The Myth of an American βCentury ofβShame"βDerek Hudleyβs The American Century of Shame is here. Here is what he got wrong. Derek is among a growing number of political commentators who now claim that the United States has entered a permanent age of decline. They frame the present moment as a civilizational collapse, often borrowing emotionally charged historical analogies and collapse language. This is one recent version of this narrative that labels the modern United States as entering a new βcentury of shame,β compares America to Qing-era China, and asserts that China is replacing the United States as the worldβs dominant power. This argument feels compelling on the surface because it resonates with cultural anxiety, political frustration, left-wing (progressive) feelings of having lost and being doomed, and economic uncertainty. However, Derekβs and other Doom-and-Gloom approaches do not survive real systems analysis.