The collapse of the Soviet Union made the Western World lazy!

[JakeWIlls92]

Without competition from another superpower the Western world has fallen into hedonism and extreme individualism. The family has been broken. The populace dumbed down by processed food and trashy reality TV.

We have also given up on sending humans further into deep space in even more advanced spaceships. The space shuttle program was shuttered in 2011.

 

[Oddball]

"Extreme individualism"?!?

Where?

 

[White 6]

Without competition from another superpower the Western world has fallen into hedonism and extreme individualism. The family has been broken. The populace dumbed down by processed food and trashy reality TV.

We have also given up on sending humans further into deep space in even more advanced spaceships. The space shuttle program was shuttered in 2011.

Cannot go with your actual post, but your thread title is 100% accurate. We have another super power possibly as dangerous as Russia at it's height, not that Russia is much less dangerous now, but most people do not seem to realize it. The family in some parts of American culture has started breaking down 20 years Russia was forced to change tactics when to an extent we started paying economically disadvantaged women to kick the men that knocked them up out of the home. This certainly had nothing to do with Russian or Chinese Communism. I do agree the population has indeed dumbed down and the lowest common denominator of reality show watchers and gotten pretty low and pretty prevalent.
On the bright side. Splashdown yesterday was perfect and the idea of private space technology and exploration may be at hand.

 

[shockedcanadian]

Without competition from another superpower the Western world has fallen into hedonism and extreme individualism. The family has been broken. The populace dumbed down by processed food and trashy reality TV.

We have also given up on sending humans further into deep space in even more advanced spaceships. The space shuttle program was shuttered in 2011.

Among other issues. Strong nations, as in strong competitors in all pursuits, always perform better in the face of stiff competition. Especially if there is grave danger in failing to win.

Once the U.S became the lone super power it was going to be problematic for Western ambitions as even Gorbachev warned the U.S not to be arrogant about the collapse (seems he was right). Swagger and drive related to winning against the bad guys was often replaced with taking the easy path without much resistance (see the .com bubble investors or manufacturing in China for instance). Easy money has replaced invention and ambitions to produce legacies, even if that legacy didn't always end in riches.

The antecedent struggles with Communist Russia always drove both industry and individuals to illustrate that their system was better. Free citizens, clearly more motivated in winning the struggle due to the inherent belief in natural law as granted by God.

In some ways China can be the much needed wake up call as finally a president has called them out and the world has every reason to put them on notice. That is, if big businesses and the wealthy don't continue to be naively seduced and continue to forge an enemy to all of humanity which won't be easily subdued.