[bryanlarsen]

This is a really annoying narrative. The Dutch empire "fell" in the 18th century, and they never regained their former glory. Danish glory fell in the 11th century. The Swedish empire fell in 1721. Today those are three of the best places in the world to live.

[SketchySeaBeast]

It does have a "if we can't belligerently shout 'we're #1', what's even the point of living?" to it, doesn't it?