>> This will not go back to “normal times”. This only goes forward into full fascism and the loss of everything. <<
Justinian revived the Roman Empire very effectively for a time. In the end, the Empire fell, but “the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” paints an outrageously anti-Christian picture. The truth is that rather than descending into utter chaos, an “invisible” empire retained those laws of the Empire which were just, while liberating the 99.99% of the Romans who were oppressed by the aristocracy of Rome.
The great collapse of civilization wasn’t the Fall of Rome, even though we lost the secret of the enduring roadways and viaducts. The great collapse was the enlightenment, during which time the average lifespan (at least of someone who survived infancy) plunged, and the great festivals and community celebrations were replaced by unrelenting drudgery.
The Roman Empire ends with the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453.
Trump revived the US very effectively, for a time.
Given how many decks of cards were stacked against him, this was no mean feat. The Byzantine Empire under his reign had to survive the great famine of 536, followed by the original "black death" of 541 (never to be repeated until the more famous one of 1347), followed by the major war with the Persians which ended with securing Christian provinces at the cost of a major annual tribute, followed by the massive earthquake of 557, followed by Attila in 559 (who daily greeted his wives after a hard day's pillage with, "Hi huns, I'm home," but I digress). And we think we have it bad?
The great collapse of civilization wasn’t the Fall of Rome...The great collapse was the enlightenment, during which time the average lifespan (at least of someone who survived infancy) plunged, and the great festivals and community celebrations were replaced by unrelenting drudgery.
Methinks you are conflating the Enlightenment with the Industrial Revolution. Factories turned work into drudgery, and created urban squalor with its concomitant illnesses--including tuberculosis, but especially syphilis, which can be blamed on Romanticism, where feelings were more important than facts, instead of the Enlightenment. The American Golden Age, which is still with us but may soon be lost, is the result of industrialization meeting with engineering to end factory squalor and agricultural famine, creating the greatest prosperity the world has ever known.