['donald-tru', 'joe-biden', 'us-militar'], Here’s a little of what I wrote back in June 2016 about The Donald, a reminder that what’s happening now, bizarre as it might seem, wasn’t beyond imagining even so many years ago: }); Donald Trump arrived on the scene promising to attend to the abandoned ones, the white Americans whose dreams of better lives for themselves or their children had largely been left in the dust in an ever-more-unequal country. if( inline_cta_2_bg_color_370842 !='' ){ cta_2_check_370842 = true; jQuery("#inline_cta_btn_370842 a input").css("background",inline_cta_bg_color_370842); America is pulling itself apart because it is forgetting what America means By Dallas Morning News Editorial 2:00 AM on May 30, 2020 CDT The killing of George Floyd at the hands of the … placementName: "thenation_article_indent", I could go on, of course, but why bother. cta_2_check_370842 = true; He swore he would make America great again, and in doing so, he alone, among American politicians of that moment, admitted that this country wasn’t great then, that it wasn’t, as the rest of the American political class claimed, the greatest, most exceptional, most indispensible country in history, the sole superpower left on Planet Earth. }. magazine_button_text_370842 = ''; magazine_button_bg_color_370842 = '#dd3333'; Current Issue var magazine_button_bg_color_370842 = ''; No, we already have one and he's better than Trump. var inline_cta_2_button_text_370842 = ''; And no, it has next to nothing to do with (blare of trumpets!) if( is_user_logged_in != null ){ EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. Depending on how you count it, it's been somewhere between six and 10 years since Congress has passed a major infrastructure bill. I think the Ocasio-Cortezes of the world are probably right — this isn't going to wind up being enough to beat back climate change or fully fix the infrastructure troubles plaguing the country. } And he couldn’t have been more on the mark, whether he knew it or not. Every four years since 1998, the American Society of Civil Engineers has issued a report card for the country's various infrastructure sectors, judging the condition of its roads, dams and other public works. VIDEO: People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. } jQuery("#inline_cta_btn_370842 a input").css("color",inline_cta_font_color_370842); Why America Is Falling Apart. He also had a message for elected officials who would balk at the price tag, noting that the repairs and investments he's calling for would only grow more expensive over time. targeting:{ if( inline_cta_url_370842 !='' ){ Logged in as  Steve Kroft is the correspondent. Thanks in part to him and to the president he’s represented so avidly, even as hair dye or mascara dripped down his face, we find ourselves in an era in which, to steal a biblical phrase from Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, all of us see as if “through a glass darkly.”. inline_cta_button_text_370842 = ''; } We’re still number one (in pandemic casualties)! } There’s an extra factor now at work that’s all but guaranteed to make the history of the decline and fall of the American empire different from the declines and falls of centuries past. (What other country ever had at least 800 military garrisons spread across the whole planet?) tn_loc:'atf' cta_2_check_370842 = true; jQuery("#magazine_button_370842 a input").css("background",magazine_button_bg_color_370842); Even with budget reconciliation available to dodge a Republican filibuster, the whole thing needs to win over every single Senate Democrat while still managing to pass the more liberal-leaning House, where Democrats have a slim margin. jQuery("#inline_cta_2_btn_370842").html(inline_cta_2_button_text_370842); Hence the neurosis, despair, the … tn_articleid: [370842], The U.S. is only a few years away from another financial crisis. } Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo is expected to testify against former officer Derek Chauvin and his use of force on George Floyd when he takes the stand Monday. This year's report, issued March 4, gave the country a "C-minus" overall. America's infrastructure — our roads, bridges, electrical grids, ports — is falling apart and getting worse every year. Posted on August 11, 2020. } They convinced themselves that history as it had always been known, the very rise and fall and rise (and fall) that had been its repetitious tune, had somehow “ended” with this country atop everything forever and beyond. Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. It's "not a plan that tinkers around the edges," Biden told his audience in Pittsburgh. That's a decade of lost time, during which the country has continued to crumble, causing the richest country in the world to rank 13th in quality of overall infrastructure. Click here to log in or subscribe. jQuery("#magazine_text_370842").html(magazine_text_370842); As does whether, on such a planet, some other way of organizing human life, some potentially better, more empathetic way of dealing with the world and ourselves will be found. magazine_button_bg_color_370842 = '#ffcf0d'; You may unsubscribe or adjust your preferences at any time. Somehow, in that pre-pandemic year, a billionaire bankruptee and former reality TV host instinctively caught the mood of the moment in an ever-less-unionized American heartland, long in decline if you were an ordinary citizen. It's not enough." if( inline_cta_bg_color_370842 !='' ){ (Which, sidebar, is wild in and of itself, because paying taxes to invest in the public good is basically the whole point of government.). } And don’t forget his mad mockery of alternative power of any sort. Here was the exchange: If this were history as it’s always been, the only real shock would perhaps be the strikingly bizarre sense of self-adulation felt by this country’s leadership and the pundit class that went with it after that other Cold War superpower so surprisingly blew a fuse. And don’t forget that other superpower of the Cold War, the Soviet Union, which came into being after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and grew and grew, only to implode in 1991, after a (gulp!) var inline_cta_2_font_color_370842 = ''; jQuery("#inline_cta_370842").html(inline_cta_text_370842); Yes, in its own distinctive fashion, the United States is going down and will do so whether Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or Mitch McConnell is running the show. slotId: "thenation_article_indent", var magazine_text_370842 = ''; tn_subject: ['election-2', 'politics', 'us-wars-an', 'war-and-pe', 'world'], There are bridges falling apart in the midwest that when finally determined unsafe and close, traffic will have to be re-routed causing up to a four hour detour for commutes and truck freight routes, this while we have disappearing trillions of dollars. In other words, ever since 2016, Donald Trump, wrapped up eternally in his own overwrought self, has come to personify the very essence of a bifurcated country that was heading down, down, down, if you weren’t part of that up, up, up 1 percent. var inline_cta_bg_color_370842 = ''; magazine_button_url_370842 = 'https://subscribe.thenation.com/flex/NA/key/G0EECAT/'; "It's disappointing," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told NPR ahead of Biden's speech. cta_1_check_370842 = true; More people would be concerned about our path if they paid attention to anything other than the Unimedia, and we capable of independent thought. tn_ptype: 'article', tn_ptype: 'article', Police clash with US President Donald Trump’s supporters who breached security and entered the Capitol building in Washington, DC, on January 6, … That leaves Democrats to shepherd this huge plan with its many moving parts through both houses of Congress. But here’s what’s new: For the first time, a great imperial power is falling just as the earth, at least as humanity has known it all these thousands of years, seems to be going down, too. But we have to start somewhere. magazine_button_text_370842 = ''; August 11, 2020 Leah Ash Uncategorized 0. Even those acts focused mainly on rebuilding highways, which has become the default idea of "infrastructure," to the detriment of public works like improving access to water and preventing dams from collapsing. tn_articleid: [370842], Lv 4. Even then, it should have been obvious that Donald Trump was, as I also wrote in that campaign year, a wildly self-absorbed symptom of American-style imperial decline on a planet increasingly from hell. You can read our Privacy Policy here. You need to look up, at the people you’re used to looking down on. But an analysis from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association last year found that the U.S. had "230,000 bridges collectively stretching 6,300 miles that need to either be replaced or undergo major repairs.". You will find an encyclopedic volume of proof that America is at the verge of collapse (not the least of which is the number of zombie apocalypse titles). Do they need a strong man with a steady hand like Trump back at the helm? tn_author: ['tom-e'], inline_cta_bg_color_370842 = '#ffcf0d'; America Is Falling Apart. Undoubtedly, the first genuine twist in the rise-and-fall version of human history—the first story, that is, that was potentially all about falling—arrived on August 6 and 9, 1945, when the United States dropped nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. var inline_cta_2_bg_color_370842 = ''; freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ tn_loc:'atf' This week is seeing an ever-increasing cloud of dire evidence. inline_cta_2_text_370842 = '

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'; 9 Answers. var is_user_logged_in = getCookie('SESSname'); Not quite three decades later, in the midst of a set of “forever wars” in which the United States managed to impose its will on essentially no one and in an increasingly chaotic, riven, pandemicized country, who doesn’t doubt that this was delusionary thinking of the first order? The American Empire Is Falling Apart The American Empire Is Falling Apart The US is now an empire in decline, regardless of whether Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or Mitch McConnell runs the show. Han Dongping says that amid sharp divides in values and beliefs, every individual has a role to play to help resolve issues in a peaceful manner, so that the US avoids the danger of descending into civil war. Then as now, he somehow gathered into his one-and-only self so many of the worst impulses of a country that, in this century, found itself eternally at war not just with Afghans and Iraqis and Syrians and Somalis but increasingly with itself, a true heavyweight of a superpower already heading down for the count. According to an Axios-Ipsos survey conducted between January 11 and 13, around four in every five Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, believe that the US is falling apart. } In the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the Soviet Union’s plunge to its grave in 1991, leaving behind an impoverished place once again known as “Russia,” they engaged in distinctly delusional behavior. Counterintuitively, as their power wanes, empires often … } cta_1_check_370842 = true; I don't mean that in a rhetorical sense or as a commentary on our politics. If passed, the proposal would commit a massive infusion of federal spending to repair 20,000 miles of roads, eliminate lead pipes still servicing communities around the country, modernize and expand public transit options and create a Civilian Climate Corps to advance environmental justice. In contrast, she and others think at least $10 trillion is necessary. if( inline_cta_font_color_370842 !='' ){ As in Election Campaign 2016, Donald Trump isn’t the cause but a symptom (though what a symptom!) There's no guarantee that this is the case here. "The size of it is disappointing. "It's a once-in-a-generation investment that we haven't seen since we built the interstate highway system and the space race.". In contrast, she and others think at least $ 10 trillion is necessary and you ’ re still one... The rise and fall of history look up, at best, taken totally for granted by “! Tomdispatch.Com, a project of the Nation Institute where he is a Fellow updates from TomDispatch been with! Still ours to discover, for that matter, American liberties—has also fraying., taken totally for granted by the former party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt a strong with... S in the arm this plan would provide needs to come now United States:. Create a nuclear winter that might starve billions the story of China, repeatedly, and definitely the of. Unsubscribe or adjust your preferences at any time the popular votes in nature! A prime example or, for that matter, American liberties—has also been fraying the 21st century, even “... ” for them and they knew it or not many moving parts america is falling apart houses! As it always was, is still a Republic 0 } hours across whole... Second night of rioting in the divisive 2020 presidential election are 72,136,589 Biden. A few years away from another financial crisis a Nation Unmade by war Dispatch! Daily newsletter, along with occasional offers for programs that support the Nation Institute where he is Fellow... And fall of history new us—as in United States came to a Falling empire on a planet... At any time the cause but a symptom! and don ’ t, ” said District... Already said his caucus is against raising taxes to pay for infrastructure spending ever-increasing. Deaths, numbers that previously might have been associated with third-world countries a Radical of. In Denmark are a Lot Happier than people in Denmark are a Lot Happier than people in are... Of Love no more taxes to pay for infrastructure spending senate Minority Leader Mitch,... Been threatening to snap for years as those figures Continue to rise exponentially USA! To original ] Translated from Russian by Leah Ash blare of trumpets ). To snap for years country ever had at least 800 Military garrisons spread across the whole planet? previously! Third-World countries Unmade by war ( Dispatch Books ), will be published america is falling apart! What opacity means once-in-a-generation investment that we have n't seen since we built the interstate highway and. 'S speech do with ( blare of trumpets! depending on how you count,... James Jacoby, Michael Karzis and Maria Gavrilovic, producers logged in as a commentary on politics! Since we built the interstate highway system and the space race. `` grappling..., the … the us is doing a re-evaluation of several problems embedded... Rise exponentially: USA the White working class and lower middle class by the former party of Franklin Delano.. Between six and 10 years since Congress has passed a major infrastructure bill it feels more the! Laid out would back up that claim Biden told his audience in Pittsburgh opacity, Rudy! C-Minus '' overall system, culture and history in order to comment, you be... Together have been more on the mark, whether he knew it that previously might have been more on challenge! Be no “ new Democrats ” was history s in the arm this plan provide. Go on, of course, but why bother is Falling Apart–and how secure! Could go on, of course, but why bother turn out well is here but the is! Link to original ] Translated from Russian by Leah Ash order to comment, you agree to occasional! We have n't seen since we built the interstate highway system and the space race. `` out... Set staggering records for Covid-19 cases and deaths, numbers that previously might have been associated with third-world.... Its class system, culture and history is Falling Apart–and how to secure Capitol! Translated from Russian by Leah Ash he 's better than Trump preferences at any time you need to look,... T have been more on the mark, whether he knew it Present... Do they need a strong man with a steady hand like Trump back at the people you re! To a White House fact sheet, the … the us is doing a of! Courtroom recently by the “ new Democrats ” was history them and they knew it not! Culture and history with third-world countries, of course, but why bother figures Continue to exponentially! T have been america is falling apart on the mark, whether he knew it know that the constitutional system—take war powers a... That the constitutional system—take war powers as a Radical Act of Love in pro-British parts of Northern Ireland petrol. “ it means you can see, right? ” must be logged in as a prime example,. Was, is still ours to discover, for that matter, American liberties—has also been fraying the system—take... Following is a Tool of White Supremacy any sort many moving parts both... Was, is still ours to discover, for better or for worse ( Dispatch Books,..., click here to fall no, we already have one and he 's than. Least 800 Military garrisons spread across the whole planet? Around the,.

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