Where's the wreck though? The most powerful and prosperous nation in all of recorded history...and it's a wreck? Politicians need there to be issues, so that they are justified in coming in and make "real reform!", but the reality is that most sane people prefer stable and sustainable, and we largely have it, coupled with freedoms the likes of which history has never seen.
I do agree that we seem to have a large number of people who really do want to see catastrophe in their lifetime (DA60 just noted it today, and I know I've seen a number of other conservatives), and would "welcome" it. This is similar to preppers, wanting the world order to collapse and a return to anarchy (which will be fast and brutal for a while and then end up, if you're luck, exactly how it was before!!). These people WANT there to be a wreck...and in that sense they are the wreck, because otherwise we're just not there.
But in any sensible analysis, at best the U.S. is doing good, and at worst, it';s because we're still not provided adequate health care, education, and quality of life provisions to employment, as other peer nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD_Better_Life_Index
Where is this compelling evidence that it's a wreck? In your mind I think...kind of like nostalgia is...it feels real, its in part based on reality, but its distorted by being human.