The US changed in a fundamental fashion after the Great Depression and World War II, but even before, a lamentable regulation, Sherman Anti-Trust, was made law. Since then, US corporations have been subject to political favoritism. Perhaps this is the US empire to which you refer? At the same time, America was the freest and most prosperous nation on the planet, and reached a point where it was almost laissez-faire capitalism. This is the place to where we must return in order for an honest, not crony, capitalism to return. At the same time, America certainly need defend itself, but placing the blame on a racial or ethnic group rather than specifically violent aggressor groups would be a mistake.