Today we feature the opening in an occasional series of contributions by a mysterious denizen of Mobile, Alabama, named “Felix Veritas.” I promise that I am not Felix and Felix is not I. In fact, there will surely be times when I disagree with Felix; I could take issue with a sentence or two in this, his first installment.

Felix is very thoughtful and a terrific auto-didact, with a great sense for “the big questions” of culture and politics. I am delighted to have his contributions to this site. Please be on the lookout for more, in the coming months. — Quin

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Is America’s lifecycle winding down?

I’m not going apocalyptic, but from a purely scientific perspective it’s a legit question…is American civilization – as we know it today – on its downhill slide?

History says every society has a lifespan. From the ancient Egyptian pharaohs to the modern Soviet Union, no government/monarchy/dictatorship ever proved immune to collapse …whether from external attack or internal decay.

So I’ll ask again… is America’s time winding down?

Plenty of folks say “yes.” No, there is no foreign military threatening to invade the U.S. But recent history shows internal malignancies doom countries as much as external attacks.

Even in the Middle East — where armed conflict is a regular dinner guest at nearly every table — cultural differences, not military, wedge communities apart. Need examples? They runneth over: Sunni vs. Shia, Muslim vs. Christian in the Balkans, Catholic vs. Protestant in Great Britain. Not convinced? How about the tribal wars in Africa or the Southeast Asian tensions between intermingling Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese? And that’s just scratching the surface.

Neighbor-to-neighbor strife creates societal fissures. When you stoke that cultural cauldron’s fire with long-term economic hardship, a boiling political eruption often results. The Eastern Bloc’s collapse in the late 80s and last year’s “Arab Spring” are 2 recent examples. I admit, in some cases economics may play as big a role in the process, but you get the idea.

The United States is on the cusp of a cultural war. The Political Left wants a secular society with few moral absolutes. Most of the Political Right wants to maintain the Judeo-Christian culture of the last 230+ years. Historically, the devout acolytes from opposing sides can’t co-exist. Based on the evidence at hand, I don’t see reason to disagree.

In future columns we’ll dig into the clinical requirements of a thriving, liberty-based representative republic like ours…the foundational basics our culture and society needs to survive, much less thrive. Suffice it to say that right now… right now we’re missing most of those basics.

This past Memorial Day weekend, 29 people were shot and 9 killed in Baltimore. In Chicago the numbers were 12 killed and 44 shot. In one WEEKEND. Now in Chicago, of course, that’s no big deal these days, but if the spread to Baltimore doesn’t disturb you, then you aren’t paying attention.

The American Culture – one previously marked by optimism, hope and faith – is obviously weakening, and this weekend’s murder numbers are the latest manifestation. With all the evidence at hand, I don’t think any intellectually-honest person can deny that.

I hope we can fix it. I hope we can cure the disease slowly-but-surely killing the hope not only in inner cities, but in rural communities nationwide. This isn’t a racial problem. It isn’t – regardless how the Grievance and Race Industry barons portray it – black vs. white; more white Americans receive federal assistance today than black Americans.

It’s Hope vs. Despair, and Faith vs. Fear, with powerful opposing forces populating both sides. It really is sad to admit that an entire political faction is about promoting fear and despair, but we all know it’s true. And they profit from it….but that’s a column for another day.

So I’ll ask a third time….is America’s life-pulse waning? Is her blood-pressure weakening to an ultimate dark conclusion? Looking at similar patients’ medical histories, and considering this patient’s current symptoms, an experienced health professional’s conclusion would not be optimistic.

Thank goodness God (under whom we’re still one nation) is still in the miracle business.

Felix Veritas