Oceander wrote above:
[[ Bah. It won't fall to communism, it'll fall - to adopt your term - to European, specifically French, style socialism. Communism as such no longer exists as a dominant force anywhere, other than, perhaps, Cuba. ]]
There is something afoot -- as bad as "communism" or worse -- that you overlook.
That is the emergence of the "techno-police" state -- the ability of the government to surveil (and sooner or later, to control) more and more facets of an individual's life.
From NSA monitoring of our communications, to GPA-assisted controls on our vehicles, to a record of every individual's financial transactions, right down to what store and what was purchased, the "government grip" will slowly encircle freedom, as does a boa constrictor its prey.
Combine this with a regulatory establishment that has transformed itself into an insatiable monster, issuing thousands of new "regulations" that restrict and control how we live, what we can buy, etc.
And add to that a governing elite that has forgotten the concept of "Western Civilization", with an everything goes attitude that seems to have forgotten that a culture is supposed to be protected and defended against outsiders who would usurp it in favor of their own.
And finally, consider the worldwide putsch of islam which makes it quite clear that its goal is to replace the dar al-harb (in The West) with dar al-islam.
I can almost see a "new dark ages" somewhere up ahead.
Luckily I may already be gone when it arrives.
