When historians analyze what factors caused the collapse of a civilization they often focus on the most salient events and indicators, while the creator of the Alternative Market movement, Brandon Smith, estimates that it is important to consider the many factors that determined that social decline because "It happens with time and not overnight"
"The decline of a nation or civilization requires the complicity of a multitude of saboteurs," from "people in positions of power" to "useful idiots among the masses," explains this analyst, who chooses to look at "the foundations of our culture." to better understand why today there is "a clear and definable destabilization".
Conflict between benefit and personal conscience
For Smith, in the nature of the human being "there is always a conflict between benefit and personal conscience." In a stable society, both factors "tend to balance", but in those suffering from a social decadence gain and even comfort and gratification "tend to dominate to a large extent" on moral principles.
This man is "sad" to admit that, although he lives in a rural area of the United States - "where there is more likely to be self-sufficiency and cultural stability" - he can still see "a tottering nation bleeds" and puts numerous examples on the matter carried out by both people and institutions.
Sociopaths and latent psychopaths
The psychiatrist Carl Jung calculated that about 10% of people in each culture were sociopaths and latent psychopaths. In normal times, they acclimate themselves to the rest of the population, but "in times of decadence" show their true selves and "the most dangerous" is when they "assume leadership or power roles," warns the creator of Alt-Market.