This is a far deeper matter that is coming home to roost. This is actually a problem from evolution itself.
In a nutshell, evolution fundamentally gears towards mediocracy rather than excellence. Since its inception, evolution operated in a state of subsistence rather than abundance. Therefore, the inherent solutions to problems that an organism must face that are engrained biologically are setup in such a way that work 'good enough' within the initial niche but are not usually good enough to be generalized to every situation. A truly 'great' solution requires limiting the impulses that have historically been engrained in cases where their application is deleterious to long term goals.
Intelligence, or... more accurately... impulse control is exactly that. And it has a hidden evolutionary cost that gradually accrues. Western culture and society started out far more regimented than we are now. Because the rules of this society are fundamentally built upon those premises of impulse control being exercised to promote long term goals. Over time, we have gradually begun to rely on voluntarily keeping these principles of self-control rather than using the means of coercion that had existed in prior generations. This is because most of us are adapted to that system and raised to expect its premises. But, over time these mechanisms of reinforcing self-control have been mostly eroded through countercultural paradigms such as Communism. Communism exploits the system by promising power to those who those who can't exercise self-control well which creates a cycle of "envy" and "greed" that slowly whittles away at the foundations of the system. This cooperates with other self-serving mechanisms that also undermine that long term net benefit. The Catholic Church formalized this system as it built Western society into Seven Deadly Sins: pride, wrath, greed, envy, lust, gluttony, sloth. What it didn't seem to anticipate is that these sins are actually invertible and it's possible to have one sin create a false virtue that masquerades as a good thing but is actually evil. Thus Communism presents itself as a "virtue" of charity when in reality it is the sin of envy.
Thus the principles allow the development of complex societies present a form of "weakness" that eventually begin to undermine its very strengths. These complex societies evolve and improve their standing but when a few generations pass we see the temptations coming from our short-term evolutionary design leading to corruption naturally setting in. Thus the very empathy and compassion which had previously served as a good means of building the complex societies gradually becomes an exploitable mechanism by those who prefer these short term gains. And soon that abundance bubble will collapse as the state of nature reasserts itself and mankind returns back to a state of "mediocracy" with the stupid people taking over again.
This is a far deeper matter that is coming home to roost. This is actually a problem from evolution itself.
In a nutshell, evolution fundamentally gears towards mediocracy rather than excellence. Since its inception, evolution operated in a state of subsistence rather than abundance. Therefore, the inherent solutions to problems that an organism must face that are engrained biologically are setup in such a way that work 'good enough' within the initial niche but are not usually good enough to be generalized to every situation. A truly 'great' solution requires limiting the impulses that have historically been engrained in cases where their application is deleterious to long term goals.
Intelligence, or... more accurately... impulse control is exactly that. And it has a hidden evolutionary cost that gradually accrues. Western culture and society started out far more regimented than we are now. Because the rules of this society are fundamentally built upon those premises of impulse control being exercised to promote long term goals. Over time, we have gradually begun to rely on voluntarily keeping these principles of self-control rather than using the means of coercion that had existed in prior generations. This is because most of us are adapted to that system and raised to expect its premises. But, over time these mechanisms of reinforcing self-control have been mostly eroded through countercultural paradigms such as Communism. Communism exploits the system by promising power to those who those who can't exercise self-control well which creates a cycle of "envy" and "greed" that slowly whittles away at the foundations of the system. This cooperates with other self-serving mechanisms that also undermine that long term net benefit. The Catholic Church formalized this system as it built Western society into Seven Deadly Sins: pride, wrath, greed, envy, lust, gluttony, sloth. What it didn't seem to anticipate is that these sins are actually invertible and it's possible to have one sin create a false virtue that masquerades as a good thing but is actually evil. Thus Communism presents itself as a "virtue" of charity when in reality it is the sin of envy.
Thus the principles allow the development of complex societies present a form of "weakness" that eventually begin to undermine its very strengths. These complex societies evolve and improve their standing but when a few generations pass we see the temptations coming from our short-term evolutionary design leading to corruption naturally setting in. Thus the very empathy and compassion which had previously served as a good means of building the complex societies gradually becomes an exploitable mechanism by those who prefer these short term gains. And soon that abundance bubble will collapse as the state of nature reasserts itself and mankind returns back to a state of "mediocracy" with the stupid people taking over again.