History of great civilizations

I received an e-mail that caught my interest.  It shows the steps that "great civilizations" go through from creation to demise.  On average these eight steps took 200 years.

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence to bondage.

Bondage...slavery, in a non-free situation.
Spiritual Faith ... a time of relying on God to help them through.
Great Courage ... a time breaking out of bondage.
Liberty ... freedom is achieved!
Abundance ... excess! 
Complacency ... accepting / self-satisfaction. Unaware of danger.
Apathy ... (low skill and low desire) when you just don't give a darn.
Dependence ... People needing government or other agency to survive. (Welfare, unemployment, social-security disability...although all have their place in time, they are services that create dependency.)

I don't believe that there is a clear cut beginning and ending to the different phases.  For instance, in my lifetime I have seen people living with a feeling of abundance which after a few short years leads them to complacency.  As people keep spending to achieve the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, they don't notice that they are outspending their income more each day. When a job is lost and so many friends are unemployed, apathy grows. We become weaker and more desperate.  We accept government help until we become so dependant that before we realize it we are enslaved. Look around yourself with truth and honesty....America could very well be in it's sunset days.

Subtle Sunset