I do not consider myself to be a defeatist, but rather a realist. At this point, I do not see a happy ending to 'the Great Experiment'. I have heard a lot of grumbling from a lot of sources but no real plan for a cohesive effective response to the decline of our nation. In fact, I believe it is well past the tipping point where that is even possible and we are now experiencing the painful convulsions of our own death throes as a Republic. As for a positive solution, I have seen a very large increase in the number of small groups and individuals who are planning to sit on the sidelines as the more dramatic convulsions occur. There could well be wisdom in that. Those crazy Preppers are individual by nature and have taken decisive action to control their own destiny. I see that as both American and Patriotic. Agree of not, they will be in a position to respond to any martial law/Government takeover that results in open revolt, an inevitable painful convulsion. The initial battle of any such revolt would be lost by We the People but in the long run, no occupying force has ever succeeded in controlling an unwilling populace. The Preppers would be in a position to come together and take back the country when it becomes inescapably obvious to the general public that a takeover has, indeed, occurred. Actually, this might be part of a normal cycle that our Founding Fathers went through, as well. They wrote several explicit warnings in the Federalist Papers and into the Constitution itself regarding exactly the situation in which we now find ourselves. We ignored their warnings and might now be doomed to repeat their solution. I suspect any Constitution we would then write will look a lot like the one they wrote but with stricter controls on lobbying, banking, and who exactly we allow to be elected. Interesting times.