re: Are we witnessing the self destruction of the greatest Modern Nation on earth?

The most successful empires in all of history were nothing like our short-lived experiment. Greek, Roman, Persian, and Chinese democracies, republics, and dynasties had staying power, in part, because in the good years, they were focused on external conquering or fighting off external conquerors.

When things got complacent, they ate themselves alive. We just did it quicker.