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And another point from that series of books, is that the truly best and brightest of the Empire retired to their quarters and their books, and looked only inward.

As a consequence those with the wherewithall (sp?;word?) to pull the Empire from the abyss were AWOL.

...the truly best and brightest of the Empire retired to their quarters and their books, and looked only inward...this would be perfectly understandable in today's world...when many of the best positions go not to the truly best and brightest, but to those of the correct race and sex...when the power hungry, especially in government, do all they can to sidetrack the best and the brightest who threaten to thwart their relentless quest for control and authority...when taking a public stand determined through one's experience and knowledge but contrary to the prevailing politically correct, leftwing ideologies inevitably leads to ridicule and character assassination...after awhile it may come to seem that what's left of society really isn't worth the trouble to try to turn it around, and a cozy chair and intriguing book my look like the best of all possible worlds.......