--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The problem came down to this: Americans…" description: "\"“The problem came down to this: Americans, who had invented the modern assembly line, the skyscraper, the airplane, and the integrated circuit, no long..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/george-packer-2917_americans_the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans_2252549.jpg" --- # The problem came down to this: Americans, who had invented… ![“The problem came down to this: Americans, who had invented the modern assembly line, the skyscraper, the airplane, and the integrated circuit, no longer believed in the future.” quote by George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/george-packer-2917_americans_the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans_2252549.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/george-packer-2917_americans_the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans_2252549.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/george-packer-2917_americans_the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans_2252549.jpg) > ““The problem came down to this: Americans, who had invented the modern assembly line, the skyscraper, the airplane, and the integrated circuit, no longer believed in the future.”” [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. American innovation has lost its belief in progress, despite past breakthroughs. **In simple terms:** Innovation doubts future. Key Takeaway Reignite belief in tomorrow. Themes innovation optimism future culture technology Mood reflective concerned Type analytical critical When to use this quote - business strategy - public policy - education reform - community activism Key Concepts progressive thought societal confidence historical cycles Questions to Reflect On - How can societies sustain belief in progress? - What role does narrative play in shaping future outlooks? A Different Perspective Optimism alone cannot solve structural challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans/) [Assembly line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assembly-line/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“News invented the modern world as much as the modern world invented news. Finding out what was going on elsewhere in the world change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kleep/news-invented-the-modern-world-as-much-as-the-modern-world-invented/) Lawrence Kleep > [When the Berlin Wall came down the Americans cried, Victory, and walked off the field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/when-the-berlin-wall-came-down-the-americans-cried-victory-and-walked/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [Scotland almost invented the modern world. I mean, all of these televisions, telephones, penicillin, we all - all of these things were invented in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/scotland-almost-invented-the-modern-world-i-mean-all-of-these/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [ This was the first Memorial Day \[Monday, May 1st, 1865\]. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-blight/this-was-the-first-memorial-day-monday-may-1st-1865-african-americans/) David W. Blight > [Maybe some things that weren't so great were said about the Irish when they came. 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O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The invisibility of work and workers in the digital age is as consequential as the rise of the assembly line and, later, the service…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/the-invisibility-of-work-and-workers-in-the-digital-age-is-as/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [“And there was a time, you know, not so long ago, as recently as my own childhood in fact, when everyone believed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-demille/and-there-was-a-time-you-know-not-so-long-ago-as-recently-as-my-own/) [Nelson DeMille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-demille/) > [Joe Schenck, a top 20th Century-Fox executive, once said to me that he really believed I had a future, and that was because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-tierney/joe-schenck-a-top-20th-century-fox-executive-once-said-to-me-that-he/) [Gene Tierney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-tierney/) > [I regret how much I believed in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-regret-how-much-i-believed-in-the-future/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-greatest-regret-was-how-much-i-believed-in-the-future/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I want an infinitely blank book and the rest of time... ...why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-want-an-infinitely-blank-book-and-the-rest-of-time-why-didn-t-i/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [To marry was to say you believed in the future and in the past, too-that history and tradition and hope could stay knit together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/to-marry-was-to-say-you-believed-in-the-future-and-in-the-past-too/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [Why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/why-didn-t-i-learn-to-treat-everything-like-it-was-the-last-time-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“there are brief enchanted moments in history and in the short lives of men and women, there is wonder and there is cynicism, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-demille/there-are-brief-enchanted-moments-in-history-and-in-the-short-lives/) [Nelson DeMille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-demille/) ## More by George Packer > [I don't think they need to be nice to reporters, but the White House seems to imagine that releasing information is like a tap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/i-don-t-think-they-need-to-be-nice-to-reporters-but-the-white-house/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [So many writers grew up in tortured isolation, in revolt against their families. I and my sister were in a house where writing was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/so-many-writers-grew-up-in-tortured-isolation-in-revolt-against-their/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Afghanistan can't police its borders, and its neighbors give sanctuary and assistance to insurgents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/afghanistan-can-t-police-its-borders-and-its-neighbors-give-sanctuary/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Hillary Clinton's such a classic Democratic political figure and believes so much in institutions and in gradualism in the old way of reaching compromises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/hillary-clinton-s-such-a-classic-democratic-political-figure-and/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [“In other words, Foxx represented what Sarah Palin (speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Greensboro three weeks before the election) called “the real America,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/in-other-words-foxx-represented-what-sarah-palin-speaking-at-a/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [America's vast population of working poor can only get so poor before even Walmart is out of reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/america-s-vast-population-of-working-poor-can-only-get-so-poor-before/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [The Olympics are never just about sports.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/the-olympics-are-never-just-about-sports/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > ['The Assassins' Gate' is a very tightly controlled story of the ideas that led to the war and the consequences of those ideas in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/the-assassins-gate-is-a-very-tightly-controlled-story-of-the-ideas/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Amazon's identity and goals are never clear and always fluid, which makes the company destabilizing and intimidating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/amazon-s-identity-and-goals-are-never-clear-and-always-fluid-which/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Ideology knows the answer before the question has been asked. Principles are something different: a set of values that have to be adapted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/ideology-knows-the-answer-before-the-question-has-been-asked/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Everything seems set up for success in digital journalism - money, eyeballs, software, brands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/everything-seems-set-up-for-success-in-digital-journalism-money/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Climate change joined immigration, job creation, food safety, pilot training, veterans' care, campaign finance, transportation security, labor law, mine safety, wildfire management, and scores…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/climate-change-joined-immigration-job-creation-food-safety-pilot/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Much of the international unease with the Sochi Games has focused on the threat of terrorism, Putin's domestic repressiveness, and the Russian campaign of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/much-of-the-international-unease-with-the-sochi-games-has-focused-on/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [I've been interested in American politics since I was eight. That was in 1968. It was an interesting year. I was a huge Eugene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/i-ve-been-interested-in-american-politics-since-i-was-eight-that-was/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [When I interviewed Paul Bremer in his office, he had almost no books on his shelves. He had a couple of management books, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/when-i-interviewed-paul-bremer-in-his-office-he-had-almost-no-books/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) [Explore all 144 George Packer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) ## More Americans quotes > [“People – Americans, mostly – realise how attached they are to material comforts when they arrive in India.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-william-roberts/people-americans-mostly-realise-how-attached-they-are-to-material/) Paul William Roberts > [Music has an intrinsic value that touches Americans - they love their music, and want more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-rosen/music-has-an-intrinsic-value-that-touches-americans-they-love-their/) [Hilary Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-rosen/) > [Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/americans-are-very-friendly-and-very-suspicious-that-is-what/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [Just because the Americans are so good at rattling out accessible and cheap junk food, nobody looks twice when it comes to their food.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-oliver/just-because-the-americans-are-so-good-at-rattling-out-accessible-and/) [Jamie Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-oliver/) > [My parents don't care what Americans think of us; we just care what the other Indian people in our community think of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himanshu-suri/my-parents-don-t-care-what-americans-think-of-us-we-just-care-what/) [Himanshu Suri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/himanshu-suri/) > [When Americans, who have no idea who I am, laugh at my jokes, it's exactly the same if someone loves you even if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gad-elmaleh/when-americans-who-have-no-idea-who-i-am-laugh-at-my-jokes-it-s/) [Gad Elmaleh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gad-elmaleh/) > [So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-americans-understand-the-costs-of-war-yet-as-a-country-we-will/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [We Americans tend to be a prodigal lot. We are as careless with our personal resources as we are with the resources of nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-crook-de-camp/we-americans-tend-to-be-a-prodigal-lot-we-are-as-careless-with-our/) [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-crook-de-camp/) > [Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-rather/americans-will-put-up-with-anything-provided-it-doesn-t-block-traffic/) [Dan Rather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-rather/) > [Most Americans believe in fairness; we believe that people should work hard but there should be a safety net. We believe in saving the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-maclean/most-americans-believe-in-fairness-we-believe-that-people-should-work/) [Nancy MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-maclean/) > [“Using a wide variety of media, we could demonstrate for our fellow Americans their anxieties, desires, insufficiencies, and frustrations--and how to assuage them all.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/using-a-wide-variety-of-media-we-could-demonstrate-for-our-fellow/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [The Americans say that we are ungrateful-but I ask them for heaven's sake, what should we be grateful to them for-for murdering our fathers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/the-americans-say-that-we-are-ungrateful-but-i-ask-them-for-heaven-s/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [So many Korean Americans like me came to this country with the hope of achieving their own American Dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-steel/so-many-korean-americans-like-me-came-to-this-country-with-the-hope/) [Michelle Steel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-steel/) > [You are Americans. You love this country. Together we are entrusted with the principles that represent mankind's greatest political and social achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tsongas/you-are-americans-you-love-this-country-together-we-are-entrusted/) [Paul Tsongas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tsongas/) [Browse all 1,536 Americans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The problem came down to this: Americans, who had invented the modern assembly line, the skyscraper, the airplane, and the integrated circuit, no longer believed in the future.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Packer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans-who-had-invented-the-modern/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Americans" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans-who-had-invented-the-modern/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/george-packer-2917_americans_the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans_2252549.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/george-packer-2917_americans_the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans_2252549.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84b/george-packer-2917_americans_the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans_2252549.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The problem came down to this: Americans, who had invented the modern assembly line, the skyscraper, the…” — George Packer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Packer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The problem came down to this:...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans-who-had-invented-the-modern/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/the-problem-came-down-to-this-americans-who-had-invented-the-modern/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```