Is our nation at a crossroads

Therein lies the rub, if we knew about it we would take action, but social constructions collapse is seldom seen in time to do anything. Also, if a social structure is collapsing, and there must be a reason why, would it truly be right to "correct" it? Or would its collapse in fact be the correction?

Remember .. as Rome was not built in a day so it didn't fall in a day.
Downtown Rome hung on for a while.
Up in Briton, the collapse was a bit quicker because the Legions pulled out and the Angles / Saxons / Jutes / Vikings started rolling in.
It took a couple of generations for them to completely forget the benefits of the Empire and slide into the Dark Ages.

For those of us that grew up in the '50s and '60s the signs we see are not worming the cockles of the heart!

It is a vicious circle.

What worries me more than any one set of corrupt politicians (they are all corrupt) is the hateful and paranoid nature of people toward each other in the general population now. The rise of preppers tells that there is a group people with one foot out the door already. Even in my few years we have gone from not locking the doors at night to having them locked when we are at home in broad daylight. When I was a kid I roamed the neighborhood on my bike with a pack of other kids, now I hesitate to let my kid in my fenced in backyard without me for fear of snatchers/CPS. We lead such insulated lives now and our collective ideas are shaped by a few corporations that exist only to keep you glued to an electronic screen long enough to sell you another electronic screen.

It is the axiom the more things change, the more they stay the same.