Downfall

Another common theme, at least among those who are not willfully blind, is that American decline is in no small measure self-inflicted. The comic opera in Washington this summer, which disgusts the country and bewilders the world, may have no analogue in the annals of parliamentary democracy.

The spectacle is even coming to frighten the sponsors of the charade. Corporate power is now concerned that the extremists they helped put in office may in fact bring down the edifice on which their own wealth and privilege relies, the powerful nanny state that caters to their interests.
~ from America in Decline by Noam Chomsky ~

As the ancient Taoist sages observed, life is about cycles. What is once up will, at some point, be down. What leads eventually will follow. What is light will one day be dark. What is alive today will soon be dead.

These principles are true for all life forms, including the institutions created by humankind. The briefest glance at human history easily illustrates that every empire eventually crumbles. When the mighty fall, it almost always comes from self-inflicted wounds. In this light, the eventual fall of the US as the preeminent national power in the world will be no different than all the others who came before us.

Nations that are ascendant come to believe that they are above the laws of nature. This unrealistic belief spurs them to overreach. As they reach farther and father, the foundation is neglected and begins to crack. In time, they implode upon themselves.

I think that's an apt description for what ails this country. We have spent so much of our natural resources, human capital and money on war and enriching the powerful few that our basic infrastructure is crumbling around us. We have started an avalanche that we cannot stop and it won't stop until this nation buries itself.