Perhaps "what has happened to us" is less a matter of decline, but that we've raised our standards up. People live longer, and are more financially secure, beca

Perhaps "what has happened to us" is less a matter of decline, but that we've raised our standards up. People live longer, and are more financially secure, because we no longer give people the rope to hang themselves with. In the past, dying at 30-something because of bad decisions you made was a lot more likely, now we've de-selected those bad choices for you.