Civilization cannot endure if it is unfaithful to reality and engages in delusional behavior. The delusional behavior produces dyscivic and dysgenic results, results that always terminate the afflicted and end with extinction of those so deluded. Track the decline of historical empires, and you will see all sorts of delusional behaviors arises prior to decline and fall. In short, foolish prosperity produces disconnection from reality by removing immediate and regular routine encounters with reality. Too long and too good an isolation creates bubbles of unreality from which the aforementioned delusions and degeneracy stem.
The solution is for the leaders of a nation to deliberately and resolutely remain faithful. They must ensure that their youths have any such mistaken perceptions on what reality demands of them disabused good and hard, so that even the most stubborn get the message. Reality is king, to which all men must bend the knee, and not the dictates of men wearing crowns or miters.
That's all there is to it. The thing to take forward is to remove all of the barriers between you and reality. Reality is harsh, but it is sovereign. Be faithful to it, and all that you accomplish will endure well after you are gone. It is building on the hardest stone, certain to withstand. Iron seems stronger, but never endures as stone does.