Schools of Thought Regarding the Future of America essays

Schools of Thought Regarding the Future of America essays Schools of Thought Regarding the Future of America Three schools of thought appear to dominate considerations regarding the possible future of the United States of America. These include declinism, American exceptionalism, and neoimperialism. Only time can tell which is the most likely outcome. Realistically, and if history is taken into account, it appears that declinism enjoys favor over the other two possibilities when applied to the American situation. According to declinism, all great nations enjoy a period of greatness, after which they decline. This decline can be blamed on many factors, and often the causes include more than one aspect of the political and social fabric of the once great nation. Declinists hold that the same is true of the United States. The terrorist attacks and subsequent international climate in relation to the United States appear to substantiate the declinist view. The United States have become very powerful and this may have led to a paradigm of unmerited confidence in security and other systems that in fact were not up to standard. The ease with which the September 11 attacks occurred seems to substantiate the lack of security systems. Historically also declinism seems to be the norm for once great nations such as Rome and England. American exceptionalism is the contrasting view to declinism. According to this belief, the United States is unique in its strengths, and shares none of the weaknesses of its once great European counterparts. Thus, the United States is not only great in itself, but also offers opportunities for humanity as a whole. According to this view then, the history of England and Rome is not applicable to the United States, because of the latter's unique qualities. One of these unique qualities setting the country apart from its historical counterparts is its religious ...