Ah, sorry—I scanned to quickly and thought the last line of the Stage description was part of your assessment as to where we are. We are in total agreement.
I forgot to include that civilizations can also be destroyed by military invasion, natural disasters, or plagues which can happen during any stage of the cycle.
Apocalyptic times, millennial thinking becomes more commonplace in Stage 4. The fear of the people, due to civilization’s weakness, is well-founded.