The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to live a self-determined life, or have a self-determining government, you must be better armed, better prepar

The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to live a self-determined life, or have a self-determining government, you must be better armed, better prepared, and better allied than the local bully or the autocracies. If you are not better armed, prepared, & allied, the local bully WILL steal your lunch money every time, and your democracy WILL be overrun by an autocracy. Just speak to anyone with Baltic or Finnish heritage about their history with the Russians/Soviets/Russians. The US just happens to be the largest democracy, so it leads. But if you think that the US could get away with a withdrawn isolationist policy because it is so "geographically unassailable", and let the other democracies fall, that would be a catastrophic failure. Hell, we are already under attack from inside with direct support from Russia. And yes, no large organization will make every move without mistakes, even strategic errors. That does not mean that it is somehow equal, or even close to the autocracies (this will no longer be true if an autocratic party takes over US, which is a very real and present danger). Please learn how the world really works before you spout simple-minded false equivalency.