The US isn’t a democracy though, it is a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, where every election we get to select which group of oppressors will wield state power against us until the next one.

Also decline is caused by anticolonial resistance and the logic of capitalism breaking down. I would suggest reading Lenin’s “imperialism” and Fanon’s “wretched of the earth”

Corrupt democracies should be suicided. Electoral college, first past the post, gerrymandering, partisant suprene court, gridlocked house and senate, bankers running money, wallstreet in charge of the commons, and that’s just for starters

You have a point. After I wrote it I thought of 2 things. Firstly, even those that are lucky enough to travel will never travel everywhere. So, how can they claim the best without having seen all possibilities? Secondly, there are ways to learn and /or experience things without being physically present, like read about it in a book, or watch a documentary. That counts for something.

Now I think about it, I could have changed it to:

"I live in the best country on the planet!”

“Really? How do you know? How do you measure that? What evidence do you have to back that up?”

But, it would probably go all downhill from there, as the original one inevitably would…😆

Oh, it has… just not in the ways anyone would desire to be considered exceptional.

We can really only hope.

The last few cycles have been a weird time for NATO, as the escalating Russian aggression revitalised the alliance, but the unreliability of Trump vastly diminished the status of the US

Concur

Europe is now actively trying to get out of the military subordinate role.

Europe has been trying to get out of this role since WWII. I view that they were forced into this role post-WWII with American occupation. I also see that American power also led to European decolonization through the Atlantic Charter e.g. Vietnam and Asia, Africa, and controversially, India.

I view that America maintains Europe’s subordinate role, both militarily and economically, through military influence, as discussed by prior NATO Commander Haig in 2002:

… Q – Why is the United States still stationing 70,000 troops in Germany?

A – A lot of good reasons for that. This presence is the basis for our influence in the European region and for the cooperation of allied nations whose security it enhances. A lot of people forget it is also the bona fide of our economic success. The presence of U.S. troops keeps European markets open to us. If those troops weren’t there, those markets would probably be more difficult to access.

Q – I didn’t forget. I just didn’t know that if the United States didn’t maintain 70,000 troops in Germany, European markets might be closed to American goods and services.

A – On occasion, even with our presence, we have confronted protectionism in a number of industries, such as automotive and aerospace. In addition to economic benefits derived from our presence in Europe, there is perhaps an even more important diplomatic and political benefit.

Q – But the United States is not defending Europe against anything anymore. …

The alliance may have been revitalized, but have the member countries been revitalized? You must have your nose buried in stock market-based numbers rather than quality of life, true consumer price inflation, housing costs, and personal debts. The western world has greatly burdened itself in the hopes of bringing down the Russian standard of living, and it sure isn’t conclusive that is working, and it’s undeniable it has failed to achieve the political goals NATO countries shot for, especially weakening the great necromancer Putler himself.