Alexis writes: “Life goes on. True legitimacy is not measured in the core of an empire, but in its periphery.”

Alexis’s reference to the periphery reminds me of the great and prescient “Foundation” series by Isaac Asimov. The center of any empire experiences a turning inward. The planet Trantor literally takes on a metal carapace.

An engineer keynote speaker I heard recently said that he foresaw in 1995 the extent of the internet, connectivity, and wireless communication. But he never predicted the revolution that gave us a trillion mini-electronic devices. That mini-device entrepreneurial direction came out of the blue, so to speak. And it’s just the beginning of what Asimov referred to as the “atomics,” i.e. the mini-devices. Perhaps an energy source breakthrough will precipitate be the next revolution. Without a new economic revolution, Congress will just be slicing more and more off of the old economic carcass.

Dan writes: “But what happens when the people’s habits have been altered? This is the danger decadence poses.”

Another science fiction classic, “Dune,” traces the “global jihad” that precipitates the end of an Empire. Talk about being precient! The analogies to the present age are painful to contemplate. When old values are hollowed out, the cultural vacuum invites new values. The current “new” values are actually the old secular, spend and tax liberalism. The solution will fail since it is pouring water on sand. But what the following wave of values in-flow will bring is anyone’s guess.

Global South Christianity is one possible next wave that could fill the political and moral vacuum of the country. If the US had been systematically cultivating immigration of Global South Christians and nationalities susceptible to Christian conversion, that would be an interesting trend. Instead we are as likely as not to invite into the country nationalities ultimately opposed to Christian culture and to the very foundational values of the country.

The reaction of the MSM and hollow-chest liberal culture to Sarah Palin was instructive. She was like a snake under foot that every liberal had to try to stomp. Personally I’d like to see her stay on the periphery since she is a polarizing figure, but she helped to bring into focus some of the conflicts and contradictions of the culture.