The decline and fall

We have all heard it before, America has reached the end of her period of empire. Looking at histories of previous world leaders, some things become evident. The government envisioned by the founders has declined into something different. There is rise in greed and money becomes the most important political currency.People are fed lies and are governed thru manipulation of their fears and religious beliefs. Economy becomes unstable due mostly to the greed and the lack of law enforcement on the greedy. A decline in the motivation of the military and an effort, by the state, to use that military in an aggressive fashion. Continued defeat by lesser powers in battle. I could go on. You certainly can see America in some,if not all of those things listed. But empires don't fall overnight,unless by a war of total destruction( and they are usually short lived states like those of Napoleon or Hitler) Leaders come, from time to time, to pull an empire or nation out of decline, but once the decline sets in, its like cancer and eventually kills the patient.
America is ill, thats a given. The fact that we cannot pass legislation to improve the qualities of life or the environment, without watering down the vision to appease those that make millions is pathetic. It is a sign of decline. And remember, those appeased money makers will go quickly elsewhere if the nation falters. There is no patriotism in free market capitalism.
Free market capitalism is one end of the spectrum, communism the other. Neither will work effectively. What is needed in the 21st century is some kind of balance.
It makes me think of the Ottoman Empire. once strong, socially stable, tolerant and vibrant, it became in the 19th century "the sick man of Europe". Is this destined to be the fate of America?