Life in the US is very good. Rich country. But obviously on the decline. State capacity is low mostly because local populace is attempting to return to a world

Life in the US is very good. Rich country. But obviously on the decline. State capacity is low mostly because local populace is attempting to return to a world that was always fictional by stalling all development. Decline will not be arrested because local population will constantly blame billionaires and so on for failures caused by local popular policy. SF is the bellwether: prop C and friends chased many big companies away and the tax base was beginning to erode but locals (who greatly desire the exodus of the "Bridge and Tunnel" folks continues to find new villains). Ultimately, if you stagnate you die. And the old love to stagnate, and Americans have the curse of deifying the old while having elderly who are hopelessly selfish.