In 1821, John Quincy Adams spoke these above immortal words that ring as true today as they did back then, for America needed to be reminded that its principles were founded upon the belief that its most important mission was to augment liberty and freedom domestically, and that the ill-considered involvement in international affairs, no matter how compelling or intriguing, would not be in her best interests, for America was meant to lead by example as opposed to joining the physical fight overseas in a supposed worthy cause for freedom for another country's people, as in doing so, would thereby necessitate a standing army, higher taxes, and a corruption of its purpose by engaging itself in foreign affairs that would weaken its integrity and standing as the premier institution and governance of those who would be free.
America is meant to lead by example and to the degree that it can demonstrate its superiority and the good welfare of its governance on behalf of its people to countries around the world, so much the better, but it need not, and should not, insist upon engaging in foreign affairs regarding the governance of other nations, for in doing so, it will thus commit its resources and its people to fighting for that which is not its true concern, for it is of more importance to take good care of its own people, first and foremost, with the recognition that other governments in foreign lands are the responsibility of those people, and should not be the business of America, at all.
Regrettably, America instead has determined that it is in its best interest to engage in foreign entanglements deliberately and not only that, but to become an empire, where it thereupon sticks its nose into just about every country's domestic business, in a pursuit which is claimed to be in defending freedom and liberty worldwide but in truth, is really about imposing its will and desires on other nations to obtain profit and power from such an engagement, above all. In other words, America, which should be a paragon of freedom and liberty, isn't promoting that with its actions, but rather is promoting that "might makes right" by imposing itself upon weaker nations so as to exploit or take advantage of those nations, not really for the benefit of Americans, but rather to be of benefit to the elites that profit from such corrupting foreign affairs.
Indeed, America is at a crossroads, whereupon it is not too late to go back to its originating foundation that made it such a wonderful visionary when it first asserted its independence, but instead we have a nation that has devolved into an imperial power, which has weakened its integrity considerably and reflects that greed and authority are of more importance than promoting the general welfare of its people as well as supporting liberty and freedom of conscience for them, for America has gone abroad and found plenty of never-ending monsters, which it will never completely destroy, but are instead destroying what America was meant to represent