Nothing can be done to halt the decline of a civilization; it is an irreversible and inevitable process that occurs with every civilization. Concerned citizens must learn to live in a hell called heaven without losing hope. They must resist futile attempts such as trying to:

• Arrest the decline in the community by making changes, because the community will only accept changes for the worse.

• Publicly promote the truth as this can only earn official denial and private persecution.

• Control events by gaining a position of influence, for only the worst are promoted.

Only things to do
The only thing a sensible citizen can do is try to uphold sanity by following tradition whenever possible, which must include:

1. Be polite

2. Think clearly by using plain words at all times.

3. Learn the new science of Philosophy to understand what is happening to humanity, as well as explain this to others.

It is also the duty of all citizens:

Before the appearance of the forest of signs announcing the eruption of tyranny, to silently endure the increasing excesses of our senile community to avoid accelerating our demise.

After the explosion of signs, to resist the tyranny demanded by his society, which is trying to rob and enslave him; inflicted by barbarians who are trying to rob and kill him. To escape poverty, slavery and sudden death, citizens should evade both these tyrannies the best way they can.

And for me there are two other tasks:

1. To attempt to persuade citizens of their community’s demise by spreading the word.

2. To attempt to save the tangible fruits of civilization already in existence, which are Books that have already survived one Dark Age by such authors as Livy, Plutarch, and Tacitus as well as those of our own civilization such as David Hume, Edward Gibbon,Edmund Burke.

Life is for living, and despite the ever-present growing shadow of decline, citizens should enjoy those fruits of civilization that are still available, rather than lament those that are lost. Always remember that, during decline, time makes everything worse; so it could be that our present will be regarded by the future as a golden age, when poverty, chaos, death and destruction were not commonplace.

Consolation—Justice Is Done
It is difficult to endure the constant stream of lies and glaring injustice without a desire to use violence to rectify both, but the minority of unselfish citizens should try to console themselves with the notion that regardless of whether a community is waxing or waning, justice is done: when the multitude is unselfish (virtuous) they win increasing wealth and order, but when the multitude is selfish (sinful) they win increasing poverty and chaos; which is the message of religion: virtue wins heaven while sin wins hell.

From ‘A Study Of Our Decline‘ by P Atkinson (20/8/2011)