Enlightened Governance

With regard to taxes and regulations, it's complicated to say what we should worry about. My take would be this:

We should worry about our tax incentives that are perverse. We need incentives and ways to gradually trim population, trim gov size, trim gov expenditures, delegate gov functions to states and localities.

If power players are not to evolve and devise ways of divisiveness and technology to kill us all, we need less stress. More assimilation of a kind of empathy that is strong enough to pre-emptively defend its liberty against sociopathic people abusers. Less meekness and more strength in social values related to Christianity.

Less race baiting. More tolerance for the spiritual value of each person. Less tolerance for sociopathic gang-bangers, fascists, and narcissistic despots. Less tolerance for the idea that it's ok for societies of proven fascists and despots to use gov funds to indoctrinate populations with tribal based hatreds and to acquire dangerous technologies. Less tolerance for sub-humanizing cultures seeking to acquire instruments of mass destruction.

We should not allow sub-humans to grow technologically strong. We should not allow oligarchs to gain absolute or worldwide power.

Problem is, our schools and institutions are teaching and promoting opposites: Weakness, toleration of monsters, political correctness as defined by despotic oligarchs, safe spaces, delusionary free stuff, doped up vacations from reality, gender fluidity, family de-definition, polyamory, gov as nanny, social and individual irresponsibility, undue faith in the noblesse oblige of people abusing elitists, and so on.

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I would rather that needed social incentives be general, rather than applied as direct force. I don't trust elites to make detailed, intrusive decisions for each member of the masses. I prefer a society of educated, responsible citizens, who are respected and trusted to do what's best for themselves --- subject only to such general constraints as are necessary.
The problem is, as difficulties approach becoming emergencies, ever more specific and intrusive constraints and rations are soon deemed to be necessary. And sometimes the emergencies are hyped or invented, to facilitate elitist rule. I would rather societies acquire vision enough to instigate general (tax) incentives to reduce populations.
Some societies are less suited to individual trust, responsibility, and freedom. But that is not a good reason to flip our demography to become like them.
Too many unwise and abusive people want to run other people's lives. Maybe they can be trained or diverted more to identify with virtual worlds of X Boxes, where they can interact in virtual worlds, without harming ours so much?

Well, I have no way to determine the cause. I can see correlates. And I can speculate on spiritual causes. But I could no more prove "the cause" than I could prove ramifications from the flight of a butterfly.
For correlates, I see economic successes leading to soft lives, leading to parental indulgences, leading to non-merit based feelings of entitlement, leading to shame unless reinforced by others similarly situated, leading to denigration of "acting White," leading to greed and jealousy and envy, leading to tribes and gangs justifying gratifications and predations, leading to disloyal and foreign opportunists cheaply buying our politicians and political favors, leading to phony governmental promises, leading to the breakdown of families and individual discipline and responsibility, leading to cheap pleasures and thrills, leading to the hollowing of America.
The signs are increasing numbers of Mosques, diminishing numbers of Christian congregants, increased divorce rates, more stressed and troubled and alienated children, increased disrespect for the flag and nation. Basically, the hollowing and desecration of faith, family, and fidelity.
For a main cause, I think too many people have expected too much from scientism, and so they have turned away from spiritual-based good faith and good will. They are trying to fill the void with superficial, cheap, meaningless pleasures and thrills.
This may continue until it can't.
How to reverse it? A Moses or Jesus. We need some wise and inspirational leaders to smash through the prevailing moral idiocy and point a way to a better way of being. My faith is that the need will bring forth the personages. But it won't be cheap or easy. Nothing worthwhile is.