apocalypse has always been a hopeful idea because assumes the moment everything goes to hell can be pinpointed and you'll be around to see
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sack of rome is the quintessential apocalyptic event in popular consciousness but really it was just a mark of how far they'd already fallen
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but where does the decline start? gibbon blamed the adoption of christianity. I usually cite the crisis of the third century
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you can go back as far as you like. trajan brought the empire to its greatest extent but hadrian and aurelius spent their reigns retrenching
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and when less sober and competent men found themselves at the head of such a thing the land fell to chaos
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by this logic trajan's rule would be the height of the empire in the same way that 2007 was the height of the mortgage industry
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hell, blame the marian reforms for making the legions a political bloc and the feminizing influence of greek culture eroding mos maiorum
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a young culture may emerge from the ashes of our civilization but we probably won't be around to see it
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it's only decline if you only see the world as amerca and europe and your view of history is only 50 years
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population growth is flattening out; in a generation the whole country might have modern living standards
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nah, immigration covers the gap and US turns into brazil
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I am rooting for china tho
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vietnam, thialiand, malaysia, are doing pretty well, too. nigeria and ghana aren't far behind them.
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Not to mention America's empire is tiny and sucks, historically speaking
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it is world-spanning but gracile
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Apocalypse or Revelation "unveiling" is hopeful because it points to the return of Goodness Himself.
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