Tremendous interest in the superficial is very characteristic of cultures in decline.
Like so many Americans, I am sick and tired of watching the rapid decline of our culture right in front of our eyes.
The standards have sunk so low throughout our culture that who really knows.
Is America becoming decadent? Do we no longer regard our promises and pledges as sacred? ... We promised to make peace with Germany only in conjunction with the Allies; but we brought forward a separate peace, demanding for ourselves all the advantages of the Treaty of Versailles but rejecting all the responsibilities embodied in the Treaty. It was America's President who induced Europe to form a League of Nations; and then America was the first country that refused to joint it.... If these are not the symptoms of national decadency, what are they?
You always want to read something that everybody says has gone too far, don't you? That's supposed to not just be charting our decline, but embodying it?
The decline of manners, the cynical pursuit without shame or restraint of personal advantage and of money characterizes our times, not without exceptions, of course, but more than we ought to be comfortable with.
