History repeats itself. Anyone with any knowledge of the fall of the Roman Empire can see the eerily (yet predictably) similar parallels being played out today, yet most refuse to learn from history:

1. Rampant currency debasement (now contemporary governments are planning to debase even the base metals out of currency by ridding metal and paper currency from circulation altogether);
2. Bloated welfare state (including bread and circus now re-branded as 'basic universal income');
3. Infinitely complex tax and legal system which stifles innovation and creates fear of reprisal for creating new items or ideas of significant use value (increasingly more creators of wealth either physically leave the empire or export more wealth out of circulation. The option for those with less means to create wealth is to choose to live on welfare);
4. Mass importation of hostile foreign tribes whose cultural sensibilities are elevated above the host culture's;
5. Growth of oligarchical political dynasties (Bush, Clinton, Trump);
6. Elevation of rulers to god-like status (Obama);
7. Elevation of entertainers (actors, musicians, sports stars) to high society status, both in terms of celebrity status as well as pay (in the early stages of empire these careers are of low status and low pay);
8. Increasingly drawn-out military losses (when did the USA last 'win' a war?);
9. Establishment of stop lines (e.g., wall building, missile batteries) marking the empire's edge as defence becomes vastly overstretched and threats become more difficult to contain or predict in which direction they will come.

...to name but a few...