IT BOILS DOWN TO A CRAPPY, SELF-INDULGENT LEADERSHIP CLASS: China’s Qing Dynasty Collapsed For Reasons That Feel Eerily Familiar. “We argue that the four-fold population explosion peaking in the 19th century, the growing competition for a stagnant number of elite positions, and increasing state fiscal stress combined to produce an increasingly disgruntled populace and elite, leading to significant internal rebellions.”

It’s all just another case of history repeating.