Check All That Apply: Artifice, Suppression, Deceit, Denial, Delusion

Why does the phrase "bread and circuses" keep coming to mind?

In my previous post, I asked Can We Reverse America's Distemper?, starting from the historical perspective of 50-year cycles of socio-economic cooperation and discord, a cycle documented by Peter Turchin.

I referenced a January 1974 essay (America Agonistes)--50 years ago--in which the author identified three key sources of decay and collapse: rigidity (…