From the view of an outsider looking in America looks in far worse shape than c18/19th Britain. Yes, there was a gentry but the power was in the hands of the industrialists as this was the beginning and heyday of the Industrial Revolution. Unless i am mistaken America has no blue collar industry to build upon and technology is now well embedded in Asia. A democratic change would certainly make the people feel better but regardless, what is America's trading commodity. Possibly arms, I don't know but, as an outsider I feel that USA needs to understand that its place in the world is not as crucial as it used to be, and consider what it can do in the global market. Certainly the president's rhetoric is not helpful, but hopefully the other world partners understand that it's not an American ideal but the midnight grumblings of a paranoid, ego- centric man. All I can say is please don't let him bring your great country down. Rome's demise was through implosion rather than external forces. Let's hope you guys can rally before that happens.

History repeats itself.

In my experience, the youngsters I interact with (hey, at my age EVERYONE is a "youngster" ) aren't really knowledgable, or interested in real history. But! I frequently ask them: "In Star Wars, who is our country like? The Rebels? Or the Empire?"
The follow-up question is: "And who do you identify with and cheer for?"

Seeing as your Canadian you need to concentrate on getting rid of that liberal idiot Trudeau and not worry about America. In America you have a right to carry a handgun for self defense. In Canada you don’t. I’ll take America over Canada any time.

We do have a king now but the empire won't last 300 years.

The US is more like imperial, 19th-century Britain with its flag-worshipping and bogus sanctitude. What really surprises me is how, having ditched monarchy for a republic, they created semi-regal political dynastic elites such as the Kennedys and Bushes and gave their presidents almost autocratic prerogatives.

We're stumbling into another Gilded Age.

My usual comparison has been pre-Revolutionary France. I get the distinct feeling all Imperial governments, regardless of actual political philosophy, at a certain point in the long-term timeline, end up following this pattern eventually. Collapse or massive internal conflict often follow.

One can certainly find similarities. It's saddening to see the demise of our great country.

"Will the majority make their message clear in the midterms this November?" We will find out the answer to that on Nov 6.

Not yet but we are getting there. When I grew up there were no homeless. Now we are replete with folks sleeping in the filth, similar to the 19th century. Children in cages. No unions. Rampant pollution.

As a professional historian, I am always wary of making too close of a comparison. We should study the past to learn from it, but there are so many differences between eighteenth-century England and the twenty-first-century US and the global situations.

45 never really wanted to be president.
He always wanted to be emperor.