Hey Samuel, how are you? Yea I don't blame you; it's a horror show out there for real. I don't watch mainstream media often, but I always feel the need to keep up with current affairs more generally through independent podcasts and whatnot. I'm afraid to miss the alarm bells for the next inevitable crisis to be honest! And as scary and strange as this time is, it's also just fascinating to observe and ponder over.

I actually haven't heard of The Spirit Level, but I will check it out. It definitely rings true to me that higher rates of inequality lead to all kinds of sociological issues, some of which we're not even aware of yet. I believe the familicide phenomenon is but one reverberation from the deep consequences of this devastating economic system, albeit a deeply tragic and troubling one.

Haha you most certainly have a front row seat to Western collapse as a whole I would say! But trust me, we're seeing and feeling it from every corner of the globe. Neoliberal capitalism has been entrenched everywhere and it's coming down hard and fast in varying degrees across the world.

I would say that yes, decline is inevitable - we're experiencing it already and it's going to get a lot worse. Extinction remains to be seen, however, but it certainly looks like the crooks in DC are trying their hardest!