Why Do Great Nations Fail?
Paul A. Rahe ·
Oct 21, 2010 at 5:29pm
The folks at by Citizens Against Government Waste think that they have an answer to this question, and here is the advertisement that they are running nation-wide:
It is well worth seeing, and I suspect that it will have quite an impact.
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Jun '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
Professor Rahe, the corollary to this video, which goes unstated therein, is that when great nations spend in excess of their means they invariable put themselves in a position of being unable to defend their interests. When this happens they are subject to being blown over by the first group of Huns that comes their way.
Edited on Oct 21, 2010 at 7:41pmJul '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
Creative. The notion that we are at the end of the American Era is embraced by the left. We on the right refuse to acccept it.
But there it is, unless we do what it takes to prevent it.
May '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
Pretty melodramatic... and, shoot, a real possibility if China gets their ducks in a row and we do not...
Aug '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
I suspect this commercial might strike conservatives and liberals quite differently.
The punchline "so now they work for us" strikes me as the natural consequence of accumulating a lot of debt: your creditor eventually owns you, and this can't be good for a sovereign nation.
But I suspect a liberal would see things differently. I doubt a liberal would think of the punchline in terms of the natural consequences of debt. Rather, I suspect the liberal would see the punchline only as a scare-tactic based on xenophobia and anticommunist hysteria.
No wonder the two sides keep talking past each other.
Jul '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
They shoud have shown low-wage American workers on a spatula-assembly line.
Feb '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
There's a big problem with this commercial.
Of course, it was created to make a point, which it does quite well.
However, it has too many Chinese young people. Where are they going to be coming from 20 years from now?
We've got monumental problems-- but China has even more monumental ones to overcome.
Realistically, we're headed for a war with China. Attitudes in each country are shifting against the other. China's becoming more belligerent and self-confident, and we are more willing to shift the blame from ourselves to them. (Ask yourself, is it our fault or China's fault that we owe them so much money, etc.?)
The outcome is uncertain. Last time, we were the creditor nation and the debtor nations were in Europe. This time, we are in the position that Germany was in, and China is in the position we were in. The roles have moved to the west by one ocean's span.
It remains to be seen if China or the U.S. will be the more vigorous nation. China appears to be on the upswing, but its demographics could make it more like Japan (old, stagnant) by 2030.
Aug '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
Very well done and truthful. A friend of mine who literally commutes to China - and has lived there off and on for twenty years - tells me the same thing every time we talk. The People's Republic is doing exactly what Britain did in the early 19th Century, what we did in the late 19th Century, and what Chris Patton did in Hong Kong in the mid 20th. This is the time-tested formula: deregulate, encourage, enforce property rights, and then stay out of the way as much as possible.
The Chinese also implemented a stimulus plan in early 2009. It was a two-page document that directed massive amounts of money toward domestic consumption.
While we and most other nations floundered with declining export numbers, the Chinese loosened up credit to peasants, kept their factories humming, and built goodwill domestically.
They will be facing the same demographic brick wall of reality that we and the E.U. face, down the road. But in the meantime, they'll be building their empire.
Our only hope is to recapture the moral and spiritual high ground we abandoned in the early 1900's. Yes, we abandoned our principles, our morals, our God.
Sep '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
I can't argue with the point, but I think this ad is just a classic boogey man scare ad. I remember well that numerous books and movies were made with Japan in the role of villian 15 or 20 years ago.
Let's get our house in order, but this has little to do with the Chinese.
Feb '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
Ross Conatser: I can't argue with the point, but I think this ad is just a classic boogey man scare ad. I remember well that numerous books and movies were made with Japan in the role of villian 15 or 20 years ago.
Let's get our house in order, but this has little to do with the Chinese. · Oct 22 at 10:59am
I agree with this. The point of the ad really is about our debt, not about China-- but it uses China very effectively as a vehicle to try to ignite those "animal spirits" (to use a recently overused phrase) in us via jealousy and paranoia. It's a means to communicate the end result of our wasteful spending.
As a Sinophile, I am sad to see our two great nations growing further and further apart and blaming each other more and more. I only see war in our future.
Sep '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
One does not say, "Lend me your money; I want to spend it and not repay you." It suffices to say, "Lend me your money," for when you have the money in your hand, you can satisfy your desire. Nevertheless, if the Chinese expect to be repayed, it seems they should think of being gentle with the Americans and not offending them too greatly. Men are often more obligated by favors granted than by favors received.
Feb '10
Re: Why Do Great Nations Fail?
Here's a response video put out by a Taiwanese animation agency:
(Source: http://www.nma.tv/2010/10/29/chinese-professor-animated-parody/. Visit this link for more tongue-in-cheek response.)
Of course, the Taiwanese are rivals to China, so they have a vested interest in making China look bad.
Having been to China and studied there, I'd say the truth is somewhere in between what is portrayed in the two ads. China has great potential but they also face great problems. They have a lot to overcome before they can become the next empire.
Edited on Oct 29, 2010 at 3:02pm