I was telling an acquaintance about hitch-hiking around the United States in the early 60’s. He asked me what I thought had changed in the intervening period.

The most startling difference is, from my perspective, the decline in mutual trust and its concomitant breakdown in social cohesion.

In the early sixties I was able to travel everywhere in the US, never waited for more than 20 minutes for a ride, was offered food, lodging, even money on one occasion. Everyone I met was open, unafraid and anxious to know what I was doing and why. The generosity and hospitality was overwhelming and un-repayable.

You can ascribe all sorts of things to the end of this happy picture: among them are stagnant incomes, loss of confidence, the astonishing prevalence of guns and the culture of violence. In addition, the horrible idea of gated communities has separated the richer people from the poor, and the growth of sprawling exurbia means there is no center to most towns any more – just shopping malls.

Were Epicurus alive he might well comment that them as rises also falls. Wherever there is a successful enterprise there are pushy, power-hungry people who overdo things to boost their own personal power, without regard to the interests of the community (the ancient Greeks invading Sicily, the Americans invading Iraq – there are plenty of examples). When the population perceives that the empire is not being run for them but is a benefit society for the ruling clique, it falls apart.
Excuse me for not giving a more expansive explanation, but this is a blog, not a six volume version of Decline and Fall.