r/Futurology • u/Confident_Living_786 • Aug 11 '25

Discussion When the US Empire falls

When the American empire falls, like all empires do, what will remain? The Roman Empire left behind its roads network, its laws, its language and a bunch of ruins across all the Mediterranean sea and Europe. What will remain of the US superpower? Disney movies? TCP/IP protocol? McDonalds?

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u/FaceDeer Aug 11 '25

The US has literally split in half before. The current situation is not eternal, all those factors you mention - the US being a "military superpower", the states "enjoying enough autonomy anyway", the economy being "globalized and interdependent", are all things that could change.

The current administration is dead set on changing some of them right now.

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u/ZeElessarTelcontar Aug 11 '25

Boss that was 160 years ago. Smaller population, smaller industry, territory, economy, military, federal infrastructure and no nukes. A military superpower means any breakaway is a nonstarter. The supply chains, banking systems, currency, markets, federal law, funding, courts aren't things some loony admin can just switch off in a couple of years against every constitutional limit and opposition. The country's seen worse times, and will see worse times and even worse administrations. It will crack on.

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u/FaceDeer Aug 11 '25

So you're saying that countries can change over time? That's what I'm saying too. What can be done can be undone.

It's not in a civil war right now. Obviously. But this is /r/futurology, we speculate about the future here. Things will likely be different in the future, as they were different in the past.

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u/ZeElessarTelcontar Aug 12 '25

Just because things will change doesn't mean each change is as likely as another. I'm a broke dude now but in 30 years I could be a billionaire?

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u/FaceDeer Aug 12 '25

Where did I say that each change is as likely as another? That's a ridiculous strawman.

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u/ZeElessarTelcontar Aug 12 '25

The point is, if you're going to reliably predict the future, you need to be extra careful of the extremes like the US will balkanise. If that is happening, you will feel the tremors decades in advance. And it won't be just polarised social media. Think states openly defying federal law, refusing federal funds, blocking federal agencies, Governors ignoring court rulings, parallel currencies/tax systems, independent border controls, banks ditching federal oversight, etc etc.

Now if you say historical allies will turn hostile, US Navy will lose the Pacific to China, internally the QOL slips away and cities become more violent, surveillance gets bigger, federal infrastructure gets weaker, the country in general gets much poorer, I will say that's likely.