It was not the wealth of individuals that caused the Roman Empire to fall. In fact, the opposite is true, Rome was built largely by privately funded armies by Rome's wealthy class that produced the empire. Only later did it resort to "taxes" as its funding mechanism.

But for all the games played by the wealthy of Rome, it was not the lack of tax revenue, but the lack of "patriots" that brought Rome to its knees. At the end of the day, a nation depends on soldiers willing to die for it. The Taliban is a great example of a people that prevailed not by its economic power but the fanatical commitment of its "soldiers" to the cause. Ukraine is holding out against Russia with the help of the west due to the willingness of its citizens to fight unto death for its independence.

At some point in time Rome became an "ideology" and not a country. You could be "Roman" and live your entire life in the Middle East. In effect, to be Roman was simply to be a citizen of the Empire.

America is at risk because of progressive ideology which combines both an internal belief in class warfare and identity groups but overlays those beliefs with a commitment to global interests of the world over the interests of its own citizens.

One might argue this is a good thing (especially if you are an elitist, but at the end of the day when bullets start to fly, the common guy will be nowhere to be found since what he thought was important was never important to the elitist.

It gets even worse. Asking people to sacrifice is one thing when these elitists do likewise, but the fact is most do not.

In that sense, it is not wealth... but an ideology of elitism. People will stand arm to arm with a rich man, but not someone that looks down on them.