In yesterday's post The Law Of Civilization And Decay, I casually referred "ubiquitous decay" in America. If you follow the news reports as I do, you see signs of our Decline everywhere. I have often been tempted to compile an exhaustive list of these signs, but I always give up—it is a Herculean task.

Today I will list some recent symptoms of rottenness at the core of American life. Most of the items I include just came to light in the past week or so. That makes the problem of making lists manageable. So, let's get right to it—

In Putting our brains on hold, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert decries the poor state of educational achievement in America. A College Board study indicates that the U.S. ranks 12 th among developed nations in the percentage of those between 25 and 34 years old with college degrees. Slightly more than 40% have college degrees, and we rank behind Canada, South Korea, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, Israel, France, Belgium and Australia. Herbert refers to us as a "nation of nitwits" more interested in Lindsay Lohan (left) or Lady Gaga than the fact that we have an epidemic of ignorance in America. I agree, but would also add that this outcome is a natural byproduct of our Consumer Society. Herbert wonders why we don't do something about it. Personally, I don't think a highly educated citizenry is thought to be in the best interests of the clowns elites who run this country. And if you're a young person, why would you want to rack up a huge amount of debt to pay hyperinflated college tuition if you're just going to end up working at Starbucks anyway (or not working at all, and living with your parents.)

In Putting our brains on hold, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert decries the poor state of educational achievement in America. A College Board study indicates that the U.S. ranks 12 among developed nations in the percentage of those between 25 and 34 years old with college degrees. Slightly more than 40% have college degrees, and we rank behind Canada, South Korea, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, Israel, France, Belgium and Australia. Herbert refers to us as a "nation of nitwits" more interested in Lindsay Lohan (left) or Lady Gaga than the fact that we have an epidemic of ignorance in America. I agree, but would also add that this outcome is a natural byproduct of our Consumer Society. Herbert wonders why we don't do something about it. Personally, I don't think a highly educated citizenry is thought to be in the best interests of the elites who run this country. And if you're a young person, why would you want to rack up a huge amount of debt to pay hyperinflated college tuition if you're just going to end up working at Starbucks anyway (or not working at all, and living with your parents.)

In a slightly older item, American ranks dead last in health care when measured against a small set of developed countries. “The U.S. health system is the most expensive in the world, but comparative analyses consistently show the United States under=performs relative to other countries on most dimensions of performance. Among the seven nations studied—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—the U.S. ranks last overall, as it did in the 2007, 2006, and 2004. Most troubling, the U.S. fails to achieve better health outcomes than the other countries, and as shown in the earlier editions, the U.S. is last on dimensions of access, patient safety, coordination, efficiency, and equity. The Netherlands ranks first, followed closely by the U.K. and Australia.” There's Australia, Canada & New Zealand again, our English-speaking brethren. Sigh. This atrocity does not require additional comment.

What does Persian Gulf oil really cost? In an article at Foreign Policy, Peter Maass cites Princeton University professor Roger Stern, who— ... published a peer-reviewed study on the cost of keeping aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf from 1976 to 2007. Because carriers patrol the gulf for the explicit mission of securing oil shipments, Stern was on solid ground in attributing that cost to oil. He had found an excellent metric. He combed through the Defense Department's data -- which is not easy to do because the Pentagon does not disaggregate its expenditures by region or mission -- and came up with a total, over three decades, of $7.3 trillion . Yes, trillion... And that's just a partial accounting of peacetime spending... That's sure better than developing alternatives to oil like electricity-powered trains or natural gas-powered bus fleets, isn't it? Just another cost of Empire ... it's nothing, a drop in the bucket.

The New York Times reports on the the effects of state & local cutbacks in Governments Go to Extremes as the Downturn Wears On— Plenty of businesses and governments furloughed workers this year, but Hawaii went further — it furloughed its schoolchildren. Public schools across the state closed on 17 Fridays during the past school year to save money, giving students the shortest academic year in the nation and sending working parents scrambling to find care for them. Many transit systems have cut service to make ends meet, but Clayton County, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, decided to cut all the way, and shut down its entire public bus system. Its last buses ran on March 31, stranding 8,400 daily riders. Even public safety has not been immune to the budget ax. In Colorado Springs, the downturn will be remembered, quite literally, as a dark age: the city switched off a third of its 24,512 streetlights to save money on electricity, while trimming its police force and auctioning off its police helicopters.

Speaking of transit systems, the Pittsburgh Port Authority (where I live) has cut routes and raised fares, thus stranding passengers or making riding the bus unaffordable. See aircraft carriers just above.

This list is seriously incomplete, of course. It's a random sample because I've used items that have appeared just lately. For example, I could have included America's deteriorating water supplies, bridges, etc. which I briefly described in Our Crumbling Infrastructure—Patch & Pray.

Many of these stories, like the one in the New York Times, talk about a disaster here and a disaster there. Such anecdotal accounts mask the fact that these pernicious changes are happening everywhere across America, not just in Hawaii, Clayton County (Georgia) or Colorado Springs . And many of the changes we've seen are permanent. The prospects for our economy are dismal, so it is unlikely that bus service in Pittsburgh will ever get restored to its previous state.

Not only are the changes or conditions permanent, but they are likely to get worse. Do you think we will spend the trillions of dollars necessary to re-build America's infrastructure? No way. Do you think we'll build trains and new mass transit systems to cut our oil consumption? Nope—those aircraft carriers in the Gulf aren't going anywhere. Is it more likely, the next time the College Board does its survey, that American will move up to 9th in college educated young adults, or is it more likely we will move down to 15th? If I were a betting man, I'd bet we'll be moving down, not up.

Few Americans seem to notice the steady deterioration of the nation. I think there are three main reasons for this, not counting Americans' over-the-top ignorance. (See the education item above, Bob Herbert says that a young person drops out of high school every 26 seconds.) Here they are—

When change happens gradually, people easily adapt to the new conditions, even if these conditions are getting worse & worse over time. There has been no 2nd collapse, which would make everyone stand up & take notice as they did in late 2008/early 2009.

Memories are short, or people filter out bad news. Moreover, it takes a lot of effort to synthesize all the bad information coming our way. Only wackos like me take the time to do it.

Propaganda works. The elites (in government, the media, etc.) use some of the same techniques that advertisers or hucksters do. Selling you on our prosperous future is like selling you a deodorant, especially when elections are coming up. (Election campaigns last forever.) We live in the Age of Spin, or the Age of Bullshit, if you prefer. For example, Fox News exists, etc.

As I said at the top, signs of decay in America are everywhere. It is far more likely than not that things will continue to deteriorate for a very long time. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is.