The role of identity in present-day culture can be easily plotted against Glubb’s Six Ages of Collapse. In the first age, the Pioneers, identities form from a sense of honor and commitment to a cause. Sacrifice and service are the guiding values. Midway, all civilizations evolve into the Age of Commerce, where money and wealth organize identities and behaviors. Service gives way to getting rich. In the final stage, the Age of Decadence, celebrities—athletes, musicians, and actors—are revered and people lose themselves in wanton pleasures while demanding ever-increasing entitlements. (Since
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