Civilization evolves by the revolving conflict between tyranny and freedom. 

Freedom is marked by risk, uncertainty, and anxiety. After a while, people tire of freedom and naively believe that they can alleviate the anxiety by allowing a coddling system to protect them. Naturally, no one really knows what this means in real terms so the average person begins to withdraw from reality. Opportunistic entrepreneurs, industrialists, and sociopaths read these tea leaves and spring into action. Of course, they are wolves in sheep’s clothing, but the public happily take hold of what they offer because it alleviates their anxiety.

The structure of tyranny, the root of which has never changed,.. is totalitarianism, masked by idealism, and driven by greed. All tyrants, fascists, and rapists have the same trait; they earnestly believe that they are doing good, and the people who disagree are not smart enough to understand. (The Dunning-Kruger Fraud.)

Over time, once the public is firmly embedded into the new system of control, they slowly come to realize that it is all an illusion; the uncertainty and anxiety never really goes away. Then, they understand the old stories of misery that teach… if they have to experience uncertainty and anxiety anyway, it is best to face them on their own terms. Their problem, however, is that by this time the fascist tyrannical system is already well entrenched. At this point there are Five Options: Do Nothing, Migrate(flight), Compete(fight), Adapt(change ourselves to fit the new environment), or Create(change the environment to fit ourselves). Reasonable people will, slowly, over time, find compatriots and begin to apply these options as needed. Filtering through the different technical elements and policies one by one, claiming control over them for their own needs, and working their way back to freedom.

For civilization, this process is a modern adaptation of the Feast and Famine cycle. Originally, mutations and adaptations individuals made would be measured as a success or failure by nature. In this modern system, the oligarchs arrogantly make the adaptations and mutations, while it is the public who, in the end, measure success and failure. The choice the public must make, the measure of their maturity, is if they find their inner strength and pursue their role reasonably and patiently over time, or if they externalize the illusion of strength and react irrationally and violently in an instant.