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<P>Chalmers Johnson wrote Blowback and Nemesis. His latest book is
Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope.</P>
<P>I personally believe that the American people will not listen (they do not
know how...) before it is too late. Chalmers predicts a long slow decline
as does Max Keiser. I rather favour the notion of some sudden catastrophe,
but indeed who knows?</P>
<P>Excerpt from Chalmers' article at the TomDispatch <A
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175286/">http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175286/</A> where
you can "read more":</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" dir=ltr>
<P>Thirty-five years from now, America's official century of being top dog
(1945-2045) will have come to an end; its time may, in fact, be running out
right now. We are likely to begin to look ever more like a giant version of
England at the end of its imperial run, as we come face-to-face with, if not
necessarily to terms with, our aging infrastructure, declining international
clout, and sagging economy. It may, for all we know, still be Hollywood's
century decades from now, and so we may still make waves on the cultural
scene, just as Britain did in the 1960s with the Beatles and Twiggy. Tourists
will undoubtedly still visit some of our natural wonders and perhaps a few of
our less scruffy cities, partly because the dollar-exchange rate is likely to
be in their favor.</P>
<P>If, however, we were to dismantle our empire of military bases and redirect
our economy toward productive, instead of destructive, industries; if we
maintained our volunteer armed forces primarily to defend our own shores (and
perhaps to be used at the behest of the United Nations); if we began to invest
in our infrastructure, education, health care, and savings, then we might have
a chance to reinvent ourselves as a productive, normal nation. Unfortunately,
I don't see that happening. Peering into that foggy future, I simply can't
imagine the U.S. dismantling its empire voluntarily, which doesn't mean that,
like all sets of imperial garrisons, our bases won't go someday.</P>
<P>Instead, I foresee the U.S. drifting along, much as the Obama
administration seems to be drifting along in the war in Afghanistan. The
common talk among economists today is that high unemployment may linger for
another decade. Add in low investment and depressed spending (except
perhaps by the government) and I fear T.S. Eliot had it right when he wrote:
"This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a
whimper." </P></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BODY></HTML>