If churning out people were the road to superpowerdom we’d already have lost to China and India.
Care to speculate on the national debt by 2100 and how we would service it?
I’d argue the days of Pax Americana are already over. The humiliation we suffered in Afghanistan at the hands of 7th century throwbacks who now have hundreds of millions of dollars of our military hardware sealed the deal. At this point we don’t even try to secure our own border.
How about like how we service our debt now?
Running a government deficit is a policy choice. We do it because we can. There is a large gap between how much we tax our economy vs Europe and even Canada. If push comes to shove and we definitely need to pay down the debt we have a lot of room to raise taxes.
National debt is one of the biggest nothing burgers the right likes to fantasize about. Nation state is unlike a person. It doesn’t die. It has a standing army and has taxing power. Japan has more debt than us and they don’t seem to worry. What matters most is the vitality of the economy.
Most nation states that have come into existence have died. Debasement of their currencies is usually an early warning sign. Our standing army is now a global joke. Emasculated by the Taliban and tens of thousands under recruitment goals. A guy I do trail work with comes from a long line of military. His son joined the Coast Guard. They enforce fisheries laws, do drug interdictions and sometimes rescue folk. Things that make our country safer and more prosperous. The military doesn’t do that anymore.
As for economic vitality look at US growth rates in the 20th century versus the 21st. Clearly a nation in steep decline. The only thing propping us up is the accident of the dollar as the worlds reserve currency (though that advantage is fading fast) and weakness elsewhere.
And as for raising taxes we’re already close to maxed out unless we sock it to the middle class and poor. During my lifetime the top rate has ranged from a high of 70% to a low of 28%. We know where revenues are maximized - right about where we are now.
Sorry to see you feeling so pessimistic about our nation. You are so wrong there is nowhere to start. Most likely you won’t change your mind anyway.
Agree to disagree.
Where else would you rather be then? Move there and inject more optimism into your life.
Right now the least objectionable option is in the US but well away from urban centers. Which is where I am. My pessimism about the future needn’t depress me as I was incredibly lucky to have come of age right at the time of the Reagan Revolution so I’ve already “made it.” Future generations? It doesn’t look promising. Crushing debt combined with growth and opportunity killing government policy. And the US being the best option for some short time doesn’t make any sort of argument for greatness. When a Dark Age comes it rarely skips over anyone.
You fail to point out a certain nation at #20 
Speaking of social mobility by income, this stat is exactly the opposite of what I had expected. Turns out lower income people drink less, not more, than higher income people.
Maybe poverty is not entirely due to moral failings of the poor? Maybe the deck is indeed stacked against them, at least partially?
I guess those white collar jobs are very stressful.
They should’ve surveyed over 21 year olds though. 18+ combined with no college could just be people were rule-abiding or weren’t going to admit to illegal activity to someone with their phone number.
BTW I heard from Huberman drinking is bad, even small amount? Those research that says drinking a bit of wine promotes longevity are all outdated?
Didn’t look in further. I only drink maybe one or two beers a month at most. Not a big drinker at all.
Don’t you know any immigrants who came here, could barely speak English, and are now upper middle class or even upper class? Yet, we’re supposed to believe the deck is stacked against people who are born here with all the advantages. The deck is really only stacked against people who live in areas with little opportunity that never leave. If people are mobile, then there’s opportunity.
Back in the 90’s I worked with a guy from Newcastle, England. I’ve visited the place and to say it’s economically depressed is an understatement. Makes you think of some of Sting’s songs. When the Maastricht Treaty came into force I said to the fellow, this will allow all those jobless folk in Newcastle to emigrate to where maybe there’s some jobs. He looked at me like I was out of my mind. He said that when he went back to visit family people he’d known not only hadn’t gone anywhere but could literally be found on the same bar stool they occupied 20 years previous.
FYI the Biden administration just blocked the Resolution copper mine from opening here in AZ. This after blocking an Alaska copper mine earlier in the year. Copper is a valuable commodity for EV’s. I guess we want all that action to go elsewhere - and be done with no environmental controls whatsoever. 4000 jobs just lost in an area that could use them. This is the kind of economic policy which is dragging the country down. But hey, we just had a strong jobs report - with nearly 100,000 of the jobs in government and food services.
Strong job report is not good… Fed might not pause rate hike.
All thanks to British socialism. I lived in London in 1965… it was amazingly depressing. Still had not recovered from the depression the war and socialism was rampant. Even Thatcher couldn’t get rid of British lack of motivation. Maybe it’s the weather or the class system. But entrepreneurship is dead there. All work ethic comes from immigrants. Could happen here… but not in my lifetime
Yeah the weather there is dreary. Whole population is probably Vitamin D deficient with seasonal depression.
and Vinay’s latest on the ridiculousness of the NYTimes food advice:
Just enjoy your high quality alcohol in moderation.
The number of marriages in China last year dropped to 6.83 million, the lowest since records began in 1986.
Data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed the number of couples tying the knot in 2022 fell by about 800,000 compared with 2021, beating that year’s record low.
China’s marriage rate has declined rapidly over the past 10 years, since peaking in 2013 when nearly 13.5 million couples wed, nearly double last year’s count.
Marriages cut in half in a decade. This year’s newborns will be record low.
According to the study, the marriage rate in 1970 was at 76.5%, and today, it stands at just over 31%.
US marriage rate dropped 60% in 53 years.
While in China number of marriages cut in half in 10 years.
Yeah, they are the same things.
