As someone who has studied history for my whole life this is not exactly a fundamentally sound understanding of world history and world studies. The military-industrial-congressional-intelligence complex is only a symptom not a cause of corruption in America. Although it does act like dominos towards increasing corruption in the rest of American society. And Britain did not step back from their Imperialism on their own the World Wars more or less did that for them. Also Rome did not fall until 1453 and they were culturally advanced and politically and militarily powerful until then. Also there are more than a few empires who did last for a very long time and when you look at China for example they are basically successive dynasties of Imperialism until the 20th century.
Well, I wasn't positing a journal-caliber comment, simply breaking it down.
The MIC arose and now ensures its own survival. You see this when it places requisite factories in almost every single Congressional district. Cut the MIC budget, you're cutting jobs. Can't do that. Continue doling out that $1T a year, while cutting back on infrastructure, education, and programs to help the rabble. Great recipe.
Britain stepped back, more or less, after WWII. Roosevelt made it a condition that we would help them, but that we weren't going to support their Empire. Which is why they gave their remaining pieces up peacefully, more or less, in the 40s and 50s.. Not to mention that Britain also gave Canada, Australia, India, etc. their mostly-independence before then.
Rome proper fell in the 5th century. It was cobbled together a couple of times here and there afterwards, most completely by Justinian, but it was never the same, and the Byzantine Empire for the last 700 years was Turkey and Greece/Macedonia, which is why there is still so much tension as of today (as if there weren't constant Turk/Greek tension beforehand). They spoke Greek. And again, what happened to that Empire? Where is Constantinople?
My point is that Empires always fall, because they have to hollow out their core to pay for their expansion. Which is the present-day US. They can do so gracefully or painfully. Britain did so, not 100% voluntarily at first, gracefully. Rome proper was conquered, split, was reconquered by various groups, split, and finally the wealthier half of it survived...for a little while longer.
That is akin to the East and West Coasts remaining a solid economic/military power while the much poorer hinterlands is fragmented and treated as simply a zone of influence by the coasts.
Which I would argue, is already happening. Because that is how Empires function. They make the people at the top immensely rich and powerful, and it comes at both an external and internal price. Depending on how much external and internal wealth remains to be taken determines how much longer Empire proper lasts before splintering and fragmentation happens.
I just assume stop the process that usually occurs and step back and actually build our country, while letting the rest of the world kill each other if need be. We'll continue to have intelligence, spy satellites, flying death robots, and thousands of ICBMs. Let's dump money back into our own country for a change.
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