Rambling discourse on globalization & empire

First of all, we as a country are richer because of globalization, true. Secondly the bulk of the new wealth generated was concentrated on the top 5%. The other 95% are worse off than we were 38 years ago.
In 1970, the bottom 95% held 78.2% of the national income. The top 5% held the remaining 27.8%.
In 2003 the bottom 95% held 63.1% of the nation's wealth. The top 5% held the remaining 38.9%.
That's 15.1% more for a very small portion of our society. Source Pikketty & Saez

We're approaching (or have passed) the peak of the benefit curve. Factor in the declining dollar, peak oil, resource wars, our economy's dependency on consumption and boom/bust cycles. The net out is we'll be on the decline for the foreseeable future if we don't adapt quickly to the next energy regime. The decline is real because we have a huge trade imbalance and don't generate enough revenue to sustain our government, therefore we're stuck relying on the rest of the world to finance our debt culture.

Great Britain was a world power until coal was replaced by oil. They didn't have the capital, energy resources & manpower to sustain the British Empire.

US oil production peaked in 1970. We're stuck in a car culture. We'll keep transferring wealth to the middle east & elsewhere until new energy source(s) relieve our dependence on gas.

Globalization has been a gravy train, if you own a company or are a major stockholder, for the rest of us it's deepening the divide to a near breaking point.