Good points. Satisfying desires isn't the same as solving real problems. (Buddhists would have a lot to say about that.)

And the Founders pushed liberalism as far as it could go, not realizing that technological progress might eventually make liberalism itself old-fashioned and counterproductive. Liberalism works when individuals are empowered, and their positive freedoms enhanced (via socialist measures that are anathema to libertarians). You must be properly educated and equipped with critical thinking skills to be able to sort out which ideas are best and to avoid falling for the sophistry of demagogues and con artists.

I'm Canadian, by the way. I have a brother who's married to an American and who lives in the States.