Soiled City on a Hill: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A city or civilization that is destroyed after growing so [[We Have Become Complacent|complacent]], hubris-laden, and/or [[Wretched Hive|corrupt]] that it is [[It Is Beyond Saving|beyond redemption]]. Usually the agent of destruction is [[Bolt of Divine Retribution|divine retribution]] or [[The Scourge of God|a scourge of God]] but also can be the result of [[Call It Karma|Karmic justice]], [[Gaia's Vengeance|nature's revenge]], [[Knight Templar|Knights Templar]], or even [[Hanlon's Razor|human]] [[Finagle's Law|error]].

The name refers to [[wikipedia:City on a hill|the City on a Hill]], an early symbol of American [[Utopia]].

 

 

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== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Andre Norton]]'s "Operation Time Search". Atlantis fell under the control of evil rulers and was destroyed—also taking down its Pacific-based opposition, the benign empire of Mu. After the hero is accidentally sent back in time from our own, {{spoiler|his actions change history so Atlantis and Mu survive to the present day}}.

* The city of Brussels, Belgium, appears this way in retrospect to Marlow in ''[[Heart of Darkness]]''.

* Port Royal was an open haven for pirates and smugglers during the 17th century with economy largely based around boozing, whoring, and stealing. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692 that caused it to sink into the sea.

* [[Imperial Russia]] as a whole. Contrary to popular opinion, it fell not because of Commies but because of too much income inequality and injustice. The Commies were merely the most successfull of the many shards of the empire.

 

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