Is America going to hell? After a year of economic calamity that many fear has sent us into irreversible decline, the author finds reassurance in the peculiarly American cycle of crisis and renewal, and in the continuing strength of the forces that have made the country great: our university system, our receptiveness to immigration, our culture of innovation. In most significant ways, the U.S. remains the envy of the world. But here’s the alarming problem: our governing system is old and broken and dysfunctional. Fixing it—without resorting to a constitutional convention or a coup—is the key to securing the nation’s future.
This was absolutely well worth a read by any civic-minded American. Yes, things are screwed up here... it's not as bad as people say, but then again there are plenty of things wrong.
And our government sucks, and it doesn't look like there's a decent way to fix it. Some effort in the article is spent decrying that our Senate is massively out of whack -- that the Gang of Six of health-care-reform-fame represented a mere 3% of the American Population. That our government, often like our military, is horribly driven day-to-day by short term tactics and completely blind to long term strategy as a result.
Some amazing points here -- with hope for the future as well. We've been talking about the fall of America for well over 200 years... with any luck, we'll be talking about the impending fall for hundreds of years to come.