Decadence

The word “decadence” is from the Latin decadere, “to fall down or away, hence to decay.” Webster defines it as “a process or state of decay or deterioration.” A recent essay in TIME Magazine entitled “The Fascination of Decadence” explores the concept. It notes that the word can be used to mean many different things. “They use it to describe a “50 dollar bottle of Margaux, a three-hour soak in the tub, a 40-hour-a-week television habit, the crowds that tell the suicidal to jump, a snort of...