Every civilization has to go through the following stages: rebirth, consolidation, recognition, expansion, decadence, denial, fragmentation, and death. We call it the Cycle of a Civilization. Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Rome, Greece, Egypt, and Zimbabwe are dead; only China and India are still living.

According to Toynbee's Theory of Challenge and Response, the greatest character of a civilization depends heavily on the challenges of its own environment. Too much of challenges is equal to stunted growth. For example, Alaska — too cold to grow anything! On the other hand, too little of challenges will also lead to lackadaisical response. The best example could be the Amazon Jungle — natural resources are too abundant to let people be scared of losing it! Therefore, all great civilizations have appropriate challenges, geographical and geopolitical. And they all have great rivers, because great rivers bring appropriate challenges for the people there to cluster and help build and defend their society. These "river challenges" give birth to a civilization.

As a civilization advances, challenges tend to be less geographical; management is the key to progress. Romans were famous for their simplicity, industriousness, and freedom-loving (democratic) nature. The nation became stronger, more united, or consolidated, and stable, and finally gained the recognition of other nations in terms of power.

However, as Rome expanded, she turned away from the values that made her great. The nation enjoyed too much unnecessary or even immoral pleasures and became decadent. People in the nation began to morne and soar, but the government ignored as if they heard nothing and knew nothing about the existing societal, economic, and political problems. She kept indulging herself in the so-called "pleasures". The nation was indeed declining, but she denied it. As it was too large, it broke apart and became fragmented. At last, the Great Roman Empire died.

Let us look closer to the modern world. In the past, the sun never set in the Great British Empire. Well, but now, look at it... And let us look at the God blessed Imperial United States of America. It is now on the stage in between of decadence and denial. It now keeps on offending other nations with its threatening military forces that it would not do a century ago. To the past American presidents, wars were only for defense purposes. But now, President George W. Bush even clames himself a war president... -_-'' He enjoys waging wars which is the greatest sign of decadence. Yes, we must admit that the US is still the strongest state at the moment in the sense of science and technology, military power, economics, etc... No other single state can beat it. But for sure, it will be defeated by some joint powers someday. Because the Cycle of a Civilization is a theory that has been tested for so many times, and it just will do no wrong.

What I am saying here is that there is always a natural force that causes a civilization to fall to the ground. Simply, rise always comes along with fall. This is a natural phenomenon and no one nation can avoid it. The question is, how did China and India survive then? They did it by continuously changing and repackaging themselves politically.

In each dynasty of Ancient China, there were also birth, peak, and death. Even in nowadays, it gradually turns from communism to partial capitalism, and later on, perhaps full capitalism. When it reaches its highest point, it falls due to gravity. But when it almost hits the ground, it burns like a phoenix! Yes, that is a nature of common Chinese people — adaptable and flexible.

Bottom line here is: if you want to evade this "gravity theory," you have to be like a phoenix and give yourself a chance for rebirth. Change is the only way to immortality.