What Is the Common Theme in Periods of the Past?

An elite who have so much leisure and affluence feel they're no longer subject to the laws of nature. They tend to be self critical, narsicistic or cynical. And they kind of look at people who haven't progressed as rapidly as they have. It expresses itself in classical literature with jokes about very sophisticated, but sterile women of the roman class that are not having children. This is saying, you know what, i'm not going to keep doing this whether it's sending their kid to afghanistan or staying up all night in your attic trying to get your lights on.