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When Did the United States Lose its Prestige?

When did the US lose its prestige?


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SirPwn4lot

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So, when did the United States lose its greatness. People are always talking about how the US has separated from what made it great, just wondering when exactly this happened.

I know most of you probably think it was a gradual process, so just tell me when you think it was diminished the most.

Thanks!

Note: I can only make 10 poll options, so if you're undecided/other/don't think it's lost any prestige/think it never had any, then post below :)
 
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So, when did the United States lose its greatness. People are always talking about how the US has separated from what made it great, just wondering when exactly this happened.

I know most of you probably think it was a gradual process, so just tell me when you think it was diminished the most.

Thanks!

From what I could tell, the late 70s. Thats when people stopped believing in America and start with ultra conservatism.
 
U think it really started after kennedy was shot. People stopped believing and it started going down hill after LBJ came in.

Not remembered much in current history textbooks or the media of today, was that in the 1920s Republicans proposed anti-lynching legislation, reflecting back to Civil War times when Democrats, including founders of the KKK, had been involved in this horrific act. The legislation passed the House , an opposition speech was given by a Democrat Congressman from Texas named Lyndon B. Johnson, but was killed by the Democrat-controlled Senate. Finally in 1939 it passed the Senate.

The actual consequences of Johnson's Great Society were disastrous for blacks, discouraging initiative, encouraging a sense of entitlement and victimhood, and creating a permanent dependency class. Until 1965, 82% of black households had both a mother and a father in the home -- a statistic on par with or even slightly higher than white families. After 1965 (the year the Democrats and President Johnson decided it was time to stop oppressing blacks and start "helping" them), the presence of black fathers in the home began a precipitous decline; today, the American black out-of-wedlock birthrate is at 69%.
 
It started with Nixon, increased under Regan, and ultimately grew to epic proportions under the Bush line. In between, a combination of inaction and overspending by the Dems only compounded the problems, however it was the ultra conservative mentality that formed the worst aspects of U.S. foreign policy in the latter half of the 20th century. This is what turned the world away.
 
It started with Nixon, increased under Regan, and ultimately grew to epic proportions under the Bush line. In between, a combination of inaction and overspending by the Dems only compounded the problems, however it was the ultra conservative mentality that formed the worst aspects of U.S. foreign policy in the latter half of the 20th century. This is what turned the world away.

It was before Nixon. LBJ screwed up Foreign policy from the get go. He even admitted to hating foreigners.
In both countries, peoples and governments alike turned against the uncomprehending or unsympathetic Americans, and India and Pakistan went to war in 1965.
The latest archival studies suggest that the same was true of foreign policy: in a sense, Johnson did not have one. The historians show us a president who, when his advisers disagreed, would try to split the difference between them
Lyndon Johnson and Foreign Policy: What the New Documents Show | Foreign Affairs
 
Sorry, I only meant to borrow it for the weekend, I swear I'll return it one of these days.
 
It was before Nixon. LBJ screwed up Foreign policy from the get go. He even admitted to hating foreigners.

The latest archival studies suggest that the same was true of foreign policy: in a sense, Johnson did not have one. The historians show us a president who, when his advisers disagreed, would try to split the difference between them
Lyndon Johnson and Foreign Policy: What the New Documents Show | Foreign Affairs

I agree that LBJ had some major **** ups, but it was the ultra conservatives that formed the hawkish foreign policy that we have today.
 
I believe it was when we began the process of handing the country over to businesses. That's basically what we have right now:

A two party system that is financed and run by big business. It's quite unfortunate.
 
I believe it was when we began the process of handing the country over to businesses. That's basically what we have right now:

A two party system that is financed and run by big business. It's quite unfortunate.

I wholeheartedly agree with this.
 
Just to clarify: I don't believe the US ever *did* lose its prestige, in terms of being worse off. However, there are some relatively recent developments that will make us less competitive in the long term. I think the four biggest changes for the worse in recent decades are:

1980s - The ramp-up of the war on drugs, which has devastated our inner cities, exacerbated racial tension, and caused civil wars in at least two countries to our south.
1980s - The birth of the foolish belief that tax cuts will either A) produce a free lunch by paying for themselves, or B) "starve the beast" and force Congress to cut spending. Both of these conclusions are at odds with reality, as well as each other.
1990s - The beginning of the Senate "tradition" of filibustering every bill by default, requiring a 60-vote supermajority for everything and making it impossible to make any necessary economic decisions.
2000s - The incredibly self-destructive notion that we need to view terrorism as a problem that can be solved with our military.
 
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So, when did the United States lose its greatness. People are always talking about how the US has separated from what made it great, just wondering when exactly this happened.

I know most of you probably think it was a gradual process, so just tell me when you think it was diminished the most.

Thanks!

Note: I can only make 10 poll options, so if you're undecided/other/don't think it's lost any prestige/think it never had any, then post below :)

The US is still hands down no contest the greatest country on earth. What more do you want?
 
So, when did the United States lose its greatness. People are always talking about how the US has separated from what made it great, just wondering when exactly this happened.

I know most of you probably think it was a gradual process, so just tell me when you think it was diminished the most.

Thanks!

Note: I can only make 10 poll options, so if you're undecided/other/don't think it's lost any prestige/think it never had any, then post below :)

The NEW "communist" DEAL parroted verbatim from the USSR constitution in its selling with a SECOND BILL OF RIGHTS. That is when a "for sale" sign went onto the front lawn of the White House due to the over whelming debt being accumulated in the NEW NANNY STATES OF AMERICA...as China is now the major stock holder of all the real property in this nation that once belonged to WE THE PEOPLE.
 
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It started to lose it under Kennedy and his Bay of Pigs nonsense, and yet we regained much when Neil took his stroll.

It really started going downhill with the 1968 Democrat convention in Chicago and the hijacking of a political party by communist radicals.

Nixon didn't help.

Ford kept things rolling downhill.

Carter threw the brake pedal out the window and glued the gas pedal down (picture the Good Ol' Boys and their RV in the Blues Brothers)

Reagan WON IT ALL BACK.

Then twenty years of socialist leftist presidents threw it all away.

Then along came that fool Obama and the Americans are just wishing we had even the little respect that we had when Bush was in office.
 
When the other countries found their post-WWII niches and settled in.
 
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That last time I checked Countries still want to be like us and people around the world still immigrate over here to become Americans.
 
So, when did the United States lose its greatness. People are always talking about how the US has separated from what made it great, just wondering when exactly this happened.

I know most of you probably think it was a gradual process, so just tell me when you think it was diminished the most.

Thanks!

Note: I can only make 10 poll options, so if you're undecided/other/don't think it's lost any prestige/think it never had any, then post below :)

it's been one long slide; with occasional spikes. i would say that it's inversely proportional to the rising political power of the Baby Boomers.

the flip undercurrent, however, has been the growth of a true American Conservative movement; birthed in the 50's, passed puberty in the 80's, and is finally beginning to truly set the intellectual parameters of discussion.
 
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The US lost its greatness since the beginning when the ideals of the Declaration of Independence were filtered into only land owning white men had the right to life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness. It lost its greatness when it passed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, etc, etc and etc.
 
The US is still hands down no contest the greatest country on earth. What more do you want?

stronger forward motion. not to be facing a crushing debt. our debt is really the only existential threat to our hyperpower on the stage right now, but it's a doozy.
 
Personally I think it's best to break it up into categories.

Foreign policy had been here and there since the founding, with annexations and the such, but it really started becoming... evil... with Wilson. He helped to create a new concept behind war, one driven by offense instead of defense. FDR continued it to a lesser extent, and the US involvement in middle eastern politics in the 50s was horrible. JFK ramped it up with the Vietnam War in 1962, LBJ obviously continued+escalated this (from memory no wars since Vietnam have been constitutionally declared by Congress). The seventies weren't much better, the 80s were a good contender for the worst decade of foreign policy that century; Nicaragua stands out, as does the US aid to militant Islamists in the middle east to combat the Soviets, and the whole Iran-Contra scandal. The nineties were a bit of a relief, but only when compared to the decade that preceded it: the Gulf War stands out. The 2000s were a horrible way to enter the new millennium: Bush 2.0 cemented the doctrine of preventive war, distinct from preemptive war (the former being blatantly illegal under international law, the latter of questionable legality). 2996 American (some other nationalities) deaths on September 11th began a response that killed well over a hundred thousand Iraqis killed, as well as 4432 US soldiers in the Iraq War. The US elected a President who talked big on change, but in effect has just escalated the foreign policy doctrine of the previous administration (to a similar extent as Bush's second term). The US support of Israel was over a few decades, so I didn't really include it.

Civil rights have generally gotten much better over the past century, largely due to local scale activism. Suffrage in 1913, substantive civil rights legislation in the 1960s, unionization, etc. Prohibition in the 1920s and 1930s was a big hit against civil rights, as was the war on drugs which was waged beginning fairly early in the century, but two figures stand out in this category: Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan (1970s/1980s). By far the worst decade progress wise for civil rights was the 2000s. Bush practically dismantled the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Wiretapping, torture, Guantanamo Bay, etc. The nation elected a President to change things, but really he's been more of the same on this issue; his justice department even fought the Supreme Court on torture. Oh, I forgot to mention the Japanese internment camps under FDR. That too :p

Social programs have gotten gradually better also, with FDR being a standout in this field. Social Security, Medicare, etc, with polls putting opposition to spending cuts in these programs at around 65%+. Again, FDR is a standout, although it was ultimately the result of activism a decade prior.

Taxes, depending on how you look at them (personally, I see taxes as entirely irrelevant. The US should spend what makes rational sense, then tax whatever is needed to balance the budget exactly. No surpluses, no deficits), anyway, they've certainly dropped, especially for the rich. Taxes as high as 90% for the top marginal tax rate (in federal income taxes, I exclude state taxes, and other taxes because they vary) have dropped down to sub-50% levels (quite easily).

Wages were increasing for the average worker until the mid 1970s. Since then they have roughly stagnated in real wage terms. In contrast, the gap between the rich and poor has skyrocketed. Corporate profits are up almost exponentially. The portion of the wealth held just by the top 1% has tripled since JUST 1980. In the 1950s, by contrast, an increase in the nation's wealth was distributed more equally throughout each income bracket, rather than the top 1% getting large portions of it.

From a constitutionality basis, the Executive branch gained an INSANE amount of power that it was never meant to have, precisely for the reasons that we see today. Wars not declared by Congress, signing statements, etc.

The US has gotten better culturally. The 1930s began the modern music era in my opinion, with performers like Robert Johnson, and the supremacy of Jazz (one of the great American conceptions of the 20th century). The 1950s were brilliant music wise, and the movie industry really started to get fantastic with films like Citizen Kane in the 1940s, and Hitchcock in the 1950s. The 1960s were arguably the cultural peak of the 20th century, with an arguably unparalleled music scene, and a film scene stuck in the transition between two eras. The 2000s were largely the end of the US cultural boom in my opinion, with music being bland and uninteresting, and great films being much less frequent (although Mr. Nolan is doing a brilliant job).

Intellectually the US has gotten better over the century, no doubt. Education standards are easy to drop. Watch out.

That's my $0.02.
 
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Prestige is not might,
Prestige is not military,
Prestige is not force,
Prestige is not money,
Prestige is not domination,
Prestige is not politics,

Prestige means humanistic principles,

When you sacrifice something because you think that that this is against principles,
Then you do it for nothing but to keep your prestige up and intact,

Prestige is the name of your account in which you keep your good deeds based on values, ethics and principles,

Prestige is promise,
A promise that you once had made with your God,
Prestige is the graph of your actions you do, based on that promise!!!

Your hearts, minds and conscience constantly tell you,
About, whether you are keeping your promise or you are ignoring your promise,

Prestige is the court of your conscience,

And, Jesus Christ is the Justice of that court,

Prestige is very valuable, if you consider,
It does not come from money,
It comes directly from Jesus Christ,

Children are free and protected,
If they have shelter of Jesus Christ,

This is The Prestige.
 
Prestige is not might,
Prestige is not military,
Prestige is not force,
Prestige is not money,
Prestige is not domination,
Prestige is not politics,

Prestige means humanistic principles,

When you sacrifice something because you think that that this is against principles,
Then you do it for nothing but to keep your prestige up and intact,

Prestige is the name of your account in which you keep your good deeds based on values, ethics and principles,

Prestige is promise,
A promise that you once had made with your God,
Prestige is the graph of your actions you do, based on that promise!!!

Your hearts, minds and conscience constantly tell you,
About, whether you are keeping your promise or you are ignoring your promise,

Prestige is the court of your conscience,

And, Jesus Christ is the Justice of that court,

Prestige is very valuable, if you consider,
It does not come from money,
It comes directly from Jesus Christ,

Children are free and protected,
If they have shelter of Jesus Christ,

This is The Prestige.

I largely agree with you that prestige is ethically based, but I think that politics can either be ethical or non-ethical.

Damn, I guess that since I don't believe in Jesus I don't have any prestige. Or freedom, or protection. But I think your line of reasoning is that prestige is a measure of a good life -> ethics come from Jesus -> Jesus = prestige, which isn't that bad, I just disagree that ethics come from Jesus.
 
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The US is still hands down no contest the greatest country on earth. What more do you want?

oh. and a cohesive family structure.
 
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