"Kirk’s solution, dictated back in the late 1700s by Burke himself, was to gut the middle class and return to the “normal” social form of a small number of really rich people at the top, a tiny middle class of doctors, lawyers, and professionals who served the rich, and a massive class of the working poor."

This theme of class and resultant inferiority permeates the history of the United States. In particular, I am reminded of the words of your "founding father," George Washington. In a conversation with British actor John Bernard, pertinent to fighting for freedom while holding slaves, Daddy Washington stated: “This may seem a contradiction, but it is neither a crime nor an absurdity. When we profess, as our fundamental principle, that liberty is the inalienable right of every man, we do not include madmen or idiots; liberty in their hands would become a scourge."

Ergo, the United States does not evolve (though such an illusion is presented, at times), it revolves. And now, devolves. Starkly manifested in the reality of the subject matter presented in this most excellent work.