Discussion: Top 10 Stupidest Things US Fed Govt has done
Okay, so this notion is still a bit undefined in my head, kind of figuring it out now, as I type.
I want to come up with a list (doesn't actually have to be 10) of the worst things the US government has done, to undermine the ideals and principles that the United States was (at least nominally) founded on ... truth, justice, baseball and mom's apple pie - kinda stuff.
You can go back as far in history as you like (so Civil War, Dred Scott, things like that are absolutely open for consideration) ... but it has to be something that continues to significantly impact US govt, US society and/or the world, to this day ... something they have not remedied.
Off the top of my head, the main thing that comes to mind is the Citizens United case, which I believe has fundamentally broken the US political system (which was, previously, already seriously frayed). I'd also consider the non-consideration (by the Senate) of Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination (by Obama), and the US (both the govt and the public) collective "whatever" to the news that Russia interfered in the 2016 US elections (and continues to do so, now joined by China and assorted others).
I may edit this to refine the idea. But the basic goal is to create a really high-level list of "First Things" the US needs to fix, to have any hope of returning to a state of democracy (okay, democratic republic), and/or normalcy.
I don't think it's very healthy to be looking for facts to support a specific conclusion; you should be working the other way around. But if you are going to go down that line of thinking, all of your examples are flawed in that they involve one part of the government clashing with another. Citizens United was decided by the Supreme Court, but caused the president at the time to bash them for their decision. Merrick Garland being denied by McConnell was not only opposed by the presidency (who nominated him no less), but was also controversial even within the Senate. The collective "whatever" can hardly be called an actual decision, and again, substantial portions of the Federal government are actively working to educate people on the danger, including the House of Representatives via Nancy Pelosi, the FBI, the CIA, and more.
I would be more inclined to decisions like the deregulation of the 1980's or supporting authoritarian dictators in South America during the 60's and 70's, the former resulting in deep economic structural problems that plague the US to this day and the latter causing significant devastation in South America and ruining a generation of lives.
That was gonna be my answer. Imperialism in South America, the Contras, the cartels we buy drugs from and the guns we sell to them that they use to terrorize the populace who come to America seeking refuge who we're currently calling "illegals" and throwing in cages.
Probably the worst thing I can think of that we're actively still doing. It's a toss up between that and terrorizing middle eastern civilians with drone strikes.
Now I have a sad :( Why did I open this terribly depressing topic lol
This is the kind of feedback I'm looking for.
I do believe that the US govt is out of whack, on track towards ... I don't know ... dictatorship, authoritarianism, collapse ... something fundamentally bad ... and yes, I'm looking for specific decisions and actions that are contributing towards that.
Beyond that, though, I'm wide open to ideas about what those contributing factors are.
Similar to your observation about South (and—I'd add—Central) America, I believe US policy in the Middle East has been wrong for decades, but I'm at a loss to identify a root cause.
Just out of curiosity, what do you take to be the high water mark of American government? I'm presuming it would have to be some time in the late 20th century, but that's just my personal bias that the united states was fundamentally unjust until the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution and the civil rights act. That said, while I imagine those might count as 'remedies' to a fundamental injustice, I think we can all agree that the civil rights act did not propel American blacks immediately into a state of perfect equity, and that if there is a high water mark, it must have come some time afterwards. Do we count marriage rights for gay people as a necessary civil right? If so, then the high water mark of the republic must be very recent indeed.
I suppose I personally disagree with the fundamental premise of your question. There are aspects of the present which are shameful, wrong headed, cruel, avaricious and pointless, but I don't see us as being on a downward trajectory.
I'm of course not a historian, and the above is all just my vague sense.
It seems like those are still official decisions of the US government? The cause of a bad decision is often leaders who support bad choices getting their way, despite opposition. If you don't count that then it's going to eliminate a lot of interesting history.
Bad Supreme Court decisions should be candidates since that's sometimes how decisions are made.
Your request is a bit vague, but how about this short list:
the USA PATRIOT act
COINTELPRO
project MKULTRA
Hmm, how about starting the war of 1812? Deciding to fight the world's largest naval power with hardly any army or navy seems like a bit of a blunder?
Is something like the Trail of Tears a stupid mistake or an intended malice for your purposes?