America's priorities, on the whole, have shifted in recent decades from embracing risk and ingenuity to seeking safety and security at any cost. For much of the

America's priorities, on the whole, have shifted in recent decades from embracing risk and ingenuity to seeking safety and security at any cost. For much of the population, education is less important than faith, and "freedom" has been twisted perversely into something that actually means "safety". Those trends began America's downfall as an empire. It was inevitable, all empires come to an end eventually, supplanted by a new one, full of people willing to explore and take great risks.