Recommended: Civilization in Reverse

Victor David Hanson has published another of his insightful pieces: Civilization in Reverse. As he points out, there is no natural law that says once a civilization is established, it will "automatically" continue and improve. Civilizations are a product of human endeavor, and when the humans stop "endeavoring" the civilization rots way, as have innumerable previous civilizations in the world (think Persia, Rome, Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire, the French Empire, the British Empire.......).

The current Greek fiscal crisis, he points out, is a warning to the rest of us. Life is not as nice in Greece as it was a decade ago. If we don't pull up our socks and get to work here in America, the America of a decade from now may not be nearly as pleasant as it was a decade ago, or even as it is now. That certainly is the case in California, which has already declined from the "Golden State" to an increasingly troubled and backward place.