They're not standing still now. They're eating our entrails. Right now.

We haven't passed a budget in almost 30 years, we've been routinely filibustering nearly all legislation for 15 (breaking the gameplay loop for electoral democracy), we're unilaterally withdrawing from trade and military alliances week by week. We have fascist armies on the streets pulling people from their cars and houses. Our leaders openly brag about their corruption and a good fraction of our people praise them for it simply because it pisses other people off.

We are allegedly about to "Federalize Elections" and also enter a war with Iran that a supermajority of voters do not want.

In terms of state capacity, in terms of our agency in the world, in terms of what we historically regarded as our legacy and our culture and our material security and our institutions, we are in freefall. And it is mostly down to having far too much wealth concentrated in far too few people.

Have you considered that enforcing any right against a wealthy person is punishing them for being successful? They can't come on your property, that's a punishment.

The prospect of "Attack" and "Literal War" is limited by the fact that worst-case resistance involves a drone strike, and worst-case compliance involves retaining enough wealth for you and everyone you know to live on the beach sipping mojitos for the rest of your natural lives, while holding a nice trophy.

Just not, you know, a space program and a larger military than Krushchev's reporting to you personally.