William Rivers Pitt has a flawed, but compelling analysis of American Empire (posted at truthout.org), which he sees as having taken place in three stages;
There have been three stages of American empire since the creation of this nation. Each has fed the other, and each has been established and fortified by war. More importantly, each has been fortified by the vast profits derived by the few in the making of war. The first two stages did not collapse, so much as they were absorbed by the next iteration, carrying over all circumstances and attendant difficulties. We exist today within the third stage of empire, one that is sick at the core.
I would have to disagree with Pitt on his view of Fundies, or ‘Movement Conservatives’, as he calls them. Since when have these whack jobs wanted to roll back the New Deal? They talk a good game about limiting government and so forth, but the Fundie is the biggest socialist of all. And which entitlement programs have been “gutted”? Did Reagan gut any entitlement programs?