And it slips through our fingers

[the guy who be short]

This is slightly off-topic and slightly related:

Originally Posted by lmp

Institutionalized racism is apparently a rather recent development in the history of the human race. It was unknown during the Roman Empire (as far as we know), which was an empire of mixed ethnic background.

I'd like to take this quote and consider it.

It is true that as far as we know, Romans didn't discriminate by ethnicity, but at least discrimination occurred. To give a well known example, the persecution of Christians. They also considered non-Romans to be lesser men - again, not Utopian.

The question in terms of human decline with relevance to the Romans and discrimination is then this: have we become more tolerant, or less? Well, identify the different types of discrimination.
The majority of people no longer discriminate according to faith. Growth.
The majority of people don't discriminate according to ethnicity or race. The Roman's didnt at all, though (as far as we know). Decline.
The majority of people don't discriminate according to nationality. Growth.
The vast majority of peopel no longer discriminate according to gender. Growth.
At least in the US, the majority of people discriminate according to sexuality. Decline.

So we see both Growth and Decline in those past two thousand years, merely in the field of tolerance (assuming that we all agree tolerance is positive). Factor in everything else about humanity - we grow and we decline.

I would say that hope is evident through ME, as decline is evident. There is hope that Men will live up to their expectation. There is hope that Gandalf will come at Helm's Deep. There is hope that Gollum may be saved. Often there is hope unlooked-for, in terms of Faramir coming to Frodo or the chance meeting with Treebeard.

With all this hope, I find it hard to believe that ME or LotR are primarily works about the Decline or Diminishment of Man or the World. Diminishing occurs, and we are sad. Growth occurs, and we are happy. Tolkien simply incorporated this into his works - I see no reason to believe that the Decline is greater than the Growth. With the end of each Age, there is both decline and growth. At the end of the Third Age, Elves fade away - decline - and this is neutralised by the Rise of Man - growth.