>>Because of the way humans learn and adapt, newer generations have generally been smarter and more efficient than prior generations, and therefore have more wealth (wealth being spare resources) at their disposal.
>
>Only in the very very long term. Look what was possible in the roman empire. And what followed that.
>
Yes, there's no question that humans have managed to mess things up pretty badly and have to toss out existing systems and start all over several times.
However, they still started on a much higher plateau than their ancestors did.

In my lifetime, things came pretty close to ending very badly during the Cold War.
Fortunately reason prevailed and the nuclear race slowed down.

Men are stupid, but Man has a way of moving forward.