[2019-10-23]美国作为一个国家正在倒退吗？

Chris Joosse , Knows a bit about history
In substantial ways, it is.
In no particular order:
* The US is tracking to be the first developed country to regress into being a ‘developing’ country [An MIT economist says the US has regressed to a developing nation status]
* Life expectancy in the USA has been declining for 3 years now. [On average, life expectancy across the globe is steadily ticking upward—but the same can’t be said for the United States. Three reports newly published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight a worrying downward trend in Americans’ average life expectancy]
* The US has regressed in its ability to sustain a middle class or shared sustainable prosperity [USA: The Great Prosperity / The Great Regression : 5 charts]

Chris Joosse 了解一点历史
在很大程度上，这是正确的说法。
顺序不分先后:
* 美国将成为首个倒退成为“发展中”国家的发达国家(麻省理工学院一位经济学家表示，美国已倒退成为发展中国家)
* 美国人的平均寿命已连续三年下降。 (全球平均预期寿命正在稳步上升，但美国的情况就不同了。 疾病控制和预防中心最近发表的三份报告强调了美国人平均预期寿命的下降趋势）
* 美国在维持中产阶级或共享可持续繁荣的能力方面倒退

* The USA once presided over a new world order (starting with the end of the World Wars) intended to stop the great powers from using war to gain wealth or territory- but it has ceded any moral authority it once may have had in the eyes of the world.
* The American Dream, which used to mean that each generation could expect to be better off on average than the one before, is dead in America. On average, we are worse off. [An autopsy of the American dream]
* Ironically, the places to see the American Dream alive and well today… are in other countries. [The American Dream is alive and well in Sweden][What’s So Special About Finland?][You have a better chance of achieving "the American dream" in Canada than in America]
This is not to say that all hope is lost, or that there aren’t redeeming qualities to the USA- but it does candidly acknowledge that in the last 50 years, the United States has stopped doing the kinds of things that made the American Dream possible or real. It has instead traded its New Deal prosperity for a sort of winner-take-all casino reality.
Along the way, what used to make America great has been deeply tarnished and diminished.

* 美国曾经引领了一种新的世界秩序(从世界大战结束开始) ，旨在阻止大国利用战争获取财富或领土，但它现在已经放弃了它曾经在世界眼中的道德权威。美国的美国梦已经死亡，美国梦曾经意味着每一代人都可以期望比上一代人过得更好。平均而言，我们现在的情况更糟。
* 具有讽刺意味的是，今天看到的美国梦依然好好地存活着...却在其他国家。
这并不是说美国已经失去了所有的希望，也不是说美国没有可取之处——但是美国坦率地承认，在过去的50年里，美国已经不再做那些让美国梦成为可能的事情了。相反，它把新政的繁荣变成了一种赢家通吃的赌场现实。
一路走来，曾经使美国伟大的东西已经被深深地玷污和削弱了。

Jens Böttiger , I studied history and I follow politics very closely.
It’s moving. Forwards or backwards is a very subjective, because it depends on where you’re actually trying to end up.
* The relative power of the USA internationally, both economically and geopolitically, has significantly declined with the formation of the Eurozone and the rise of China, which are both major economic competitors. India is currently trying hard to claw its way up into the sun as well.
* America is becoming more divided. Not because people act different, but because the previous default winner (conservative whites) are becoming too small a plurality to dominate the country’s politics. Where they used to have the power to keep black men out of the voting booth, now they can’t even keep trans people out of their bathrooms. This feeds a new level of desperation among older whites who have never before seen democracy produce a result (Obama) that directly overrode their will, rather than compromise with them. Never mind that Obama did compromise with them and basically abandoned every left-wing principle he ran on. Nevertheless, there is now a reflexive push for authoritarian domination, which has led us to Trump.At the end of the day, the Civil Rights Movement, the Civil War, and the Cold War were all decided by white people, because nobody else really had the power to do anything except try to motivate white people who had power. The degree with which you need to compromise with white people in order to get political change is in steep decline, and a fair chunk of white Americans see this as a national decline, because they’re racist and don’t actually believe in real democracy.

Jens Böttiger 学习历史，非常关注政治。
它是在改变。但前进还是后退是一个非常主观的概念，因为它取决于你实际想要的结果。
* 随着欧元区的形成和中国的崛起，美国在国际上的经济和地缘政治上的相对实力显著下降，两者都是主要的经济竞争对手。印度目前也在努力往上爬。
* 美国正变得更加分裂。不是因为人们的行为不同，而是因为以前的默认赢家(保守的白人)正变得越来越少，无法主宰这个国家的政治。 他们曾经有权力拒绝黑人男性的投票权，现在他们甚至不能把变性人赶出他们的浴室之外。这助长了老一辈白人的绝望情绪，他们以前从未见过民主产生的结果(奥巴马)，直接压倒了他们的意愿，而不是与他们妥协。尽管奥巴马与他们达成了妥协，基本上抛弃了他所坚持的所有左翼原则。尽管如此，现在有一种对独裁统治的条件反射式推动，这种推动将我们引向了特朗普。为了获得政治变革，你需要与白人妥协的程度正在急剧下降，很大一部分美国白人认为这是国家的衰落，因为他们是种族主义者，并不相信真正的民主。

* Socially speaking… it’s really very relative. Fifty years ago, conservatives warned America that allowing no-fault divorce and abortions would rip apart America’s families, the gays would run wild, and America would become godless. Turns out, they were pretty much totally right about all of those things. The unpredicted outcome is of course that this is largely considered a feature rather than a bug today.

* 从社会角度来说... 这真的是非常相对的。50年前，保守派警告美国，允许无过错离婚和堕胎会撕裂美国的家庭，同性恋会变得疯狂，美国会变得无信仰。事实证明，他们在所有这些事情上的看法，都是完全正确的。当然，意料之外的结果是，这在很大程度上被认为是一种特性，而不是一个问题。

Greg Dill , Social Worker (2010-present)
Is the United States moving backwards as a nation?
Whenever conservatives take over the White House a lot of progressive policies that were passed by the previous administration tend to get trimmed at the top or completely chopped off altogether. For example: every time gun control legislation is passed, it gets nixed by the next conservative administration, every time new green initiatives get passed, they get nixed by the next conservative administration; putting us back by a couple of decades. Legalized abortion is next on most conservative’s radar. If that gets nixed, we might as well revert back to living in medieval times a la bloody wire hangers. Sadly, many nations already see us as backwards. Especially on the gun issue. My gosh, what does it take to stop the mass shootings of innocent people including our precious little ones? It’s really not rocket science. But, for those less educated… apparently it is. Just so they could keep their fucking barbaric weapons.

Greg Dill ，社工(2010年至今)
美国作为一个国家正在倒退吗？
无论何时，只要保守派接管了白宫，上届政府通过的许多进步政策就会被削减，或者完全砍掉。 例如：每次枪支管制立法通过，就会被下一届保守党政府否决，每次新的绿色倡议通过，就会被下一届保守党政府否决；这就让我们倒退了几十年。堕胎合法化是大多数保守派关注的下一个问题。 如果这个计划遭到否决，那我们还不如回到中世纪，生活在一个该死的铁笼里。不幸的是，许多国家已经认为我们落后了。尤其是在枪支问题上。我的天，怎样才能阻止大规模无辜的人被枪击，包括我们的宝贝儿女？这真的不像火箭科学那么难啊。 但是，对于那些没受教育的人来说，显然就是这么难。这样他们就可以继续使用他妈的野蛮武器。

Andrew Pyle , U.S. Navy (6 years) U.S. Army (4 Years) Veteran
Politically and Socially in every way possible. But this is to be expected. Some other people answered this question showing decline statiscally but that is mainly do to the high birth rate after world war 2 which ended in the early 1970's. But this is mainly do to this simple reality:
Hard times make hard people.
Hard people make easy times.
Easy times make soft people.
Soft people make hard times.
Right now the U.S. is in soft times with soft people running it. Let's look at what soft times have brought the U.S:
Political Decline:
The political system is polarized. Democratics (left) Republicans (Right). It is a joke though, because you don't have to agree with party ideals to join a political party. The reality here is if you vote for one of these people from these parties you don't know what you are going to get.

Andrew Pyle 美国海军服役6年美国陆军服役4年
政治上和社会上的一切可能都在衰退中，但这是意料之中的。也有人从统计学的角度回答了这个问题，但这主要是因为二战后的高出生率，二战在上世纪70年代初结束。针对这个简单的现实，主要是：
艰难的时代造就努力的人，
努力的人造就安逸的时代。
安逸的时代造就软弱的人，
软弱的人造就艰难的时代。
现在美国正处于经济不景气的时期。 让我们来看看经济疲软给美国带来了什么:
政治衰落：政治体制两极分化。 民主党(左)与共和党(右)。不过，这就是一个笑话，因为你不必同意政党的理想，就可以加入政党。现实是，如果你从这些政党中投票给其中一个人，你不知道你将会得到什么。

This has left the federal governing body deadlocked for decades. Shifting between left and right laws. Hell, U.S. federal government has not passed a budget in a decade. It has been a extention after extention just to keep the government running.
Social Decline:
Because of the rise of social media, this has polarized our impressional youth, not just in the U.S. but around the world. U.S. news had been Polarized before that.
The difference now is the people who work in the news industry grew up with social media platforms. Instead of reporting facts, it is all and I MEAN ALL sensationalized for the sake of that extra click that gets you that extra advertising dollar. There is no such thing as journalistic integrity anymore in main stream media. It other words it is exaggerated or to simplIfy it even more: it is lies or for those who are insulted: fabricated (another political correct word for lies).

这使得联邦管理机构陷入了几十年的僵局，在左右派法律之间转换。美国联邦政府已经十年没有通过预算了。为了维持政府的正常运转，一次又一次的延期。
社会衰退：由于社交媒体的兴起，这使得年轻人两极分化，不仅在美国，而且在世界各地都有发生。 但在那之前，美国的新闻早已经两极分化了。
不同的是，现在的新闻行业工作者是从社交媒体平台中成长起来的。我的意思是，所有报道都是为了引起轰动来获得额外的广告收入，而不是报道事实。在主流媒体中，已经没有新闻诚信这回事了。换句话说，新闻被夸大了，或者更简单地说：谎言，或者是为那些被侮辱的人准备的: 捏造(“谎言”的另一个政治正确的词)。

Non-affiliated fact checking sites from around the world found more than 90% of news reports had DELIBERATE falsehoods in them. Reporters that have no falsehoods in their work rarely remain employed or they remain in medial reporting jobs.
The Majority of news agencies do not call their reports ‘Reports' anymore but ‘Stories' because this helps them get passed liable lawsuits.
But if you want to stay informed, you have to watch these lying news stations. Unfortunately, the majority of the U.S. nation are idiots who just believe their favorite news agency's B.S. and sadly this is mainly because they want to caught up this exaggerated drama. They don't understand the difference between facts and dramatically exaggerated lies anymore.

来自世界各地的非附属事实核查网站发现，90% 以上的新闻报道存在蓄意的谎言。那些在工作中保持诚信的记者很少能保住工作，或者继续从事媒体报道的工作。
大多数新闻机构不再把他们的报道称为“报道” ，而是称之为“故事”，因为这有助于他们通过法律诉讼。
但是，如果你想了解更多，你就得看看这些胡说八道的新闻台。不幸的是，大多数美国人都是白痴，他们只相信他们最喜欢的新闻机构的胡说八道，可悲的是，主要是因为他们想跟上这个夸张的闹剧。他们不再理解事实和夸大的谎言之间的区别。

There are too many groups in the U.S. that are too and mean TOO EASILY OFFENDED! The U.S. is becoming a bunch wussies who cry every time their feelings are even slightly hurt.
But on an upbeat, the U.S. is still the most innovative county. The majority new inventions and scientific break throughs come from american companies and universities. Unfortunately, the majority of people who come up with these breakthroughs did not originate from the U.S.

在美国有太多的群体，他们太敏感了！美国正在变成一群胆小鬼，每当他们的感情受到轻微伤害时就会开始哭泣。
但在乐观的情况下，美国仍然是最具创新力的国家。大多数新发明和科学突破来自美国的公司和大学。不幸的是，提出这些技术突破的大多数人并非来自美国。

Thomas Griffin , former English Teacher
More like those going forward aren’t doing enough to combat those going backward.
On the one hand, you’ve got younger Americans (35 and under, roughly), who are more skeptical of American capitalism, rejecting religion as a dictator of social morals, more racially inclusive, marrying less and having fewer kids than previous generations.
On the other hand, you’ve got the (mostly) older Americans- we’ll say over 40 to be safe- who grew up terrified of socialism, think global warming is a myth, still want Christian morals to be law and enforced in society, think life is a winner-take-all competition, don’t respect those living “alternative” (read: non-Christian) lifestyles, believe in punishment over rehabilitation, you see where I’m going with this.
I believe the latter group is in decline, not least because they’re older and therefore dying off faster. However, there’s an X-factor: these people vote. Every time. They will wade through crocodile-infested rivers holding American flags high if it means they have a shot at stopping the liberal, socialist, un-American SJW snowflakes from gaining any ground. These people may be uneducated (proudly, even), ignorant, bigoted, or insular, but they’re dedicated to getting their way.

Thomas Griffin 、前英语教师
更像是那些往前走的人，没有努力对抗那些往后走的人。
一方面，年轻的美国人(大约35岁及以下)对美国资本主义更加怀疑，反对以宗教作为社会道德的独裁者，更加具有种族包容性，更少结婚，比前几代人生的孩子更少。
另一方面，(大多数)老年美国人，保守定义是超过40岁的，他们从小就害怕社会主义，认为全球变暖是一个神话，仍然希望基督教的道德是法律，并在社会中执行，认为生活是一个赢家通吃的竞争，不尊重那些生活中的“另类”(即：非基督教)的生活方式，相信惩罚而不是改造，你懂我的意思。
我认为后者正在衰退，不仅仅是因为他们年纪大了，所以死得更快。然而，还有一个未知因素： 这些人的投票，每次都是。这意味着如果他们有机会阻止自由派、社会主义者和非美国人扩张的话，他们就会高举美国国旗走过鳄鱼出没的河流。这些人可能没有受过教育(甚至自大) ，无知、偏执或者孤立，但他们致力于自己的方式。

Chuck McMahon , lives in The United States of America (1962-present)
That is a HUGE question, and with no one answer.
I can list you particular areas where America is getting better.
I can list you many areas where America is declining.
I can also list you many areas where declining or improving depends upon the person you ask.
The most common reason that a question like this comes up these days is because of our current political turmoil and how a percentage of our population has become so vocally antagonistic towards people that think differently than do they.
The truth is - that is actually caused by growing pains.
We went through far worse following the civil war in the 1870’s.
We went through it again as women fought for their basic rights and won the right to vote in the 1920’s.
We went through it again as the civil rights act changed so many laws about how we treat each other in the mid-60′ to mid 70’s.

Chuck McMahon 生活在美利坚合众国(1962年至今)
这是一个非常大的问题，但却没有人能回答。
我可以列出美国正在改善的特定领域。
我也可以列举出美国正在衰落的许多领域。
我也可以列举出许多领域是否衰落或改善，取决于你问的人。
这几天出现这样的问题，最常见的原因是因为我们当前的政治动荡，以及我们中有一部分人，变得强烈地敌视那些想法与他们不同的人。
事实是——这实际上是由成长的烦恼引起的。
在19世纪70年代，当内战过后，我们经历了更糟糕的情况。
在20世纪20年代，当妇女为争取自己的基本权利和选举权而斗争时，我们又经历了一次。
在60年代中期到70年代中期，当民权法案修改了那么多关于我们如何对待彼此的法律时，我们再经历了一次。

The 2010’s saw tremendous advancement in social equality without regard to gender, religion, race, country of origin, sexual preference, etc.
Every time we advance in human rights, there is always a faction (generally led by the oldest generation of the time) that tries to claw things back to what they believe should be the norm.

2010年代，社会平等取得了巨大进步，不论性别、宗教、种族、起源国、性偏好等等。
每当我们在人权方面取得进展时，总会有一个派别(通常由当时最老的领导)试图把事情恢复到他们认为正常的状态。

Clarence Sherrick , works at Psychic Eye, Las Vegas
Backwards and forwards at the same time.
I have lived in the US for 75 years and many aspects of American civilization, its’ people and its’ values have changed and are now rapidly changing. With some elements definitely getting worse.
Only time will tell where this is all going to lead.
However, I suspect that we (as well as much of the rest of World) are already in the stages leading to major Civil Strife. And you may blame communication technology for this. A technology rapidly expanding based upon commercial purpose without any understanding of the social or moral consequences. With so many sources of information without any oversight or refinement, you simply no longer know whom or what to believe.
And this is only going to get worse.

Clarence Sherrick 在拉斯维加斯的心灵之眼工作
即在成长也在衰退。
我在美国生活了75年，美国文明的许多方面、美国人和美国价值观都发生了变化，现在正在迅速改变。有些地方确实变得更糟了。
只有时间才能告诉我们，这一切将会把美国导向何方。
然而，我怀疑我们(以及世界其他大部分地区)已经处于大规模内战的阶段了。你可能会把这归咎于通信技术。一种基于商业目的而迅速扩张的技术，却对社会或道德后果一无所知。有这么多的信息来源，却没有任何监督或改善，你根本不知道该相信谁或信什么。
这只会变得越来越糟。

Bill Phil
Is the United States a nation?
Don’t get me wrong, the USA is certainly a country and certainly a state with sovereignty and a government.
But what is a nation?
A nation is tough to define, but under many definitions, the US doesn’t fit.
Germany is a nation - not the Bundesrepublik - but German speaking people. Ireland is a nation, Scotland is a nation, England is a nation. France is a nation. Spain is a nation. I can’t think of many off the top of my head but there are plenty of other nations.
But the US… isn’t a nation. We have multiple nations within our borders, certainly.
But the US isn’t a nation. And I think that’s a very interesting and kind of unique situation for a state to be in.
Rather than existing to serve some specific nation on Earth - the US is founded on ideals. And I think that’s a good thing.
But there are some things we’re backsliding on…
Pay hasn’t risen along with productivity.
Prices are massively increasing for many necessary goods and services.
Terrible food is heavily subsidized and healthy food is not.
Our political system is basically a joke.
And so on and so on.

Bill Phil
美国是一个国家吗？不要误会我的意思，美国当然是一个国家，当然也是一个拥有主权和政府的国家。
但是什么是国家呢？国家很难定义，但在许多定义下，美国并不适合这定义。（阿煌注：这里侧重民族，nation有国家或民族的意思）
德国是一个民族，不是联邦德国，而是讲德语的民族。爱尔兰是一个民族，苏格兰是一个民族，英格兰是一个民族，法国是一个民族，西班牙也是一个民族。我脑子里想不出有多少这样的国家，但是还有很多其他这样的国家。
但是美国......不是一个这样的国家。当然，我们的国境内有多个民族。
但美国不是一个民族。我认为对于一个国家来说，这是一个非常有趣和独特的情况。
美国不是为了服务于地球上某个特定的民族而存在，而是建立在理想之上的。我认为这是一件好事。
但是有些事情我们正在倒退...
工资并没有随着生产率的提高而提高。
许多生活必需品和服务的价格都在大幅上涨。
对不健康的食物有大量补贴，而对健康的食物则没有。
我们的政治体系基本上就是个笑话。
诸如此类。

Howard Robinson , Author (2012-present)
Since 2017 America has begun to recover from the terrible years under Bush and Obama. President Trump has lowered taxes for everyone ( liberals say he didn’t on the rich but that of course is false), reduced stifling regulations, renegotiated and is still negotiating trade deals, and has made America stronger and more respected in the world (maybe not liked, but respected). Reelecting President Trump and Republicans could solve many problems including immigration and get beneficial treaties with N. Korea and Iran.

Howard Robinson ，作家(2012年至今)
自2017年以来，美国已经开始从布什和奥巴马的糟糕岁月中恢复过来。特朗普总统已经降低了所有人的税率(自由派人士说他没有对富人征税，但那说法当然是错的) ，减少了令人窒息的法规，重新谈判贸易协定并仍在谈判中，并且让美国变得更加强大，在世界上更受尊重(也许不受欢迎，但是受尊重)。特朗普总统和共和党人的连任，可以解决包括移民问题在内的许多问题，并与朝鲜和伊朗达成有益的条约。

J. R. Franklin , 8+ years playing history and strategy games.
Socially, yes. In the late 1900's we were doing great.
Racism was at an all time low, sexism was getting better, and we had defeated Facism for the most part. Best of all, Democrats and Republicans were working together. The Space Race, Vietnam and Korea, civil rights... all focuses of both Republicans and Democrats.
Today, we don't agree on ANYTHING! Democrats.. The party of ‘Peace' now push for war. The ‘Christian' party choses abortion over life. They chose to let everyone in, even gangs. All of this, just to oppose Republicans.

J. R. Franklin ，有8年以上的历史和战略游戏经验。
在社交方面，是的。在20世纪后期，我们做得很好。种族主义处于历史最低点，性别歧视越来越改善，我们在很大程度上消灭了种族主义。 最重要的是，民主党人和共和党人在一起工作。太空竞赛，越南、韩国、民权等等... 这些都是共和党和民主党关注的焦点。
但现在，我们在任何事情上都意见不合！ 民主党...当初的“和平”政党，如今推动战争。基督教党选择堕胎而不是选择生命。他们选择让所有人进来，甚至包括帮派。所有这一切，只是为了反对共和党。

Ridge Greene , Construction Management (2000-present)
Absolutely, Divided we are failing. In the past we embraced the rebuilding after WWII exercising our industrial capacity, paid fair wages and grew a middle class that was the envy of the world, we followed that with a space race which resulted in numerous improvements and opportunities in many fields and continued the advantages we built for ourselves with the benefits of the technology we developed. We then passed the High Speed information act which provided the foundation by which the Arpanet became the Internet which created a huge economic advantage for our nation and this is where the progress goes off the rails with the failure to embrace the future, to turn our back on the biggest challenge of our new millennium which is to engage in a clean, alternative energy race that makes the Space Race and the High Speed Information act look like a High School Science fair project. We have taken a big step backwards while other countries surge forward to fill the vacuum created when our country re-dedicated itself to fossil fuels. This decision will be what historians look back on as what prompted the end of America’s rise. Even if we rededicate ourselves to engaging the future instead of the past we have lost ground that will be difficult to make up and it is possible that we lack the vision and foresight to embrace these changes do in part to their demonisation by vested energy interests and political division. Such an obvious common goal would have been embraced by a majority at one time, the fact that these goals are controversial is a testament to the power of propaganda and short term greed by industries afraid of competition. The economic benefit of winning the energy race will be huge and if we fail the losses will be greater.

Ridge Greene 、建造业管理(2000至今)
毫无疑问，分裂导致我们的衰落。在过去，我们积极参与二战后的重建，发挥我们的工业能力，支付合理的工资，发展成为一个令世界羡慕的中产阶级，我们随后进行了太空竞赛，在许多领域带来了无数的进步和机会，并继续利用我们开发的技术，来为我们建立优势。我们随后通过了《高速信息法案》 ，该法案为阿帕网成为互联网奠定了基础，互联网为我们国家创造了巨大的经济优势。
如今，当其他国家为填补空白（我国重新致力于化石燃料所造成）而前进时，我们就已经大大倒退了。这一决定，将成为历史学家回顾导致美国终结崛起的原因。即使我们再次致力参与未来技术，而不是致力过去，我们也已经失去了难以弥补的阵地了，而且我们可能缺乏接受这些变化的远见，部分原因是既得利益集团和政治分裂，妖魔化了这些变化。这样一个显而易见的共同目标，曾经会被大多数人接受。这些目标引起争议的事实，证明了害怕竞争的行业的宣传力量和短期贪婪。赢得能源竞赛的经济效益将是巨大的，但如果我们失败了，损失将更大。

Scott Nash , Fanatical Reader Since Age 4
No, but we have chosen this unbelievably inopportune time to pause our forward motion. China and Russia are both on the move and intending to overtake us. Russia will fail, they just don’t have the chops, but China WILL surpass us very soon - if they haven’t already. Meanwhile, we have stupidly stopped all forward motion to relitigate the civil rights era.
meanwhile, we can’t put a human in space (Russia can), we don’t have G4 (but China does), we don’t have clean energy (but Germany does - we are still using coal; energy from fire, like Neanderthals). We are very good at technologies we perfected before 2000, but are at a virtual standstill while others are sprinting ahead.

Scott Nash 4岁开始就是狂热读者
不是的，但是我们选择了这个令人难以置信且不合时宜的时间，来暂停我们前进的步伐。中国和俄罗斯都在前进，并有意超越我们。俄罗斯会失败，只是因为他们没有这个能力，但，中国很快就会超过我们。与此同时，我们愚蠢地停止了所有前进的动议，重拾民权时代。
再与此同时，我们不能把人类送上太空(俄罗斯可以)，我们也没有G4高铁(但中国有) ，我们没有清洁能源(但德国有，我们仍在使用煤炭，就像尼安德特人一样)。 我们非常擅长使用2000年前完善的技术，但是当其他人在奋力前进时，我们却原地踏步。

Richard Comroe , Scientist, inventor, engineer, professor, VP
Everything in the entire world changes constantly. Nothing in nature is unchanging. The challenge in any observation on direction of movement or change is really a question of direction … which direction is forward and which direction is backward?
To answer any question regarding direction one needs a compass, which is merely a device that points out a direction to a pole. In fact, we could have a unique compass to point towards any given objective.
For example, here’s a couple of obvious objectives (it’s by no means a complete list):
* Per capita wealth
* Per capita wealth standing among nations
* Individual longevity (health)
* Individual longevity standing among nations
These are NOT all in the same direction. For example, regarding wealth a nation may move forward in regards to increasing individual wealth while SIMULTANEOUSLY moving backwards in relation to other nations (if they are moving forward faster).

Richard Comroe 科学家，发明家，工程师，教授，副总裁
整个世界的一切都在不断地变化。自然界没有什么是不变的。任何对运动或变化方向的观察，所面临的问题实际上就是方向问题... 取决于哪个方向是前进，哪个方向是后退的？
为了回答任何有关方向的问题，我们需要一个指南针，它只不过是一个能指出极点方向的装置。
例如，这里有几个明显的指标(这绝不是一个完整的列表) :
* 人均财富
* 各国人均财富情况
* 人均寿命(健康)
* 各国人均寿命情况
这些并不都是朝着同一个方向的。例如，关于财富，一个国家可能在增加个人财富的同时，相对于其他国家却是在倒退(如果他们前进得更快的话)。

I read the other offered answers to the question, and it’s obvious that almost everybody identifies different goals to gauge direction against. So I can think of no way to contribute further as hardly 2 people see the exact same national objective. I’d only offer the cold reality that nations and empires grow and nations and empires fall … such is the law of life as inevitable as life and death. “Too big to fail” is an imaginary concept popular in our government right now, while it exists no-place in real-life.

我读了其他人对这个问题的回答，很明显，几乎每个人都有不同的指标来衡量方向。因此，我想不出任何进一步的回答，因为几乎没有人有完全相同的国家指标。我只能提供一个冰冷的现实：帝国成长，帝国衰落... 这就是生命的法则，就像死亡对生命一样不可避免。“大到不能倒”是我国政府目前流行的一个假想概念，但在现实中却不存在这概念。

Stephen Godek , Ph.D. Public Policy & Political Science, University of Illinois at Chicago (1983)
Not only the U.S. but all nations are moving backward as nations. Neoliberalism, multinational corporatism, and religious tribalism are inexorably replacing national sovereignty as the dominant modes of organization worldwide. The current resurgence of nationalistic isolationism in a number of nations is merely a rearguard action responding to these trends but it is ultimately self-defeating.

Stephen Godek 、伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校，公共政策与政治学博士，1983年
不仅美国，所有国家都在倒退。新自由主义、跨国公司理论和宗教部落主义，正在不可避免地取代国家主权，成为世界范围内的主要组织模式。一些国家目前重新抬头的民族主义和孤立主义，只不过是对这些趋势作出反应的后防行动，这种做法最终只会弄巧成拙。

Jay C Polmar , 73 y/o Consultant, psychologist, publisher, Mexico (1977-present)
Welcome to Neo-Nazi America. Going back to fascism of the 30s and 40s under a Hitler-like Dictators that breaks all the laws and violates the constitution. The personal income is not increasing and what you can buy with your money is less than before due to tariffs. The U.S. is going ass-backwards and is becoming a 3rd world nation under a dictator who allows his friends to get and stay rich, makes the poor poorer, blames our immigrant workforce for the crimes Americans commit - and goes around grabbing women’s pussies and raping teenage girls. We are going back into the Dark Ages - I hope this Orange Devil dies soon.

Jay C Polmar ，73岁，顾问，心理学家，出版商，墨西哥(1977年至今)
欢迎来到新纳粹美国。回到30年代和40年代，在希特勒式的独裁者统治下，法西斯主义打破了所有的法律，违反了宪法。由于关税，个人收入没有增加，用你的钱可以买的东西比以前少了。美国正在倒退，在一个独裁者的统治下，美国正在成为第三世界国家。这个独裁者允许他的朋友变得更富有，让穷人变得更贫穷，把美国人犯下的罪行归咎于我们的移民劳动力，到处发生对少女的抢劫侵犯。我们正在回到黑暗时代——我希望这个橙色魔鬼尽快去死。

Frank Lazar , Former Board member of NJPIRG
Not really. What we have learned is that for all of the dejure progress we have made when it comes to racial discrimination, very little change has actually occurred in the de facto attitudes that were behind it. People are pretty much just as racist, xenophobic, or otherwise bigoted as they were in the 60’s. However such behavior became enough of an embarrassment that many of us kept our racism hidden and quiet.
With the elections of Obama and later on Trump himself, that quiet little status quo was blown over into the present hot war.

Frank Lazar 、 NJPIRG 前董事会成员
也不尽然。我们得到的教训是，尽管我们在种族歧视问题上取得了法律上的进展，但在种族歧视背后的实际态度方面，几乎没有显著变化。人们几乎和60年代一样，都是种族主义者、排外主义者或者其他偏执的人。 然而，这样的行为已经让我们很尴尬了，以至于我们中的很多人都把种族主义隐藏起来，然后保持沉默。
随着奥巴马和特朗普的当选，这种安静的小现状，被吹成了当前的大热战。

Rohan Rastogi , Sc.B. Biomedical Engineering, Brown University (2018)
Yes.
President Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” is exactly evidence of this. The last word “Again” implies a return to the past, by evoking some nostalgic sentiment.
The United States is moving backwards and it won’t move forwards until the American people accept that both political parties, but particularly the Republicans, are failing America.

Rohan Rastogi 2018年，布朗大学生物医学工程(2018)
是这样的。特朗普总统的口号“让美国再次伟大”就能证明了。最后一个词“再次”意味着回到过去，唤起一些怀旧的感情。
美国正在倒退，除非美国人民认识到两个政党，特别是共和党，正在辜负美国，否则美国不会前进。

Dwight Gray , former Retired USAF
I like to think of it as “taking two steps forward and one step back”, repeatedly.
Progress is being made here on most fronts of human endeavor.
The thing that's making it pointless is our incessant wars.
But man being the flawed creature he is…..Will occasionally regress.
I challenge any country that bashes America to first look in the mirror and see how THEIR country looks!

Dwight Gray ，前美国空军退役军人
我喜欢把这想成是“前进两步，后退一步”如此重复。
人类努力的大部分方面正在取得进展。
而让这一切变得毫无意义的是我们不断的战争。
但是人类是有缺陷的生物... 偶尔会倒退。
我向任何一个抨击美国的国家质问，让他们先照照镜子，看看自己的国家是什么样子！

Arunava Mookerjee , former Managing Director
Not exactly. But there is a noticeable deceleration in the forward velocity.

Arunava Mookerjee 、前常务董事
不完全在倒退。但是前进速度有明显的减速。

Manuel Louro Mourão , Dr. from Universidade Independente (2005)
Yes. The choice of the presidente only highlihted the problema.

Manuel Louro Mourão ，独立大学博士(2005)
是的，总统的选择只是强调了问题的严重性。

Dan Marczuk , studied at Grand Valley State University
No! With president Trump, we are moving forward, and Making America Great Again! You, of course, are thinking of Barry Soetoro, AKA Obama, who moved us backward, as a nation. It was Obama, who took us on an eight-year, world-wide, “Apology Tour,” where he derided America and our Christian heritage & values. Good riddance Obama! Hello president Trump! Trump in 2020!

Dan Marczuk ，就读于大峡谷州立大学
没有！与特朗普总统一起，我们向前迈进，让美国再次伟大！ 当然，你想到的是奥巴马，他把我们国家带向了一个倒退的境地。正是奥巴马带领我们进入了为期八年的全球“道歉之旅” ，在那里他嘲笑了美国和我们的基督教传统和价值观。我们终于摆脱了奥巴马！你好，特朗普总统！ 特朗普2020年！

Steven Lambdin , former OTR Driver. Retired.
course not. This is the best time in America, ever. Low crime, low murder rate, high employment, good wages, low prices for food, lumber, clothing, gasoline, building materials.
No cities Are being burned and looted, no Universities are being occupied, not many people begging in the damn streets.
It's a great time to American.

Steven Lambdin ，前外勤工程司机，退休。
当然没有。这是美国有史以来最好的时代，低犯罪率，低谋杀率，高就业率，高工资，低价格的食品，木材，服装，汽油，建材。
没有城市被焚烧和掠夺，没有大学被占领，没有多少人在该死的街头乞讨。
这是一个美国人的伟大时代。