One thing to keep in mind is that we are linear, goal oriented creatures in a cyclical, reciprocal, feedback driven reality, so we tend to think of progress in terms of goals, not the cycles of expansion and consolidation which actually occur.

The inherent yin and yang of the myriad opposites and tensions of reality, from positive and negative charge at the basis of physical reality, to the social expansionism and cultural consolidation of liberalism and conservatism, that define our social relationships.

Peeling the Paradigm