Depending on what you mean by the slippery slope. The Pilgrims almost lost it all in the 1620’s. Our first national government, The Articles of Confederation, failed in the 1780’s The British burned Washington DC in the war of 1812. The Constitutional order collapsed into Civil War in 1861. The pioneers who went West to get rich mostly got tired and sick and dead. Our whole economic system ground to a halt in the 1930’s. Socialism came to America in 1932. We were forced to fight a two front war against pretty tough customers in the 1940’s. And after that struggle we faced down the Soviet Empire and went broke doing it. A great nation like ours is ALWAYS a breath away from disaster because we are a free people who make mistakes. And we just made another wopper. But now the Socialism founded by FDR is heading for the ash bin of history and we will have to pick ourselves up and do it all over again. It will be one hell of a dance with pain and suffering but we will prevail. Until the next crisis. We cannot escape history.
Add in a nuke hit from the muslims and the whole fabric of an advanced technological society becomes undone and unravels at the speed of light and it is a return to the dark ages like when Rome fell