By: James Daniels

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States became the world’s only superpower. During the remainder of the decade, the US economy flourished and things went reasonably well both internally and externally for the US. However, things have changed dramatically since then and, 20 years later, some feel that the US may have dug a hole that it cannot get out of.  

 The national debt has grown by over $9 trillion in the last 10 years. During George W. Bush’s term, the national debt approximately doubled from $5.3 to $10.63 trillion. Since Barack Obama has taken office, the debt has grown by approximately $3.71 trillion to nearly $14.34 trillion, a number that will be larger by the time you read this. In recent months, it is estimated that the US Government has borrowed $54,084 per second . For comparison, the per capita income in the US was $40,584 in 2010. In other words, every second the US Government borrows more money than the average American made last year and it is not expected to get any better. In fact, if projections issued by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) are correct, the national debt will grow to over $18 trillion in 2015 and is expected to grow faster after that. It is expected to reach 90 percent of US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2020.

In terms of global competitiveness, the US is also struggling. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 15 year-old American students rank 17^th in the world in science and 25^th in mathematics. After decades on top of the world, US college graduation rates have dropped to 12^th. US infrastructure is ranked 23^rd in the world, last among major economies. This all, however, is overshadowed by the potential threats posted by the rapid rise of China onto the world stage.

The International Monetary Funds (IMF) recently issued a projection that China will pass the US as the world’s largest economy in 2016 and every American that is alive today appears to be heading for unfamiliar ground. To put the significance of this into perspective, the US has been the world’s leading economic power since 1890 and, even it’s most notable challenger in the past, the Soviet Union, was only able to meet 1/3 of the US’ economic output at its peak. With its rise to world power status, the US demonstrated to the world a system of government that valued constitutional government, civil liberties, and property rights. Although those have been strained, particularly in recent years under the USA Patriot Act, the US is still the leader of the free world. China, on the other hand, has been cautious to let go of it’s communist and dictatorial policies and has been a major player in human rights abuses now and in the past. This appears to be a major problem for the US, and the world, if things do not change, and it appears that the US will no longer be the primary player in the direction of human civilization. At this rate, the last thing that the US will retain top position in appears to be national debt.

Within the US, there are also plenty of problems that are not directly related to the economy. Several states have proposed or passed legislation that accuses the federal government of violating the US Constitution. Notably, at least 13 states did so in 2009. Michigan introduced legislation with language that encouraged the federal government to “Halt its practice of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution.” Missouri proposed legislation that opposed the Freedom of Choice Act, which concerns abortion, on ground that it violated the US Constitution. Montana passed legislation to protect the constitutional rights of it’s citizens to possess firearms, apparently in response to the current regime in Washington. New Hampshire issued perhaps the strongest legislation to date, with veiled threats of secession if things are not changed in Washington. Overall, there are various groups, cities, and states that have voiced their verbal and legislative disgust with the current state of US politics, some of which call for secession.

While the US has always faced problems in it’s past, the problems are mounting daily. The US debt is the greatest it has been in it’s history, and has grown immensely under the leadership of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The global reach of the US Military that cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars annually, economic woes, and the rise of China have put the US and its citizens in a very vulnerable position. Internal problems, which were barely touched on in this article, are also growing rapidly. The future appears grim, as every taxpayer is currently estimated to have a $1,020,752 bill for future liabilities that are currently unfunded. Will states begin to secede? Will the US’ empire collapse like all others have in the past? Will the national debt ever be brought under control? Will the federal government continue it’s trend of ignoring key constitutional rights? The answers to these questions will likely come soon enough.