If the United States were to dissappear today, would the world be better or worse for it?  Discuss.?
550986
The world would descend into chaos, possibly another Dark Age.  The United States is simply the greatest force for good on earth.
678586
Hey KB--these are dark days, but I don't think it's the end of the world, or even of the US. Clearly, democracy in the U.S. is in a bad place right now, and there are a lot of signs that the U.S. world dominance might not be as hunky-dory as it looked 10 years ago. \n\nBut still, we are a strong nation with good people, and over time, we will recover from this. Our democracy will stand, and people will come to see some of the mistakes we've made over the last 5 years. Corruption and short-sightedness are nothing new. We will never completely leave them behind, but we have overcome them before, and we will do so this time.\n\n\n(It might be presumptuous, but I'm going to bet you're in your teens or early 20's...at that age, it often seems like each crisis is the biggest one ever and that some kind of Apocalypse is near, but now that I've got an extra decade or two, I realize that history has it's rhythms and humanity always manages to muddle on somehow).
715959
If you can get along without modern conveniences it very well might be.  But I doubt most 21st Century Americans would want to live that way since it requires hard work and leave little time for goofing off.
1010889
I basically asked the same question.....well, sort of, about the US. \n\nPeople HAVE become lethargic.
494310
Well, where would the USA be without it?
800475
Do you really have a question?\nThe answer is that it is different. Worse? That depends if you are a fish, a chicken, or a cow or a Nintendo-addicted wage slave.\nThe real question is whether or not the U.S. knows what it is doing or not. So far, it appears to be a country full of 12 year old boys watching porn movies being led by 19 year old boys with very big guns and an unlimited debt budget, who think that bravado and force will overcome any opposition to their conquests.\nIs this worse than National Socialism? Corporatism? Depends if you own the company, I guess. In the LONG term, Nature will decide whether the human species has value to contribute to the universe, and will act accordingly. We can speed up or slow down the judgement with our actions, perhaps even change the course of the judgement, but unless we wake up and pay attention, our choices are very limited to change the direction of our consumption-based nightmare at this point.\nI guess that's why it could be worse than Hitler's Germany. The Germans knew they could lay down their arms and walk away from a battle. Americans don't know that the weapons they are using to enslave and destroy the planet are disguised as Mocha Latte's, Hummers, and McHouses, and they have no reason to lay these things aside and live in any thoughtful, sustainable, cooperative manner as long as the Game and Competition continue to thrill them.\nHitler's death toll was in the millions. Ours will be in the billions at the rate we are going. Some of the fault lies with the overpopulated that will die, but most lies with the lack of mature leadership in our past and the religions of Us vs. Them keeping people placated with Heavenly behaviors that have little to do with the needs of the soil which nurtures us.
414645
No way, the USA is the greatest place in the world.  We are freedom's defenders.  We are the police of the world.  If there was no country, there would be no borders, no morals, and no civilization.  There would be annarchy and chaos and the world would be engulfed in the ultimate form of terrorism everywhere.
1052111
I like your question. The answer is: the world would be a much, much better place--more intelligent, more civilized, less shallow & superficial, and definitely less materialistic. I'm all for the extermination of "dumb celebrities."
1150645
I sure hope we don't get caught up in that global 1 world 1 government crap, then we will be no better than any of the many 3 rate countries of the world, I truly believe we are better than that!!
1045349
the world would probobly be a little better without it..
545950
It has the potential to fix a lot of problems. Maybe we can stop worrying about fighting that battle and work on healing the continent/country(at that point). It would help to better the world as a whole and allow many new points of view and plans to better the world come to fruition.
1159429
What's more interesting would be to think about what it is like in the rest of the world. We are spoiled in the U.S.
506763
Hypothetically speaking, I'm not entirely sure the world will exist in 10 years the way current world affiars are going what with the nuclear tension in Iran and North Korea...But I predect the economy will be better if we're still around.
377991
Yes in general the world has become worse. Of course there are certain small areas that are "safer", and technologies that have made us "safer" but sometimes they bring their own badness, so generally, it's a lot more dangerous.
884588
if only that could happen the world would be a nicer place......
553724
I hear you loud and clear.The social collapse is happening as we speak.It's just that at the rate it's happening it looks like slow motion.I think that one day we will be living in a different country and will have happened right in front of us.It's a gradual process.The new world order is for the world to be under one government.I don't know if that will ever happen.I do see that everyday Americans are powerless to do anything to stop what's happening.To me that's a scary thing.
468802
I definitely agree that our society is going downhill.  Unfortunately, it agrees with history.\n\nIf you look back on all of the great societies of the past, Egyptian, Roman, Babylon, etc.  they have all crumbled for one reason or another.\n\nI hate to think that our society is on the same path but looking around it's hard not to think that way.  Our government is trying to conquer the world, politically.  The claim that other countries are wrong if they do not share our same views.\n\nThe U.S. is the lone Super Power in the world today, but China and India are making up ground at an unbelievable pace.\n\nI love America and I want nothing more than our society to flourish, not to be torn apart by our government's incompetence and inability.