3 ms·

Just curious about what weaknesses you have in mind?

• presidentender 16y ago
  Many regard the unequal distribution of wealth inherent in that system as a weakness.
• limist 16y ago
  Take any one of those four traits and consider its opposite, e.g. individualism vs. group/tribal orientation. Individualism confers strengths most Westerners know and prize: freedom of expression, of employment, some degree of class/social/geographical mobility, personal merit and meritocratic ideals, etc. Individualism also brings severe and frequently self-destructive liabilities/weaknesses: alienation, lack of trust, lack of social bonds and support networks - as evidenced by the high rates of broken families, mental illness (depression, anxiety), and substance abuse. Of course, a combination of traits brings strengths that are more than the sum of their parts, and concomitant weaknesses. For example, the US is a great market for consumer goods (and thus entrepreneurs), as individuals seek their own immediate gratification and the promise of salvation/transformation through buying something new - all while supposedly contributing to the greater economic welfare (there being few if any other widespread, concrete, social goals). But it is far from a given that this way of life is at all viable, even in the course of one human lifetime, never mind a few centuries. As some scholars put it, every society confronts (and creates) large collective problems; the US has consistently chosen individualist capitalist technologist solutions, and it remains to be seen whether that approach has a long-term future.