Our nation is falling apart, we’re broke, we don’t make things anymore and we’re falling behind the rest of the world in almost every measure.
So we’re going to start another war???
Isn’t this what happened to Rome?
Rome also had foreign mercenaries fighting its wars for it, so when the mercenaries decided they wanted more respect, they went on strike. Also, Rome first stopped being a Republic and became a hereditary dictatorship, and stopped giving its imperial provinces a say in how they were governed. The provinces became rebellious, especially Judaea and Germany, not to mention a large island to the North of Gaul. Since Rome stopped growing its own wheat in Italy in favor of grapes, when there was trouble in its provinces, people starved. Oh, and there was also the welfare state and rioting plebs.