And what rough Beast?

All societies ('civilisations') have within themselves the source of their own downfall. Marx thought of this as an inherent contradiction. But it might as easily be something else. Perhaps hubris, overconfidence, exceptionalism, apathy, stupidity, natural disaster, war, etc. Or all of them.

But the most common source is inequity. As the glorious surge towards ever greater riches climbs and climbs, a small section of society saites itself in prominent indulgence whilst the majority struggle to get by. Because governments are trapped within a system of power validation (mostly vote-winning), that means they constantly pursue those voters with the time and will to be politically active. The effort to restore some semblance of economic balance always fails. The privileged do not want to lose their privilege, even though they may be a danger to society itself.

Or if you want a shorter summary: the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer until it becomes impossible for society to continue functioning.

Coherence fails, governments lose credibility, society fragments, and...

𝙏𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙮𝙧𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧;
𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩; 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙;
𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙,
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙-𝙙𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙙;
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙩
𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮.

𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙;
𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜! 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙨 𝙈𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞
𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙩
𝘼 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣,
𝘼 𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙣,
𝙄𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩
𝙍𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙𝙨.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣; 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥
𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙭𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙚,
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁,
𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻?

(W B Yeats)

Bea Groves-McDaniel, 19/9/2026