A component of optimism is what this nation has been so pitifully deprived of over the past several years. Almost no one, regardless of social class, still believes that coming to live here would be advantageous for them or their family. The impoverished want to move in hopes of a brighter future where their labor will be rewarded and their merit recognized, while the rich want to go in pursuit of their possessions, which are primarily illegitimate and hidden abroad.
This depressing state of affairs has not emerged overnight. The collapse had been evident for some time, but the ruling class ignored it since they were solely focused on coming up with ever-more creative schemes to pillage and steal the nation in order to accumulate their mountains of money.
This occupied them so much that they had little desire to focus on anything else, the most significant of which being the country’s slow demise.
Generally, hope is derived from the efficiency of state institutions. Through their performance, they encourage participation and facilitate the removal of difficult obstacles in the way of advancement. However, if the institutions are halted merely because a small group of benevolent usurpers—most notably, those holding the authority to rule the nation—do not find favor with their transparent and efficient operation, they will eventually cause stagnation to smell strongly. That is what has been happening to us for the past many decades while this stagnation’s acidity has persisted.
