It is not as mysterious as one may think.  Historian Arnold Toynbee explained that societies obsessed with their sex organs are collapsing.

And the other collapsing signal is when a society shows no respect for the dead.

Every day, there are a series of endless commercials on TV peddling sex drugs.  When the heart doesn't pump sufficient blood for an erection there are multiple drugs that are designed to do the trick.  They always include the usual warning.

A verbal warning is provided that if the erection lasts more than 4 hours, call a doctor.