[Wren57]

To understand the future of world politics, you must first address and understand the present state of world politics. America is a superpower because of its economy, not necessarily its military. America's GDP is something like 4 or 5 times the size of the #2 GDP, and greater than the entire EU by like 2x. Hell, California has the worlds #4 or 5 GDP alone. So where does that leave the rest of the world? Behind the curve, thats where... but a few countries are emerging as threats by becoming semi-specialized. India is beginning to import/export large quantities of intelligence, and China imports/exports large quantities of manufactured goods. In addition to these external threats, the internal threat of credit over-extension must be addressed ASAP to ensure a long-lasting economy. Just like a family struggling to pay the bills, America is racking up debt and costing itself billions in oppurtunity costs by paying ridiculous amounts of interest. Nobody can retire with credit card debt, and no country can last long with a great debt burden either. And yes, I know all about debt levreging, but it is not nearly as healthy as keeping books in the green. These great external and internal economic threats must be addressed before any militaristic threat; on that front, the only real problem America faces is alliances and fighting on mutliple fronts. We are stretched thin now, but not nearly thin enough to break... however, another front could possibly expose an American military weakness; sheer size.

America has several decisions it needs to make. If we continue on the tax-little spend-much fight-much campaign, we will break ourselves in the long run. It is of the utmost importance we finish the job we've started and turn our focus on the internal health of the country rather than the external health. Every great superpower has declined eventually, leading to the rise of another... it is simply the cyclical nature of civilization. The key is managing natural resources and internal policies in order to project an effective exterior policy; we're doing this now, but our internal policies are starting to falter. I'm not entirely sure where America will be in 30-50 years on its current track, but I am quite sure I won't want to live here.

That said, here are some things I think would improve the chances of America lasting longer than it might otherwise:

1) Deport illegal immigrants. Make being an American something to be proud and something to be valued; then people will respect/honor it more and desire greater to be a better American.

2) Phase out social security. Promote individual economic freedom and self-responsibility. There are literally hundreds of private plans that work like social security- only better.

3) Work foreign matters with better finesse; "Speak soft but carry a big stick"... right now we are speaking tough and barely sending in enough forces to get the job done... "speaking tough and carrying a barely big enough stick"

4) 100% revamp of public school system. My private HS costed 12k/year, while it costed taxpayers 14k/year per child in public school. My HS is top 5 in the southeast, while memphis city schools are among the worst in the country. One idea I've had is to provide economic incentive for good grades and good behavior; only the money would be to the parents... so the parents would have a shallow incentive to get involved. Sadly enough, thats what would get bum parents w/ kids in public schools attention the best.

5) Goes along with #4. Less gov't wherever possible and more private, regulated businesses. Privately-run police forces and fire depts would in theory provide better databasing, response time, accuracy and effectiveness.

I could go on and on, but everyone probably gets the idea of private vs. public by now and is tired of reading this, so I'll wait for another poster to say more...