Brutal, eloquent and DEPRESSING - I'm leaning more and more towards your 'last days of Rome' perspective as well (porous borders, LAWLESS opponents with impunity, et al).
I do think that there's hope that something great could be built from the ashes. Hope springs eternal. But the ashes stage looks all but inevitable at this point. And we in this generation may never live to see the phoenix rise again.
Brutal, eloquent and DEPRESSING - I'm leaning more and more towards your 'last days of Rome' perspective as well (porous borders, LAWLESS opponents with impunity, et al).
I do think that there's hope that something great could be built from the ashes. Hope springs eternal. But the ashes stage looks all but inevitable at this point. And we in this generation may never live to see the phoenix rise again.