In America, we love our hard-earned excesses. Yes, we’ve earned them. Look how many wars we’ve fought to protect our oft overindulgent lifestyles. OK, so maybe our win-loss record at war has sunk a bit in the last 60 or so years – leaving us tied for victories with Serbia, Tobago and Tierra Del Fuego. Still, we’re a shoo-in to make the championship round … where we’ll kick ass! U-S-A! U-S-A!

But back to our beloved daily excesses. It’s when we start to lose them that we need to worry about where the nation…