Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

2024—the Year of our Reckoning
The Gilade erseus ^ | December 25,2024 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 12/26/2023 12:56:14 PM PST by Hojczyk

Either the military will have to deter dramatically our growing number of opportunistic enemies, or it will descend into something like the French army between the world wars—plagued by ideology, ossified brass, corruption, mediocrity, misplaced investments, and bankrupt strategies.

If there are not radical changes in higher education, our Ivy League and self-identified elite campuses will go the way of Bud-Light, Disney, and Target—once premier brands reduced to red ink and laughing-stock caricatures.

The United States is cracking under 8 million illegal entries; it cannot sustain another year and 2 million more illegal entrants—or a total of 55-60 million foreign-born residents, with no idea of how many are U.S. citizens, illegal aliens, or green card holders–or how many are employable, or free of criminal records or in need of massive federal and state subsidies.

In 2024, the U.S. will begin to see that to meet its spiraling debt, it will either keep inflating its currency, or slash spending, or raise even further taxes to the degree that even the lower middle class will have to pay 50 percent of their income in state and federal taxes, or renounce its debt, and thus go full-Third World.

Will we meet these challenges or ensure the ongoing decline?

If what we saw after October 7, or the wild and out-of-control reign of weaponized local and state prosecutors, or what we watch nightly on television at the border, or the paralyses we witness abroad of our military, or the breezy way in which our officials promise groups here and abroad billions of dollars in easy money, continues into 2024, then the country as we knew it will become unrecognizable.

(Excerpt) Read more at victorhanson.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 12/26/2023 12:56:14 PM PST by Hojczyk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

Only 8 million illegals?


2 posted on 12/26/2023 12:58:28 PM PST by Old Yeller (On judgement day, you’ll wish you were biblically correctly, not politically correct.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

The decline is not a bug , but a feature. The Chinese Communists picked their sabatour well.


3 posted on 12/26/2023 12:59:10 PM PST by Nateman (If the Pedo Profit Mad Moe (pig pee upon him!) was not the Antichrist then he comes in second.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

👍

Things I can argue against in the essay:


4 posted on 12/26/2023 1:05:31 PM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

Long ago Michael Savage said: The American Lifeboat is full. Adding more and more passengers means the boat will sink with all on board.


5 posted on 12/26/2023 1:06:49 PM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk; All
How has the racial and ethnic makeup of the US changed?

In 2022, the US was more diverse than it was in 2010. In 2022, the white (non-Hispanic) group made up 58.9% of the population compared with 63.8% in 2010.

Between 2010 and 2022, the share of the population that is Hispanic/Latino grew the most, increasing 2.7 percentage points to 19.1%. The white (non-Hispanic) population had the largest decrease dropping 4.9 percentage points to 58.9%.

Less White, More Hispanic.

How has the distribution of ages in the US changed?

The share of the population that is 0 to 4 years old decreased from 6.5% in 2010 to 5.6% in 2022.

The share of the population that is 65 and older increased from 13.1% in 2010 to 17.3% in 2022.

DECREASING Birth Rate, INCREASINGLY older.

https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/

6 posted on 12/26/2023 1:10:28 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: frank ballenger

“Borders, Language, Culture.”


7 posted on 12/26/2023 1:29:09 PM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

Nothing like sugar coating our problems huh VDH?


8 posted on 12/26/2023 1:36:34 PM PST by eyeamok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

” Will we meet these challenges or ensure the ongoing decline? “


No and yes.

Every country in the West is on the same trajectory of decay.

We need to be building locally the parallel institutions we will need because conservatives are increasingly excluded from Regime instiutions.

And we will need the parallel insitutions once this Regime collapses.

Me, I’m studying mechanical engineering (as my “retirement” project) because we will need to build and repair our own stuff, or it is not going to get fixed.


9 posted on 12/26/2023 2:03:23 PM PST by Reverend Wright ( Everything touched by progressives, dies !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: frank ballenger
Long ago Michael Savage said: The American Lifeboat is full. Adding more and more passengers means the boat will sink with all on board.

Wise words.

10 posted on 12/26/2023 2:23:22 PM PST by FreeReign
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

8 million illegals?

More like 14 million, but hey, who’s counting?

Surely not Mayorca or the Biteme administration.

5.56mm


11 posted on 12/26/2023 2:30:20 PM PST by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho have got to go)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: frank ballenger

“plagued by ideology, ossified brass, corruption, mediocrity, misplaced investments, and bankrupt strategies.”

I can. I don’t believe the French Army was corrupt, and the only thing wrong about the Maginot Line was they didn’t build it all the way to the English Channel. As for tanks, like aircraft carriers, only a few enthusiasts had an inkling of how they could change warfare.


12 posted on 12/26/2023 3:08:45 PM PST by rxh4n1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: rxh4n1

Good points. I stand corrected.


13 posted on 12/26/2023 3:20:08 PM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Nateman

Joke is on them. China is in faster decline than America.

CC


14 posted on 12/26/2023 3:34:29 PM PST by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Nateman

Obama.... grrrrrrr


15 posted on 12/26/2023 4:09:40 PM PST by DeplorablePaul
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Hojczyk

We have our own enemies born and bred here killing this country


16 posted on 12/27/2023 5:34:16 AM PST by ronnie raygun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson