power is derived ultimately from the weaponization of entropy. if you don't do what i say, i will break your toys or end your life. most of the developed world at one point realized that setting terms and boundaries on that weapon is the most productive use of our time. it allows us to set a baseline trust that cooperating with a stranger probably won't end badly, and if it does, the collective power of the others can enact retribution. where that system breaks down is the assumption that whomever is at the helm of that machine is a benevolent actor who abides by the rules, which is not the case in most of the developed world. the unfortunate reality is that the consolidation of power attracts antisocial people who use the tools for their own purposes - they are in effect parasites, if you consider the metaconstruct of a society as an organism. in america's early history, this risk was balanced by the armament of the common man, and the division of labor within the government. the rule was simple - everyone shares the power, everyone plays the game, or the antisocial player gets shot. a great proposition, if everyone agrees to that. generations of softening have left the modern populace too feeble to abide by that rule, so what we're left with is an antisocial ruling class that plays their own game with foreign adversaries and an ultrawealthy upper caste while slowly bleeding the nation dry through inflation.
United States