I called this the Dysfunction Chronicles is because it seems we are in an era of increasing incompetence that is breaking down our society. I see it federal and state government, business, education, etc. For all wonderful technology, we are worse off today.
One of the reasons for this dysfunction is the vast inequality. Like Aristotle, I believe that societies based upon the middle class do better than ones without it. History shows that greater inequality leads to greater instability. One reason of inequality is the GINI factor and America's has gotten far worse over the last 50 years.
One key factor leading to increased inequality was the end of real antitrust enforcement. I am very hopeful about the current bipartisan effort to bring it back. For all of the alleged sins that Ted Kennedy called out Robert Bork back in the 80s when Bork was nominated for the Supreme Court, he didn't get this one. Bork famously created a new paradigm of antitrust 50 years ago, using Chicago School of economics ideas. Matt Stoller covers the subject well in his book, as well as his substack.
Without the middle class, we at left with a country of nobles and peasants, an oligarchy that needs to divide and conquer to maintain power. And as such, we are a greater risk of falling into a revolution or dictatorship.
Another key factor was free trade. Free trade encouraged the exporting of jobs and labor arbitrage, then followed with tax avoidance and environmental damage shifting. This also radically increased inequality. More importantly, it disconnected the rich from the rest of the country. It break down civic virtue and social trust.
Plus, free trade requires a hegemon to enforce it. It isn't free at all, except to the free riders who don't pay for the costs, especially when they avoid taxes and domestic labor. Being the world's policeman is expensive, but the free traders don't pay for it. They get rich and avoid the responsibility of their wealth.
Add in importing cheap labor and there was a recipe for dysfunction.
Rome in the last century of the Republic was similar. Rome gradually expanded its domain through a series of wars. The wars brought Rome slaves (cheap labor), land (given out to the rich to destroy small farmers), and increased the divide in society. As the territory increased, the middle disappeared. The last hundred years of the Republic featured strong men, civil wars, and revolutionaries.
Long before Julius Caesar, the Roman Republic was a dying country. It was only through the rise of the autocracy that Rome survived and thrived. An empire is really incapable with a republic.
If we are lucky, we will have a Caesar. The problem is we are ruled by incompetent fools. They are predators on the society, killing the source of their wealth and power. They don't understand the country or how it make it successful. The current domestic and foreign disasters show just how pathetic the ruling class is today.
I hate to agree with you, but I can't help it. I would just say that, it is all actually fixable, but it requires a (another) rebirth and revival of the national spirit. Unfortunately, that can only really come from the top. The Oligarchs (as is their wont) seem more inclined to control, loot, destroy, than to build, share, and repair. When the people that rule the nation hate the people they rule over, there will only be strife. Welcome to what I call the "Neo-Feudal Technocratic Dark Age".