In the phase of decline of course
(Roman decadence,
Byzantine decadence,
decadence of the feudal system)
the outstanding element was naturally
the luxury, the rampant waste and the
abolition of any moral barrier.

This is the dominant symptom of the demise.

The infallible sign that the end is already near.

Our system is coming to its end.

Just as was the case with the earlier systems.

And perhaps this fact should not worry us too much,
since the decadent system was replaced each time
by a new "robust" system leading the society to new
heights and the culture to a new flowering.

What should worry us, which is new and which
happens for the first time, is that our system has
prevailed globally and that no alternative proposal
has appeared anywhere.