Right after lunch, which entailed no less than lamb on a spit, the peak of civilization unexpectedly comes to my mind. When will it be? Or, to be a bit more precise, when was it? Without much thought, I go for the Sixties or Seventies of the past century. Perhaps even the Eighties have a chance, statistically speaking, but I am still rather dubious about it. All of a sudden, I feel fortunate to have witnessed the pinnacle of it all. The climax. The summit. The apex. The best of times since the beginning of time. But the rushing emotion shifts quite abruptly. Out of the blue, I feel even more fortunate to be witnessing the onset of the civilization’s ultimate decline. The slide. The plunge. The mother of all falls. In fact, the very beginning of the most precipitous of collapses ever experienced by the human race. For the peak perforce comes with two sides. And the aftermath cannot but be most exhilarating. Whoosh!