Murka as Red Giant

For a metaphor, think of the solar life cycle.

If the United States is a main-sequence empire, then it has reached the red giant stage, having exhausted the resources of its youth and midlife. Its economy, its fiscal vitality, its moral capital are all spent. It is staking everything on the "full spectrum dominance" of its military, and it is burning that feverishly. Like a red giant, its imperial bloat is a sign of decay, not health. And its destiny is to fail. Collapse is inevitable. Possibly, given its size, into a black hole, which could suck the whole world in after it.

From the ever on-target Rigorous Intuition.