nk, Yes, I like your thinking. The only problem is that the US...

nk,

Yes, I like your thinking. The only problem is that the US government and regulatory system has been completely captured by financial interests. No-one can get elected in the US these days, without massive campaign contributions (even normal congressional candidates need millions). The only donors with that kind of money to throw around are the financial services players and litigation lawyers.

The US isn't the country it was 20 years ago. It's leadership and its structures have been corrupted. Its governments and its people have been almost bankrupted. History is full of marvellous civilisations which have disintegrated due to failures of leadership. Those that didn't fall to military takeover, failed due to bankruptcy.

I'm not yet ready to write off the US completely (it would be an incredible shame, for the virtues you mention, and many others), however as each month goes by and the mistakes deepen further and further, the task of climbing back out of the abyss becomes more and more daunting.

The USA's strengths are: it's people; it's structures (infra and governmental); and it's laws. All three are in decline at present. It's people are its last and best hope, but they are still in the stage of denial and dismay. Will they wake up, get angry, march in the streets and demand action (rather than the present organized theft), before it's too late?

As you point out, would we want communist China or semi-totalitarian Russia calling the shots? Would we want the vacuum which a broke and broken USA would leave?

No, but what you want and what you get are not always the same, are they?