Thanks for the excellent read, Mongoose. I followed C4′s link, too, and found it insightful, if only because it rebuts the fatalism inherent in the hoaxed treatise’s theory.

A tip for future ruminations: China’s dynastic cycles offer lessons on how to recover national coherence following a national decline.

It has been too long since I exited the University of Washington’s Int’l. Studies halls of learning to write knowledgeably about the topic now. Maybe someone with a more current expertise can offer some cogent words on the matter.
Cheers!