We've all heard the public apologies of company spokespersons, sports figures, politicians, movie stars or celebrities. We can usually tell whether they mean it or if they're just reading a carefully worded script. When we've been wronged, we expect an apology. But it may be hard for us to apologize when we have wronged someone. Why is apology so important in human relations?

One of the latest catch phrases, "Is there an app for that?" came from commercials about the new generation of cell phones. Applications are available that can give you information on virtually any subject and often make available the means to accomplish many things. How about an app for the meaning and purpose of life? Is there an app for that?

It wasn't the front page headline of the Wall Street Journal, but its message deserves the attention of every American who currently enjoys his way of life.  In Ms. Kelly Evans' small column deep within that paper on February 17, 2011, the title concisely explained what most Americans don't yet understand: "A Standard-of-Living Shock Is the Danger."

If you've been watching the news, images from across the Middle East portraying a breakdown of peace, the dissolution of decorum, the disturbing display from unruly mobs of young and old, men and women alike, have been etched in your memory. Could this type of anarchy also awaken in the United States?

Two millennia ago, the Western world was in a state of uneasy peace, commonly referred to as Pax Romana. This peace was brought about by the region's only superpower, an entity powerful enough to give pause to nations thinking about independence. While this peace led to an explosion in literature, culture and technology, it did not last long.

As the Roman Empire collapsed under the strain of supporting a morally—and financially—bankrupt society, this state of uneasy peace came to an end, throwing the region into chaos. History is repeating itself.