Several hundred years "B.C." or "B.C.E.", warnings emanated from Grecian culture about the necessity for wiser instigations to enhance civilization. Yet, that is only one point of reference, as there have been many for which the heed of such continues to go unnoticed for the sake of the greed, corruption and selfishness. For the mean spirited slant, there are many adherents. In a recent article appearing in a major publication on the western coast of the U.S., an author asserts the regressive tendencies of a culture bent on its own "victimization" and eventual destruction. Another has called this era the final phase, the "circus", which alludes to the collapse of a civilization.

Seemingly, many prefer abuse, pity and pampering, rather than maturity, growth and knowledge. Counterproductive in the process of self-evolution is the willful weakness non-competitiveness in any sphere of social interactivity. For the sake of "political correctness", or other illicit attempts at enforcing "level playing fields", by means of intolerance for tolerance, hastens communal deterioration. A determined sense of individual liberation, by disciplined determination, is often confronted by pretentious emotionalism and maladaptive condescending confrontations. That hastens extinction.

Enlightened transformation is not considered a lofty and noble goal for evolving transitions of individual self-reliance to higher states of ascendency. Smarter, competent, skilled and self-evolving excellence is not widely rewarded, as more and more information sources appear "dumbed down" to baser levels. In its place instead, most interactions tend toward a disingenuous "victimhood" of pretentious helplessness. One writer described many people in contemporary American culture as sissies. Pampered, spoiled and irresponsible, many, including the wealthy few, seek personal enrichment.

In the process of criticizing post-modern society, several writers have questioned whether or not most people, by lazy general consensus and apathy, have allowed U.S. society to become a nation of wimps, crybabies, and weaklings. While a part of such accusations are associated with a person’s overall physicality, the focus is more on the intellectual, ethical and maturity side of acting like a grownup. Instead, some researchers have suggested intellectual and morals capacity is regressing.

An indication, or at least an implication, is the emotional reactivity or exceptional sensitivity to any perceived slight, insult or insufficient recognition for needy validation. The instant "selfie" or inability to accept criticism reflects overly sensitive immaturity in reaction to a perceived "insult". Rather than pursue the moral high ground of differentiated self-reliance, juvenile antics devolve to a state of abject reactivity. Overall, due to purposeful maladaptive choices, to satiate escalating degrees of selfishness, meaningful change in human behavior stagnates. Increasing numbers of the population desire greater emotional subsistence provided by others to satisfy their self-centeredness.

It seems to some who study social processes and by extension societal deterioration, more "children" than ever are living in adult bodies. For which, they require more attention for someone to take placate their neediness. Given the intentional persistence of biases, prejudices and assorted animosities, regardless of socio-economic or political placement, many easily provoke their own deception and thereby potentially bring harm to others. The lack of serious creativity, innovation and productively motivated individuality appears less and less a socially positive aspect. More want attention rather than invention.

Additionally, with hate speech disguised as "social justice", and intolerance for differing opinions with vicious physical attacks as "free speech" resistance, child-like behaviors on the part of adults are increasingly degrading. And, once you are insulated from the reality of the real world, you can ignore the factuality of cause and effect in terms of rational explanations. Feelings will prevail over facts. As subjective validation for the unimaginative expression of personal bias replaces logic and reason, the resulting stagnation of thought debases meaningful commentary, as gross fallacies of inference foment hideous hastily drawn conclusions. Along with that, there is the never-ending collective of herd-minded assumptions based on little or no factuality.

Since most people are selfishly fixated on their own self-righteous superficiality, the evolving essence of enlightened discourse is problematic. Choosing the less cumbersome travels of in-depth investigative research, in order to prove the viability of an issue at hand, most interactivity defaults to the simplistic and emotional conjecture of self-validation. As such for instance, the mythology of the "American Dream" embraces the destruction of the human species by way of gluttonous consumption and exploitation of global eco-systems. To perpetuate the associated frauds speaks to the decadence of the few.

While there are sets of "law", procedures, rules, regulations or guideline parameters for a select group, the so-called 1%, there is also another set of legal frameworks for the other 99%. By means of what might be called the "legerdemain of the corporate state", as described in at least one novel, the "American Oligarchy" ensures its safe and secure insulation. Upper reaches of society do not play by the same rules as the majority of socio-economically challenged lower realm. But, the majority goes along with the mass marketing appeals for a "herd mentality" of bloated consumer schemes, in order to satiate desires for an endless array of consumptive commodities.

In a once proud culture of pioneers, adventurers and creative entrepreneurs, as cited by one researcher, society has descended into a "nation of wimps". A collectivist collusion of ill-informed, lazy, obese and fearful "sheeple" hastens the devolution of an entire country. Such references are not about well-built bodies, food fitness or bulging biceps. Instead, it is about the courage of convictions, ethical enlightenment and fortitude of character to insist upon justice over emotional justification. A sissified population is one that relishes in the smug piety of its stupidity, disdain of intellectualism and creative laziness.

Self-righteousness in emotional reactivity, intolerance for the opposing views of others and naïve notions of cause and effect, likewise express a growing self-perpetuating pathology of infantile narcissism. Fiction trumps facts, with revulsion for thought provoking rational insight and advocacy of enlightened perspectives. The quest for wisdom in higher states of learned pursuits gradually transitions to illusions of fakes, frauds and facsimiles of human expression. Behind the scenes, the decadent few encourage the abject foolishness and adherence to the never-ending saga of unlimited resources.

Flourishing across a devolving landscape, with incessant appeals to the rich and famous for words of no so profound "authority", or pretentious "expertise", speeds up the eventual demise of the human species. In one way or another, decadent few collude to the acquiescence of collective primal subservience for the incessant satiation of predatory arrogance. Voluntary servitude enters the mix with myriad excuses to promote excess and hastens the regressive escalation of diverse forms of modern enslavement. Discourteous, haughtily condescending and mean spirited, immediate gratification presses the persecutions for all manner of selfish deception. With antagonistic persistence, the landed gentry, the robber barons, and the heirs of aristocracy threaten the republic.

With smug disdain for those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid, the modern aristocrats condescendingly flaunt their presumed entitlement. If one were to stop, look and listen intently, the pitch and tone of decadent contempt comes through loudly. The extravagance of greediness to acquire worldly possessions underscores a society of bloated consumption. At the same time, predation in one form or another panders the seduction of primal subservience, as modern day slavery become more pervasive. For which, the promotion of gluttonous consumption seeks to pacify the many for the sake of the few, who remain well insulated in their materiality. The hypocrisy is limitless.

Much like the ruling class of ancient Rome or Greece, according to one source from an online investment advisory, the decadence of the ruling classes exploits materiality not for the greater good, but greater greed. As institutions decline, political and social interactions devolve, and people act out their hatreds, prejudices and multiplicity of self-interests, the collective pathology willfully shares eventual societal collapse. Meanwhile, as the "devolution cliffhanger" is uncertain, another worldwide study offers the inequitable tipping of the global socio-economic scale in the direction of the few.

Over two years ago, a British news agency published a report that indicates what some already knew. To add to a dismal perspective regarding the decadence, or perhaps social debauchery, a small percentage of "oligarchs" governor a large amount of wealth. That is, a small concentrated group of wealthy people controls a significant amount of planetary prosperity and affluence. As such, the divide between rich and poor continues to expand. By regressive capacity in maladaptive ways, the rift is demeaning, oppressive and destructive. For 1% of the population to exercise dominion over more than 50% of the wealth, creates an extraordinary inequity for the other 99%.

Nearly 100 billionaires, in reflection upon the aforementioned study, enjoyed a 50% increase in wealth over a 4-year period. During the same time, more than 50% of poorest on the planet experienced a loss of nearly a trillion in wealth. The disparity of such decadence of the few, or call it corruption, depravity and self-indulgence, degrades any prospects for long-term survival of the human species. Further, of the reaming 48% of the earth’s wealth, that falls to the richest 20% of the population. Which could be interpreted that one fifth of the people on the planet now owns all the planetary riches. And the majority, 80% of the population, has limited ability to access such wealth.

With the disparate divide between arrogant wealth and abject poverty, closing the gap for greater opportunity, for the greater good, appears a dismal prospect. An oligarchic class, which fails to ensure the nobility of equitable distribution of resources, and otherwise use the power of influence to affect productive change, aids and abets the demise of the human species. Smugly self-righteous and piously "entitled" to their "inheritance" of corporate-political aristocracy, the decadent few perpetuate a devolving complicity of a "ruling class". Neither by intelligence, accomplishment or competence, the collective pathology of the decadent few promote the safe mediocrity of a greedy status quo.

Then again, what’s new? Not much. A small percentage of very smart people invent various means by which to ensure the comfort of a leisure class. An even smaller wealthier group that uses influential means, some by support of the American taxpayer, to create multi-national corporations, in turn conscripts them for expansion of "corporate cartels". In the process, the "power elite", an echo of warnings from nearly 75 years ago, ensures riches remain consolidated within a narrow societal spectrum. Yet, in the short span of finite existence, what really matters in terms of personal transformation.

For the reassurance of acceptance as time passes, where youthful passions dissipate, primitive thinking and eventual conformity stagnate, and materiality through greed replaces personal transformation. Subjective validation for nearly anything stimulates the urges for selfishness in the performance of maladaptive behaviors. By the greediness of constant accumulation of material goods and services, counterproductive ideations plot and scheme the neediness of worldly acquisitions. For the most part, it is not for the greater good for the greatest number, but for the few who pillage and plunder.

For the want of excessive materiality, in the pleasures of exceptional self-interests, the mainstream satiates its illusions in obedience to the perpetrations of the upper streams. As opposed to the frugal sharing of the training, education and discipline for imaginative dreams, a unity to advance civilization, oppressive behaviors invite the final inflictions. Creativity fragments into disuse and over-consumption that drains environmental capacities. A few strive to transform in wise rebellion for a union in personal ascendency. Coming out of nowhere, a void, and then in the end, going back there, to the nowhere to be forgotten, terrorizes into masses into protective submission. Ignorant of history, the majority embrace the failures repeated endlessly to self-destruction.

Lacking the innovative forces of energies untapped, accepting stupidity instead of rationality, in lieu evidentiary substantiation, aids the eventual death of the human species. Many malicious factors participate in the contrived demise of the American society. Undercurrents that undercut the viability of creative enterprises for the advancement of human civilization are intricate. Interwoven in a complexity of deceit, manipulation and greedy subversion, the decadence remains pervasively malevolent.

Self-caged to primal and immature emotions, steeped in the hypocrisy of supernatural fixations, and imprisoned by amative unimaginative proclivities, the degradations continue in divisive criminalities. For the perceived necessities of illicit gain with little effort, greedy self-righteous ignorance for unmerited entitlement, and consumption without limits, fosters a collective devolving social "mindset". As one generation after another perpetrates the nihilism of devolution, the human species follows others that vanished.

With various calamities occurring globally, from hurricanes to tsunamis, as one example, many opportunities to observe aspects of human behavior. For most, self-centered, selfish and foolishly arrogant overrides humility, self-evolution and service for the greater good. While there are noble acts of heroism, there are degenerate acts of criminality at every level of socio-economic strata.

Without question or opposition in any form, with nominal exceptions, the majority eventually embrace the conformity of non-resistance. The oligarchs continue to deceive and exploit the many for the greater gain of the decadent few, the so called 1%. In time, for the brevity of each life, liberation diminishes, as diverse forms of slavery binds and confines the masses. Meanwhile, communal educative and restorative resources stumble and creative enterprises falter, as the oppressed fixate and spur the demise.

In an academic study by a major western university, the wealthiest top one fifth of the U.S. population controlled or otherwise manipulated 90% of the wealth. With the riches concentrated in the hands of a few, one wonders how much can be done to rectify major societal problems. But for the valiant efforts of the few at different rungs of the societal ladder, the vast majority remain mesmerized by the deceptive manifestations from the top down. The status quo is perpetuated by any way possible. As generations come and go, and easily slip beyond the possibilities of species advancement, normal becomes degenerative and decadent. As a result, the probability of species extinction grows nearer.

Of ghosts, goblins and gremlins, the illicit nature of magical thinking perpetrates the short-term gain over devotion to a long history of tireless enlightenment and mature self-evolution. For that, among those interested, it becomes essential for the few brave ones to break the bondages of modern day slavery. To think more deeply, passionately committed to rationality, less emotionally distracted and more imaginatively creative, the quest is long and cumbersome. Transforming selflessly, as opposed to regressing selfishly, escapes the imaginings of many. However, for there are resistance fighters, they struggle against the seduction of their basic essence to succumb to devolving primal subservience.

Hedonistic tendencies for immediate gratification, reinforced by the greediness of cognitive prejudices, retaliate and demean in ways that stifle personal liberation. Fame and fortune, in metaphorical glory, sell the "American Dream" as though the social systems are not rigged or otherwise manipulated. Yet, for the pathology of the decadent few, who control the majority of wealth and resources, as though human value is cheap, replaceable and easily restocked, that fantasy remains. Illusions of the status quo are kept in place and out of reach for most people, as the contrivances are persistent.

Self-indulgent inclinations, or proclivities, whatever the designation still reside within the power and control of the individual to freely choose subsequent actions. Of an earlier comment, based on many years of professional observation, investigative application and contemporary research, analytic capacity for profound mindfulness, critical thinking by way of logical analysis, appears elusive across the broad expanse of society. On this point, a number of studies indicate regressive processes by which the populace is devolving intellectually. Prone to increasing emotional reactivity, reasoning in reality transitions to a lesser capacity for more insightful assessment based on evidence.

On the part of many people, the inability to apply serious and enlightened introspection, by well-reasoned logic and mature analysis as applied to current social issues continues to be woefully inadequate. In close proximity by ideation and formulation, most refuse the strenuous exertion of laborious self-revolution. For one to look with passionate forthright authenticity in constant examination of the self, the effort expended pales in competition with the tumultuous onslaught of self-exaltation. Immediate gratification takes precedence. Although the complexity defies simplistic delineation or easy solvability, the dismal perspective of it all yields little prospects for productive change.

Probably of sadder degree than disappointment, or even regrettable disenchantment, is the permissiveness of selfish behaviors. These of course come in many forms and forums, from intolerance of free speech, to the con artistry of commerce and industry, as well as associated political processes. The divisive self-interests of the few perpetrate illogical misguidance and distrust among the many by multiple societal processes. This of course does not mean a person cannot resist by purposeful assertion of individuation through exercise of willful liberation. On the contrary, resistance is not futile.

One can oppose the foolish juvenile behaviors of those who feel entitled to their self-appointed lofty status within the social layers of society. To do so means profoundly determined efforts to assure personal differentiation from the nonsense. Innovations and creativity of thought and action are essential to self-evolution. In contrast, stupidity in selfishly pursuing the constraints of the many, for the assurance of conformity, under the illicit power and control of others, reflects intentional choices. Fraudulent contrivances ought to be exposed for the bogus conjectures that emanate from that.

Aside from the "pandemic of the stupidity virus", which crosses all socio-economic and political spectrums, those of greater means have the advantage over those of lesser influence, power and sustainability. As such, the smug piety of the oligarchic pinnacle is such that insulation becomes protective in the negation of greatest good for the greatest number. The blatant pathology of the few, with linkages to the willful perpetration of selfish maladaptive and anti-societal intentions, expresses a sense of social disparagement against those of lesser means. In this regard, to "form a more perfect union", "establish justice", or "promote the general welfare", no longer seems relevant.

The idea of "domestic tranquility" appears to apply to the safe, stale and secure enclaves of "gated" entitlements, rather than purposeful actions to ensure broader equality. With all the wealth concentrated in an increasingly smaller niche, the reach of inequality burrows deeper. In one study of "wealth oriented behavior", from a major west coast university, those in the higher realms of materiality tend to disregard the interests of those at the lower social levels. Seemingly, less generous, not as prosocial, seeking to safeguard the status quo, and minimal empathy for those who have not "made it", characterizes the growing divide between upper and lower echelons of society. With all the affluent power, control of the majority of resources, at least economic disparity should have vanished.