[Physicist]

The United States is not permanent (long, long may it last). The fact that NO culture lasts forever doesn't make them failures, any more than our personal mortality makes us failures as human beings.

Here's another figure of merit for you: the Sumerian empire lasted for 1600 years. The Babylonian empire lasted for 1400. Our nation has lasted for 228. I'd say we have some catching up to do.

The fact that we are here and the Sumerians are not does not make our culture superior; it just means that our culture came later. North Korea is still around; does that make it our equal?

I'll further point out that the culture of Greece and Rome was manifestly better than what came after; there is no reasonable standard by which a European in 1000 AD could have called his culture "more successful".

[Physicist]

Our nation has lasted for 228.

D'oh! 227. A typo. Really. Next year it will be correct.

[MHGinTN]

Question for you: I'm in a bit of a confused state; Ashurbanipal's kingdom was destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC, during which Ashurbanipal's library at Ninevah was destroyed; were the cuneiform tablets in his library collected from the ancient Sumerian collection and is that what made up the library of Sippar?... Wouldn't the tablets therefore be much older than 2 - 3000 years old?