This is a common refrain you hear a lot. I get why people say it, because it feels good to say when you feel bad.
But the decline of the Roman empire took nearly 500 years.
Even the bronze age collapse, which you might say happened fast, took more than 100.
A thought I have every time someone parrots this is, "what is reasonable to expect?".
Would you have heard people saying the same thing during the civil war?
During the gilded age?
After the stock market crash?
During the 1970s oil crisis or the severe increase in violent crime during the 1970s and 80s?
Spain was an actual dictatorship in recent memory, and now you'll hear Americans fantasizing about fleeing there.
Should we not expect an empire to have ups and downs?
But the decline of the Roman empire took nearly 500 years.
Even the bronze age collapse, which you might say happened fast, took more than 100.
A thought I have every time someone parrots this is, "what is reasonable to expect?".
Would you have heard people saying the same thing during the civil war?
During the gilded age?
After the stock market crash?
During the 1970s oil crisis or the severe increase in violent crime during the 1970s and 80s?
Spain was an actual dictatorship in recent memory, and now you'll hear Americans fantasizing about fleeing there.
Should we not expect an empire to have ups and downs?