If I’m not mistaken, the USA has morphed into the British Empire.

There are historical parallels between the rise and fall of Great Britain’s empire and the undulating fortunes of the US. We continued their grand momentum toward manifest destiny. We have saved the world more than once, alone and together. Our technical and media industries altered humanity’s perceptions of health and success, and so on.

Now we share the same diminished power abroad, and we fight wars with the same MidEastern countries the Empire once fought. We also share an uncannily identical and inexplicable denial of the impossibility of winning against those historically raging nations of rabid men and invisible women.

As a former colony, we inherited the British Empire’s delusion of invincibility. After all, we too are so civilized. We too are so sure we know best, believing others will recognize this and do what we say. We know we deserve to drive the bus and write the history books because, you see, we are quite, quite right.

How can other nations ignore our role as earth’s newest, nicest empire? We watch world currencies devalue dollars just like we devalued the pound sterling. Citizens of too many nations now view the USA as a lower budget vacation option. Our best hotels and all our theme parks fill with non-United Stateians whose money goes further than ours. The Church of Disney actively seeks richer Mouseketeers from abroad.

All this must sound familiar to old timers in Great Britain. They have observed their empire ebb and wane for 75 years. They have lived through the humbling loss of power abroad and shrinking of coffers at home. For those Brits who observed the demise of their position as official driver and writer of world history, it must be nice to have company at the back of the bus.