How does one quantify a declining country's level of rot?

I don't know, but here's one datapoint:

'She implied, in conversation with NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon, that it wasn’t quite fair to call Jeffrey #Epstein a pedophile because he was “into the barely legal type” of minors—which Kelly appallingly defines as “like, 15-year-olds”'

I think in a healthy country this person would not able to command a widely available media channel

motherjones.com/politics/2025/…

#EpsteinFiles

Megyn Kelly suddenly finds pedophilia very hard to define

When a 16-year-old accused Russell Brand of rape, Kelly begged conservatives to condemn him. Now she's splitting hairs about men "into the barely legal type."

^{Mother Jones}