Decius wrote:
] "The average age of the world's greatest civilization has been
] two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this
] sequence. From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual
] faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty
] to abundance, from abundance to complacency; from complacency
] to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back
] into bondage."
]
] Alexander Tyler - 1787
]
] (Actually, I think the present dependence is part of an 80
] year cycle rather then a 200 year cycle, but we'll see...)

I've theorized on this quite a bit for several years. All major civilizations have exhibited the same characteristics before they were swept into the annals of history. It appears that we're following the same patterns. Not only that, but the rapid pace of change ignited by technology and globilization seems to be increasing the pace at which our society is going through these patterns.

Which basically validates one of the things I've been saying since I was a kid: there'll be blood in the streets in my lifetime.