Comment Los the myth (Score 5, Insightful) 69
Ever since the 1970's, there were myths that the USA was losing it's position and that other countries were overtaking it.
For a while people thought Japan would take over, then later on China became the boogeyman. Someone even made this wierd commercial pretending to be the future where China was America's master.
Some decided that speaking Chinese would give you the same kind of benefits in the future that non-Americans currently get for speaking English. That is, being able to talk with the large, wealthy, powerful nation that has a disproportionate political power.
That myth has lost it's luster. With China's economic downturn, people no longer think that the US is doomed to become China's servant.
With India landing on the Moon, they have in many ways taken over China's old position as the up and coming nation. If India did not already have a large English speaking population, I suspect that college kids would now be told to learn Hindu.