I'm not talking about the size of the government, but about the attitude towards it and other large organizations, and to one's role in society.
I'm also not blaming "darned libertarians" (I do have a lot to say about "them", but HN isn't quite the place for such discussion) for anything. I'm simply saying that some axioms of the libertarian ideology have permeated throughout American society. This leads to a changing culture, and different cultures have different accomplishments.
Which type of accomplishment is "better" or more "important" is, again, subject to personal preference, and I'm not going to debate that. All I was suggesting is that the US hasn't accomplished recently the same kind of things it had accomplished in the past, may be in part due to a shift in attitude.