Why is America a superpower?

2015-08-14T12:38:43-04:00

America is only 239 years old, how has it become such a powerful force (militarily, financially, politically) so quickly?

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 14 at 2015 12:40 PM

2015-08-14T12:40:36-04:00

One word... capitolism.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 14 at 2015 12:41 PM

2015-08-14T12:41:43-04:00

Do we really believe we are STILL a super power smore??

Response by SPC James Butler made Aug 14 at 2015 12:43 PM

2015-08-14T12:43:41-04:00

I think many factors led to this. One major thing I can think of is the creation of our nation in the "new world." We had many robust natural resources to feed our early economy. I think it also helps that we were already a cash cow for the British and decided to cut them off. We showed the world what we can do to an empire and then in 1812 we reinforced that idea with our "new" professional military.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 14 at 2015 12:44 PM

2015-08-14T12:44:24-04:00

Because people weren't afraid to work hard and stand up for this country and for themselves. They had values and respect for each other. They believed in God and made sure that he was everywhere within the government and schools. They weren't afraid to discipline not only their own kids but other kids. We have become our own enemy.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 14 at 2015 12:47 PM

2015-08-14T12:47:22-04:00

SGT Christopher Churilla, the real question is, for how much longer?

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made Aug 14 at 2015 12:51 PM

2015-08-14T12:51:36-04:00

Are we really a Super Power or are we just "has beens?" Ya, we were the Greatest Nation in the World and we had the best trained and ready Military Force to take on any other Country that threatened our Freedom and our way of life. Are we still that "Super Power" or are we being torn apart by bureaucracy?

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Aug 14 at 2015 12:55 PM

2015-08-14T12:55:03-04:00

America is a super power, and has grown in strength from the beginning because of the people. It is a nation that was founded on empowering the people, when you have that kind of mandate, it is easy to gain strength. First comes internal strength, then that strength is projected outward. America produced products that were solid, and allowed for solid exports. The American Military Might was born in wartime, composed of the people, and gains its strength from each individual who joins that brotherhood.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Aug 14 at 2015 12:58 PM

2015-08-14T12:58:40-04:00

Freedom and capitalism - the engines of growth.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Aug 14 at 2015 2:02 PM

2015-08-14T14:02:59-04:00

All our systems for the employment of power are world class. Political, Economic and Military. We have the ability to project those components world wide. That's what makes us a superpower.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Aug 14 at 2015 2:10 PM

2015-08-14T14:10:30-04:00

Yes I am a Mason

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Aug 14 at 2015 2:17 PM

2015-08-14T14:17:21-04:00

I had ten struck in the Bde Service Area one night and 5 tanks struck in a hot loop the same night. Very unsettling. The lightning struck a generator and continued thru two tents of supply and mess personnel.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 14 at 2015 2:21 PM

2015-08-14T14:21:58-04:00

The "old powers" in Europe grew up squeezed in close to one another and had to compete for limited space. Eventually they developed an equilibrium because, even if they didn't like their neighbors, they were forced to live amongst them more or less.

In America, we had a huge land with no peer-level competitors. The Native Americans were decimated by our previously unknown diseases, and we had such a technological advantage that we were able to uetterly curbstomp the ones that remained. Industrial warfare and an ideology that propelled our ancestors to take what they wanted because they can pretty much cleared the way for us to set up a society with access to two seas and a wealth of resources.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 14 at 2015 2:31 PM

2015-08-14T14:31:30-04:00

We have the economic base and population to afford a large standing military, albeit, some is the funding is based on National Debt. For a few decades the military doctrine called for a requisite capability of fighting two theaters of war in light of an era where our allies divested themselves of much of their military capabilities. We are trying to counter China and Russia by default of being the military leader of Western countries and Asian countries recently. Within this doctrine is an impetus to change undemocratic governments to democratic ones for ideological reasons, and the fact that democratic countries don't fight each other.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Aug 14 at 2015 4:50 PM

2015-08-14T16:50:27-04:00

The success of America is an aggregation of the individual successes of its citizens. Freed from the constraints they left behind in their natal lands, Americas excelled in every human endeavor. Sadly though, we have been coasting for several decades now, living off the largess of those who came before us, fought for us, and built an economy unlike the world had ever known. We are adopting the constraints that our fore-bearers escaped under the delusion that "the grass is greener over there". We have surrendered the knowledge of these mistakes and pretend that we can do better than the framers of the Constitution is crafting a system of government. Instead of a healthy, limited government, we have created a cancer that is crowding out the healthy parts of the nation. Political entrepreneurs are competing with commercial entrepreneurs, sucking the life out of our industrial and commercial engine. How many or how few are aware that the first among us, the Pilgrims, instituted a form of socialism that almost killed the Plymouth colony. No, it was the native Americans who saved their sorry hides, it was their adoption of free enterprise (every man for himself) that saved them.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Aug 14 at 2015 6:14 PM

2015-08-14T18:14:33-04:00

Congratulations CSM

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 15 at 2015 3:32 AM

2015-08-15T03:32:28-04:00

Because we decided to stand up for ourselves and not take crap from our English overlords.

Response by SPC George Rudenko made Aug 15 at 2015 4:16 AM

2015-08-15T04:16:18-04:00

Science and technology. Not one country can compete with our universities and research centers

Response by CW4 Guy Butler made Aug 15 at 2015 7:32 AM

2015-08-15T07:32:58-04:00

The biggest kick start came from having the only intact infrastructure at the end of World War 2...

Found the following characteristics on line; can't really argue with any of them

http://time.com/3899972/us-superpower-status-military/

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 15 at 2015 8:30 AM

2015-08-15T08:30:24-04:00

Mostly, a quirk of history. Our homeland was largely untouched during WWII, while pretty much every traditional global power was devastated by it. We were pretty much the last ones standing. Plus, we took in all those Jewish scientists the Nazis were persecuting...giving us the atomic bomb.

Response by COL Ted Mc made Apr 1 at 2016 2:25 PM

2016-04-01T14:25:30-04:00

SGT Christopher Churilla - Sergeant; There are several reasons, amongst them are:

[1] America was in possession of the largest tract of undeveloped land that "didn't belong to anyone" in the Temperate Zone.

[2] America was in possession of the greatest store of natural resources that "didn't belong to anyone" in the Temperate Zone.

[3] America was isolated from all the wars that it didn't want to start for the first 200+ years of its existence.

[4] American neutrality allowed it the luxury of not having to refrain from selling goods to anyone - regardless of which side(s) of a war the purchasers were on.

[5] The European countries essentially bankrupted themselves fighting WWI and WWII because the only substantial source of war materials for them [with the exception of Russia] was the United States of America and it was American policy that no goods would be sold on credit.

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Apr 1 at 2016 2:26 PM

2016-04-01T14:26:48-04:00

Our military technology, our military in size, and number one out of them all. Our nuclear arsenal.

Our efforts and unification during WWII has led us to become a superpower.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Apr 2 at 2016 5:53 PM

2016-04-02T17:53:38-04:00

It's easy to understand why it is a Superpower. What's hard to understand is why are we so willing to throw it away. And we are throwing it away. We may have the greatest weapons and armed forces in the world, but they were built with treasure earned by those who came before us. We have squandered so much of it, we can no longer afford to deploy it. Why? How? I would never presume to answer this question without quoting Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address...

"If we look to the answer as to why, for so many years, we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here, in this land, we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.

"It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We are not, as some would have us believe, loomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will all on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew; our faith and our hope.

"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we are in a time when there are no heroes just don’t know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter—and they are on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They are individuals and families whose taxes support the Government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet but deep. Their values sustain our national life"

Sadly, Reagan had to admit defeat when he left office. He had not been able to pare back our glutenous government. The bureaucracy was too well protected by Congress and public service unions. We the People were too complacent to join him in battling the cancer in Washington. So, the problem today is many times greater than when he spoke these words and it will only get worse with each passing day.