From this:
The Clock Is Ticking on the Decline & Fall of America
In the year 410, Alaric, the leader of the Visigoths, attacked Rome and succeeded in sacking it. Rome had been battling with enemies for years along its far-flung borders, and in some cases had admitt...
Comes this:
Also noteworthy, Rome saw a decline in its citizens’ behavior over the years (during its years of peace and prosperity, the city itself may have been home to 32,000 prostitutes.) And of course, there was the philosophy of “bread and circuses,” which held that if you kept the population fed and entertained, they might not notice that things were going to hell. Some have also posited that the lead pipes used to bring water to homes may have contributed to collective cognitive decline.
Which leads to this:
To a certain degree, the lead pipe is either in your hand or sitting on a desktop. And the lead poisoning it brings is astounding.