The bright spot in the decline you mention, LH, is that maybe once the US isn't hung up on being the superpower, they'll have time for things like universal health insurance, as many European countries have. Maybe we'll have a shorter work week, higher than our current average pay, and fewer robber barons to take all the spoils of our labor.

I think Americans vote for the glory of being "the greatest country in the world" (whatever that means) and forget that people in other countries often have it better than we do here!