Is our world coming to an end?

This morning I nearly got run over by a police motor cyclist who was racing down the wrong side of the street to stop the traffic so some high-up's car could be given precedence.

I had just been reading about a dire, slapdash "modern" production of Handel's Messiah.

These two events started me thinking about the collapse of the Roman Empire - which few nowadays know about as history has been banned from most schools.

What were the symptoms?

Corrupt, incompetent leaders, divorced from and having lost the respect of the people.

A loss of belief in the values of the civilisation.

Infiltration, sometimes invited, sometimes not, by alien hordes who had great self-belief.

A decline in learning.

Shoddy craftsmanship - evident in architecture and the arts.

A vast and growing population of idlers, subsidised by ever growing taxes on those who worked, and kept entertained by vicious spectacles.

A debauched currency.

The worship of singers, charioteers, gladiators and similar figures.

Recognise anything familiar?

Oh, and who's the chap in the hat? The philosopher, George Santayana, who said "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I often quote him.