You know what really highlights Americas decline for me? The lack of grand infrastructure projects over the last 50+ years. 

I don’t think we could build the Hoover dam today or the Golden Gate Bridge. It would take 30 years and go 900% over budget. 

When you look at empires that have fallen through history, many of them built their most grand structures early in their reign. The great pyramid, the colosseum, the temples of Angkor wat, were all built early in the reign of their respective empires.

For me, its that Americanness no longer includes rooting for the underdog or civic duty (see how people drive now for an example). But the infrastructure thing is real for sure. Compare it to what China has built in the last generation.