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My rebuttal:

How civilizations become rich and powerful is another discussion. Suffice it to say the USA emerged from ww2 as the predominant hegemon in the world. By the 60s the USA was facing ever growing economic competition. In other words conditions were changing.

The American people had grown accustomed to being # 1. They had the hubris that they could do anything they set their minds to without consequence. Like land a man on the moon in 69 which was the peak of American power. The key decision occurred in 68 when LBJ put the SS trust into the general account so that he could pursue both a guns and butter policy. The perceptional mindset from that point on has been to carry on as always in the face of adversity instead of moderating behavior to meet the exigencies of the situation. After all we have the perceptional mindset that we are a rich nation that can have it all without consequences. At first the slide into oblivion is hardly noticeable but as time and mindset continues it becomes evermore noticeable. Stresses begin to build where evermore extreme and desperate measures have to be taken to maintain the illusion of being that rich nation of the past. As this happens the society and its politics devolve into chaos and fragmentation. This is the historic perceptional pattern that all previous civilizations have followed to their end.

To this day in 2021 the American people still cling to the illusion that they are a rich nation. They can spend 2.3T on top of the already 2.9T that they have borrowed and spent in the past year. This perceptional mindset is delusional..psychotic when the reality is that with the accounts payable of the entitlements the USA has a NEGATIVE 84T USD NET WORTH according to the Real Debt Clock. America is not a rich nation it is a bk nation.
The biggest change in the human psyche happened when the US dropped the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945. For in that moment humans could wipe themselves out in an instant. In the face of that reality all the age old conventions went by the wayside as the perception became live for today for tomorrow may never come. So why should you defer gratification until tomorrow..put it on the credit card and live hedonistic-ally today.

All of those age old conventions like a belief in God meant something. They conferred a continuity which provided stability. Human nature is such that it takes the exigencies of the situation to force a change in perceptions and behavior. So you know what that means don't you..the current regime or civilization has to collapse before change will occur..change or perish.

What I have just said is the hammer of God..it is reality it is the truth of the matter.