From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, these kinds ofCool Breeze wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 1:14 pm> John, do you have a view on "democracies" always collapsing when
> the corrupted elite continue to give away the productive capacity
> of the nation (to the non producers who vote for such)? It seems
> even the ancient Greeks were well aware of this and that's why
> they were for republics, but as we see in America laws are changed
> so that the elites can control and manipulate through voting for
> all, expanding government, etc.
collapses tend to occur during generational Crisis eras.
During the Recovery Era (First Turning) following a crisis war,
traumatized survivors implement institutions and laws to prevent a
recurrence, and this usually includes strong restrictions against
corruption and debt. As the decades go by, these restrictions are
relaxed, and corruption and debt increase. Finally, during the next
Crisis era, the debts come due and can't be repaid because of the
corruption, and there's a new crisis -- which may result in a collapse
of the society.
That's the most common pattern for an entire society to collapse.
It's possible to view an Awakening climax as a kind of "partial
collapse" (think of the Weimar Republic or the resignation of Richard
Nixon or "bloodless coup" or "velvet revolution"), but usually this is
a mid-course correction, rather than a total collapse.