From abundance to selfishness. From selfishness to complacency. From complacency to apathy. From apathy to dependency. A consensus of ethical norms apart from the supervision of God will eventually erode.
Power begins to take over in determining our actions.
Look at our government today. It is controlled for the most part by special interest groups vying for influence. Every day I receive in the mail a plea for funds to help some group influence our government. We need to submit to His leadership in our lives, to recognize that only the God who created us knows what is best for us and only God is capable of revealing to us the ethical standards that can ultimately bring the peace we so desperately seek. It starts with His book, the Holy Bible.