Could you give an example of a society that collapsed because they achieved too much success through unscrupulous means? Many of the wealthiest societies in the world presently saw their wealth and power increase due to unethical practices that were justified by the ends justifying the means. For example many European countries spent centuries taking resources from other people across the globe, and the US famously leveraged the ownership of humans as property to develop vast agricultural wealth. Modern successful countries like South Korea subjected their people to incredibly brutal work conditions with the promise that they would gain wealth for future generations (which they did).

I can’t really think of a society that collapsed due to their success coming from unethical sources