I was just talking to my parents. I can't imagine how they settle these issues in their minds anymore. They were born into the Depression, when there were three separate structures:

The country and people.

The economy of people and the country.

Wall Street and Big Business.

The War Machine economy was a European thing because America had land to plow, mountains to cross with roads and rails, and canals and ships to build for useful purposes.

The modern version is just one entity of Money (including debt, purchased government, advertising and contrived threats, tax-redistribution as military bases and agriculture, and Insurance).

People are relegated to an infestation of rats competing for food and fame in the modern system. All are basically the same, except the white or rich rats (usually the same thing) manage to always be where the food lands, and keep the other rats out until they have become so full that they can't eat any more.

People get very offended and defensive about criticism of their "country", but they don't understand that it doesn't exist any more than the "unique" brand of shoe they buy is separate from the money that buys the leather soles.

The concept of Empire (colonizing frontiers and capturing natives) is difficult to apply to a hegemony of bankers and corporate players who aggressively compete for Money's interests with absolute mindless abeyance to numbers on spreadsheets.

To them, anyone or anything that interferes with the 'progress' of those numbers must be a barbaric animal.

You can't 'win' with these people.