The previous post in my opinion proved via the Histomap that no nation prevails forever. What the map doesn’t tell us is why nations decline. There are tons of books written about the fall of Greece, Spain, England, Persia, Egypt, Rome, etc. No one can read them all, and some of those I have read have left me confused and with more questions than answers (I will also admit that some of the more scholarly books are beyond my understanding). When I began my search yesterday for the reasons nations fall, I was hoping to find a Histomap-type graph that graphically depicted the reasons for decline. If not that, I hoped to find several knowledgeable sources that had simple, brief bullet point lists. My plan was then to select those causes in common from the various sources and call it good. That didn’t work. Complexity rather than simplicity seems to be the rule on the subject of empires failing. And agreement on causes are rare. Each source I read seemed to have its own pet theory(s) to explain why nations fail. Another issue adding to complexity is that nations that failed up to and through the Middle Ages fell for reasons different than those nations failing after the Middle Ages. Barbian invasion followed by rape and pillage is not so common in modern times, though Ukraine, Syria and some other countries may disagree.
We are entering the age of artificial
intelligence so I asked Window’s Copilot for an answer to my questions. It gave
me six reasons for nations declining:
Economic troubles – high national debt, persistent budget deficits,
Political instability – political corruption, loss of public trust in
institutions
Social issues – inequality, increased crime rates, declining public
health
Military weakness - I don’t think the USA has gotten weak. The bad guys have gotten stronger. Russia, China, North Korea and Iran could be the axis powers of WW lll.
Environmental degradation – Not sure I agree with this
Cultural decline – loss of cultural identity, declining
educational standards
Let me add two of my own
indicators that a nation is in trouble.
Lack of collective objective
reasoning – Many people believe they are
thinking when all they are doing is rearranging prejudices.
Ignoring the Golden Rule – nuff said
There is an article in The Hill
titled “Five reasons American decline appears irreversible.” It was written a
year ago but in my opinion is relevant today. I think that it hits the nail on
the head. The article says that the ‘five reasons’ are irreversible. Are they?
Human history says that they are. To me it depends on if someday we humans can
leave the caves behind behaviorally.
Hi there, I drop in from time to time to see how you are doing.
ReplyDeleteI found the last two posts interesting. I first started looking at the decline of ruling empires about twenty years ago and also scratched around looking for learning points that could be transferred to our version of civilisation. From the two references that you linked, the historical timeline of the rise and falls plus The Hill article, I came away with the financial inequality gap and the despotic rule (from the Roman empire). We see the vast financial inequalities today which are leading to people losing hope of ever having a decent life, which in turn seems to have lead to a large number of people wanting fundamental political change. The other thing that we see at this moment is that a lot of people have elected a potential despotic ruler, if we are to believe his words and attempts at appointing 'ministers'.
Which brings me to a third point located in the Hill article. How on Earth did a multimillionaire convince the financially downtrodden to elect someone who's planned actions will leave them even more financially downtrodden and disenfranchised? A person who is apparently going to rule in the interests not of political rulers, but of financial elites? I think that the answer to that is in that Hill article regarding the lack of education of the population. Vast swathes of people who can't understand basic economics, people who are unable to critically evaluate ideas. People who fundamentally are either unable or unwilling to differentiate between facts, ideas and feelings.
Couple all of that with a stated desire to do away with future elections, it's not looking promising. Still, never mind eh?
Graham, UK
Hi Graham...it's been a long time. I want to thank you for your comments. They are well written and in my view accuratly reflect the social and political conditions at this time. If you have any thoughts regarding solutions for this insane state of affairs I'd be happy to print a guest editorial...because personally I don't have a clue.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Tom