Originally Posted by TheSquealer

Empires end most often with a shift in values, causing economic decline. Namely, that people are united behind growth and success (be it through conquest or other means) and once they are fat and happy, once the hunger and thirst for more is quenched and there is nothing left to fight for, their values change.

Patriotic or not, you have to admit that all empires die. The USA no longer has an identity. It's not the place to go live the "American Dream" that it once was. There are no values that unite people. There is no collective hunger for success. There is just a bunch of ADD assholes tweeting about their cats bowel movements, bitching about the 1% as they blame McDonalds for making them fat.

The middle class is in decline (and the nation) because values are in decline. That's just my opinion.