Part 7/13:

The Carnival of Degeneracy and Cultural Decay

The speaker transitions to describe a phase of societal inversion—what she terms "carnival masks"—where societal norms are inverted or rejected altogether. She points to the Weimar era's "golden 20s," marked by sexual liberation, artistic modernism, and moral decay. Marriage rates plummet, divorces soar, and there’s a widespread sense of cultural nihilism—signs of a society in its death throes.

This period, she argues, was not a true cultural renaissance but a frantic attempt to feel something amid an underlying collapse. The rise of bisexuality, androgyny, and a general rejection of traditional morals, mirror current trends perceived as cultural sickness or a symptom of societal decline.