Has anyone actually stopped to consider what would happen if this trend continued?
I would say world wide revolution, except for one problem: nukes. Any attack on the US, and the nukes would be deployed. Any attack from the US on any developed nation means nukes would be delpoyed.
This is my scenario:
The United States will plunge into a dark age of no civil liberty, no freedoms, a system of "elections" when in reality they are all rigged. The citizens of the US won't realize untill it's too late, because the changes are so gradual.
When finally they do realize, they won't be able to do anything. Any form of political or military resistance would be crushed. Mass emigration would occur, and the other sovereign nations of the world would play host to American "refugees".
The United States either A) Doesn't like this or B) Doesn't care.
If A), they will attempt to put a stop to it by barring exit from the country. Other countries notice, put embargoes on the US, and the US is crushed under a failing economy, or option A2) They launch a desperation attack on the European countries. The world is engulfed in a third world war. Option A3) The world wins, the US is crushed, and must now take a back seat in world affairs. Option A4) The US wins, and takes total control of the world. Option A5) Nuclear weaponry is deployed, plunging the world into a nuclear winter.
Option B) If the US doesn't care, the refugee flood continues. Eventually, news about the US is brought around the world. Either option B2) The above happens, or option B3) The world doesn't do anything, and the US plunges deeper and deeper into debt/chaos/whatever, until it finally crumbles.
There is an option C, where the US goes back on track, but that option is getting dimmer and dimmer.
