Then we are in full agreement. The problem is that many Americans seem to have interpreted the post-WWII ascendancy of America as some kind of God-given mandate

Then we are in full agreement. The problem is that many Americans seem to have interpreted the post-WWII ascendancy of America as some kind of God-given mandate to reign forevermore at the top of Earth's and indeed the Universe's food chain, not for the temporary historical anomaly that it was. Those misguided people are in for a rude awakening, and none too soon. But yes - America will not collapse, of course, no matter how much anyone wishes it. Talk about your "too big to fail". And I for one am .. wary about the Chinese ever gaining as much relative power as the USA possessed at the height of its geopolitical dominance. Petty schadenfreude takes a pretty far back seat to that concern, let me tell you, so I for one am hoping the Yanks can pull out of their dive and go on to maintain a global counterweight to the Yellow Peril, soonest.