Political division has been worsening the last couple decades. The USA has dropped in status to an "incomplete democracy", with many areas no longer being considered democracies at all. Politics is no longer about moving the country forward, and is instead all about how the minority party can lie, cheat, and steal whenever they can, wherever they can, to simply prevent the elected party's policy from going through. The public, instead of focusing on a corrupt political class, focus their vitriol on each other. The media hasn't even attempted to convey solutions, but simply continue to profit on expanding partisanship if it means taking the country down in the process. The Overton window is completely out of whack, and everyone is wanting an authoritarian who can impart their will as forcefully as possible.

**We may be witnessing a reversal or regression, but those are not to be mistaken with the collapse of a country. As waves have ebb and flow, countries, society, and civilization have zenith and nadir as well.** The current state of the United States is indeed one of great concern — the inadequate response to the covid pandemic, the intractable polarization of political parties and ideologies, the rising societal tensions of race and wealth inequality. To boast that the country possesses its former glory is to be blind to the grim realities in which we find ourselves. However, is this necessarily a complete collapse? Is this by any means an inevitable and fatal "fall"? We may have contemplated the same question in 1929, when a decade of economic prosperity instantly gave way to poverty and mass unemployment; or in 1975, when our defeat in the Vietnam War tarnished our international renown and created a great setback in the Cold War; or in 2008, when we entered a recession and our war in Iraq turned in a seemingly hopeless direction. To say that our current plight is comparatively worse is debatable; to say that it is an inevitable fall from which we will never recover is not only pessimistic by attitude, but also ignorant by history and experience, and unjustified by principle and reason.

I would agree, except that the American people are far too complacent to stage an uprising or start a new civil war. We're far too happy to let ourselves be distracted by fancy tech or popular media to do either of those things. So, our current, crappy condition is going to continue on its merry course whether we gripe about it or not. Now if you'll excuse me, my Nintendo Switch calls...

**The US is not "falling" in an absolute sense, but rather is in relative decline politically, economically and militarily.** In my opinion, the US is not going to “fall” in the same sense that the Roman Empire or the USSR fell, marred by severe internal conflict, a dwindling economy, and an unsalvageable government system. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that the US is in _relative decline_ as it slowly loses its global hegemony: • _Politically_: The US has historically been considered as the leader and promoter of Western liberalism. However, there have been some cracks in the world’s perception of the US’ political system due to issues such as [police brutality](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/12/31/2020-the-year-black-lives-matter-shook-the-world) and the [storming of the US Captiol](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57753708). Moreover, due to [Trump’s “America First” policy](https://theconversation.com/trumps-foreign-policy-is-still-america-first-what-does-that-mean-exactly-144841), the US played a lesser role on the world stage, which facilitated the rise of authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia; • _Economically_: Although the US continues to have the [largest GDP per capita](https://www.thebalance.com/largest-world-economies-in-2050-4153858), economists predict that [China will take over this position](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-55454146) within the next decade; • _Militarily_: The US undoubtedly has the largest and strongest military force in the world. However, their various campaigns have led to [fierce anti-American sentiments](https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/13/anti-american-century-united-states-order/), particularly in the Middle East;