America 19: Decline

The only thing more reliable than the eventual fall of every great empire is the belief that they and they alone are the exception. America the mighty, America the brave, America the immortal. But to see Detroit is to see America humbled, and in the causes of the crisis you see how easily the empire could fall. An out of control banking sector, runaway wealth inequality and government corruption together tore a wound in the American economy that brought it to its knees. Detroit is that wound, still bleeding as America climbs to its feet once more. But those causes remain unsolved, and the question is whether it will learn from its defeat, or stand unbowed, still assured of its immortality, right up until the final blow comes.