The problem 'merica seems to have is it doesn't deal with peace very well. After burying the USSR rather convincingly it essentially squandered the peace.

The US has dealt under a wartime economy for so long it is questionable whether it can deal with peace. Bush dealt with the threat to America's mobilization economy by starting 2 rather foolish wars; one of which can only be described as the most elaborate art heist in history (since that is the only "observable" success of that campaign) The so called peace dividend was made to vapourize in a black-hole of military largesse and welfare for the rich.

The question (for me) is can the US still flourish under a peacetime economy? Is it possible for the US economy to move ahead w/o the welfare system for corporations that is essentially the MIC? Certainly, the political system seems to be dysfunctional w/o a threat looming over them (real or imagined)