Saw this on Reddit http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/gameover.php My favs... Got any sure fire signs to add?
I'm not very sure about America, but these two points are so true as far as India is concerned. You know your empire's crumbling when people are getting more religious and less scientific, not the other way around. You know your empire's crumbling when your political leaders start to be chosen by dynastic rules of succession.
The militarism would be the last thing to go. In order to wipe out the militarism, you have to dramatically reform the state, not the economy. As long as the state perists in it's current form, it's most vile institutions and objectives will as well. The militarism will end when people stop recognizing the authority and validity of the current state. It doesn't need violence, just people pursuing their lives indifferent to the actions, and not in collusion with the objectives of the state. Already nearly 10% of Americans don't file their tax returns for example. When/if that number increases, it's the ultimate vote of no-confidence, because people are saying, "I don't recognize your authority, even with a gun pointed at my head".
Someone has yet to explain how we are actually less secure by invading Iraq. How many terrorist attacks have there been since 9/11 in the U.S.? Oh that's right, 0. I'm not saying I'm for the war but this stuff about us being less secure is complete nonsense. Even with the focus on Iraq, we've still managed to capture or kill numerous Al-Qaeda leaders while they haven't executed any attacks on the U.S. since the war started. So someone explain how exactly the U.S. is less secure now because I don't see it.
I think the whole focus is wrong. We are playing this like a game of cops and robbers, and treating the individual members of Al-Qaeda like they are "Most Wanted." The trouble with this mentality is that it places a false sense of security in believing that once rid of Bin-Laden, Zawahiri, etc., we have somehow won a victory over the tidal shift in terrorist aims and methods, post 9-11. I would say, quite the opposite. We have demonstrated our ineptitude, and mobilized new ranks ripe for Al-Qaeda and its variants. I have said this before, and I still believe this: until we reach the children being trained in the fundamentalist madrassas (that we in the States are a force for unjust aggression), we will be seeing a bleak, bleak future ahead.