[flowerplough]

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following 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.

- 1943 speech “Industrial Management in a Republic” by H. W. Prentis, president of the Armstrong Cork Company and former president of the National Association of Manufacturers.

[Nosterrex]

That is a very informative list or steps. I would say that from my experience and reading that does seem to be the pattern of an empire's life span. Perhaps because I am religious person, I see many of these steps in terms of a spiritual problem. You do have “spiritual faith.” When there is abundance and security, a nation turns away from the faith that inspired them to worship the god of materialism and egoism. Brit is a living example of what happens in a society that rejects spiritual faith and lives only for bread.