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Edward Gibbon, in "the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," lists the following reasons (among others):
The five marks of the Roman decaying culture:
- Concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth;
- Obsession with sex and perversions of sex;
- Art becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and
original;
- Widening disparity between very rich and very poor;
- Increased demand to live off the state.β
Unfortunately, many of these symptoms are found in America today.