The new Jiajing Emperor

In a post at How the World Works discussing the extreme environmental difficulties plaguing China, Andrew Leonard references a citation describing the period of the Jiajing Emperor, one of the Ming Dynasty rulers:

In spite of his concentration on selfish whims and the menace on his borders, Zhu Houcong never let anyone usurp his power and authority. In his time the rich grew richer and the poor became impoverished, particularly in the Lower Yangtze area. Wealth bred leisure, which demanded luxuries and entertainment; it also encouraged the development of the theater, art, literature, and printing. The political vigor of the empire, however, began to decline, and the house of Ming showed signs of senescence.

It takes little effort to see the parallels between that period of Chinese history and our modern situation. As it was then, income inequality is becoming increasingly apparent -- the rich get richer (often regardless of actual merit, as can be seen in the millions and tens of millions taken in by poorly performing CEOs) and the poor get poorer. Our nation demands more luxuries and entertainment (represented by the increasing trade deficits, and the general populace being more aware of events regarding Paris Hilton than events pertaining to the Iraq war) while doing little or nothing to actually address the real problems the country faces (things such as education, infrastructure, health insurance, immigration, and more).

It wouldn't surprise me at all if some historical reference 500 years from now denotes the ruling period of Bush Dubya as marking the onset of our own period of senescence.