Excellent article. I have to bring up one thing it mentions in the end that is sort of a small dip to going off topic a bit by the author, though:
“More ominous, the progressive redistributionist entitlement state and the habits of dependence it fosters are unlikely to be reformed, even as the increasing debt to finance this “kinder, gentler” Leviathan continues to drive us toward bankruptcy.”
This is a fancy way of pointing out that they will run out of other people’s money. We are getting to the point where our debt service is so hight that our payments don’t even cover the interest. This will plunge us into Venezuela territory. And because of our size on the world stage, the collapse will be worldwide. It will be like watching one of those complicated domino pictures revealing itself at a rapid pace.
That is a major risk, and there's no way of knowing if the values which made this country great will emerge on the other side. If it comes to that. Turmoil often begs for toltarian solutions.