After the collapse of Wall Street in the 1920s, the culture stopped being all about money, and the country survived and ultimately flourished.
In less than a year, the Bush administration will strut out of office, leaving the country in roughly the same condition a toddler leaves a diaper.
War is a form of really bad manners, in a strange way. Invading a country I think is just the worst possible manners. 'You're not invited!' Gate crashing on a large scale!
Americans who grew up in the 1930s or 1940s still have some fleeting memory of what the country was like before it became the steroidal superpower it is today.
In America, the top 1 percent led the country into war and economic devastation, leaving the less fortunate to fight for one and pay for both.