Conclusion

The decadent ages of Great Nations are characterized by: defensiveness; pessimism; materialism; frivolity; an influx of foreigners; the welfare state; a weakening of religion; and internal political division. These are symptoms of the decline. The cause of the decline is an overwhelming obsession with the accumulation and protection of wealth.

Wealth itself is not ‘bad’; the obsession with wealth is ‘bad’. The expression: “love of money” means an obsession with wealth. The loss of a sense of duty springs from the selfishness that comes from having an obsession with wealth. The terms “love of money”, and “obsession with wealth”, may be summed up in the word greed.

America’s decadent age began circa 1980. The book The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe and the movie Wall Street directed by Oliver Stone, both circa 1987, appear in the starting decade of America’s Decadent Era. The statement “Greed is good”, made by Oliver Stone’s ruthless arbitrageur Gordon Gekko, sums up the era succinctly. To say that “greed is good” is an expression of the distorted thinking that poisons the national psyche of people belonging to once great nations in the final chapter of their global relevance.

Greed is not good. Greed is a spiritual disease. No nation, consumed by greed, can be considered great. The root cause of the decline and collapse of once great nations is greed.

The cure for spiritual disease is love.

there is a solution

… on the topic of America’s path to diminished importance in world affairs, and the decline of Great Powers generally, the problem is the emphasis on wealth. Wealth … ‘should be’ a secondary outcome of productive activity … ‘not’ the solitary purpose of productive activity.

The trajectory of Great Nations begins with a burst of productive energy for the sake of productive expression … it ends with a miserly hoarding of wealth … all energies dedicated to protecting and adding to the hoard.

A declining nation that wants to be great again would have to: De-emphasize wealth and emphasize productive expression; De-emphasize competition and emphasize co-operation; De-emphasize escapism and emphasize engagement; De-emphasize conformity and emphasize curiosity.

An answer to the question: “What’s happening to my country?”

Commentary on the symptoms of the decline
• Defensiveness A nation consumed by greed will go to any lengths to protect its hoard of wealth.
• Pessimism Greed is all consuming. In a society dominated by greed profit is everything. Greed acts to concentrate wealth into fewer and fewer hands producing larger and larger profits. As profits grow payrolls diminish and the cost of goods and services rise. The population at large suffers from the stress of paying more with less. Financial insecurity becomes the norm and people become less optimistic.
• Materialism Greed is a spiritual disease. Materialism is an expression of the progress of the disease.
• Frivolity People seek escape from pessimism.
• An influx of foreigners People from all over the world seek the wealth concentrated in the nation’s power centers.
• The Welfare State Starting in the age of affluence women begin seeking independence as the poor seek justice. In America this was manifest in the women’s suffrage and labor movements as well as Roosevelt’s new deal. In the age of intellect the value of education is recognized and the youth benefit from various government education subsidies. The plight of the poor is recognized and government assistance is legislated. In the age of decadence these otherwise beneficial changes become noticeable.
• A weakening of religion Greed is a spiritual disease and love is the cure. It should be no surprise then that the principle of love should become corrupted in the decadent age. In America the word love was used as a polite form of the word lust; and religion began to preach the ‘prosperity gospel’ generally ignoring anything in scripture having to do with charity, tolerance, or generosity.
• Internal political division By its nature greed produces selfishness, self-centeredness, self-interest, and self-righteousness which traits make compromise impossible.