>>12575042This in many regards.
If you hadn't noticed we are in decline. A decline so slow its nearly imperceptible to most people. A decline frequently masked by apparent advances in technology and science, most of which are actually trivial in the final analysis.
Fact is Western society reached its peak in the 1970's and its mostly downhill from here. Troughs and peaks on a gradual slope down.
Is this such as bad thing? Depends upon who you ask. Some would say the price of decline is worth it if social and racial equity is achieved. Or if a sustainable population/economy is reached in balance with natural ecosystems. Others would say we have lost our best bet at reaching the stars by squandering our natural energy reserves before we reached an advanced technological level. All depends on one's politics and social outlook. There is one sure thing though. Geopolitics doesn't care about that, it only cares about power balances, economic and military might, access to strategic resources, social and political stability.