[justshutupandtakeit]

There can be no "renaissance" or return to a former better state since the nation is, for the Majority, the best it has ever been. Nostalgic pining for a delusionary past glory will get us nowhere.

There were certain features of the Enlightenment which did little to help the world progress, Rousseau for one. But it wasn't a "mistake" per se. It certainly set certain forces in motion which were destructive of tradition and morality. But it also included the spirit which led to the founding of this Nation.

[AdamSelene235]

There can be no "renaissance" or return to a former better state since the nation is, for the Majority, the best it has ever been.

I was using the word in the sense of rebirth not return. Decadence is what happens when you play a theme out to its absurd conclusions. For example, the theme of Equality or Emancipation. Both noble sentiments until you try to make the unequal equal or emancipate yourself from reality itself. That's where we are today.