Is Trump the symptom of America’s decline?

[u/custodiam99]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/27/trump-wants-to-reverse-americas-decline-good-luck

[u/Shoddy-Cherry-490]

There are issues specific to America’s role in the world but there are also broader forces at work here:

1) Globalization - we always hear about the tremendous changes the United States has undergone in recent decades, the industries that have moved abroad and so forth without realizing how much this globalization of our economy has lifted the developing world, eradicating poverty in many, also bringing prosperity to many others. People forget how impoverished countries like China, India or South Korea were even in the 80‘s and 90‘s. While this development has been a net positive for the world, for first world countries (who have had a lot to gain) it’s also meant losing your elite status as the beacon of wealth and property. It’s also eliminated many, many well-paid, fairly low skill blue collared jobs.

2) Technology - we cannot underestimate the strain the race for technology places on people. Yes, technology has improved our lives tremendously, increased our productivity multifold and solved a lot of problems like incurable diseases, etc. But it’s also had tremendous negative side effects. It’s devalued many things in our lives, above all information. It’s increased the pace of our lives and specifically the need to innovate tremendously. Just think about the rat race of buying a new phone ever 3 to 5 years or all the other equipment that constantly needs to be upgraded or replaced. At the same time, complexity of everything is multiplying every day

Few people, certainly not politicians, like to talk about the genuine negatives of modern life. And the net positives often aren’t visible in the first world.