Yes, the risk is there. Certainly the power-mongers failure is that no matter how smart and wise they are, and some are, their greed is always just a little bit bigger, which is why we are doomed to eventually fail. Whether it is acute or chronic, the end is inevitable thanks mostly to the actions of a few at the top. The only difference being that if it falls through it will be a lot more obvious than if it just slowly erodes away.

I guess my point is that so long as we remain the most powerful nation in the world in terms of military might, we have a hedge against going straight to the bottom of the pile, in that we can use what power we've got to drain the resources of those below us on our way down. It won't likely stop our descent, but it will spread our misery out a little thinner so the contrast between us and those around us ain't quite so extreme.