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The Dynamics of Decadence
The Dynamics of Decadence
In the present era of decadence, Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the modern equivalent of Bread and Circuses.
The dynamics of decadence are easy to understand: as affluence becomes the norm that is widely assumed to be permanent, shared purpose and sacrifice for the common good is replaced by self-absorbed decadence and an ethos of maximizing personal gain.
In his seminal essay The Fate of Empires, Sir John Glubb listed these core dynamics of imperial decline:
(a) A growing love of money as an end in itself.
(b) A lengthy period of wealth and ease, which makes people complacent. They lose their edge; they forget the traits (confidence, energy, hard work) that built their civilization.
(c) Selfishness and self-absorption.
(d) Loss of any sense of duty to the common good.
Glubb included the following in his list of the characteristics of decadence:
— An increase in frivolity, hedonism, materialism and the worship of unproductive celebrity.
— A loss of social cohesion.
— The willingness of an increasing number to live at the expense of a bloated bureaucratic state.
Glubb’s list may at first glance be largely psychological–self-aggrandizement and a focus on hedonistic pursuits–but the dynamics of decadence have economic, political and social ramifications.
First and foremost, the aristocratic financial and political elites secured their position at the expense of social mobility by erecting barriers that protect them from competition and accountability. In effect, they eliminated the risk posed by change by rigging the system to their benefit.
To fund their extravagant lifestyles, they took more of the earnings of those below them, widening the inequality between the aristocracy and commoners to extremes. Historian Peter Turchin reports that where the patricians of the Roman Republic had 10 or 20 times the wealth of an average Roman citizen, by the late Empire the elites possessed up to 200,000 times the wealth of the average commoner.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Depravity, Frivolity, and Dissent: Are We Watching the End of an Empire?
Depravity, Frivolity, and Dissent: Are We Watching the End of an Empire?
(ADULT CONTENT WARNING)
A 40-year-old essay predicted the end of an empire and current events sure make it look like we’re watching it happen in real time.
I spend a fair bit of time scanning the news every day for my site, Preppers Daily News. And some days, I just have to shake my head as I realize that people are so desperate for…something…that they just keep going to further and further extremes to try and find that elusive thing their lives are missing.
The more I read, the more likeness I see to Sir John Glubb’s essay, The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival. (It’s only 24 pages and you should definitely read it – it’s brilliant.) Sir Glubb wrote this outstanding work when he was 79 years old, after a lifetime of being a soldier, traveling the world, and analyzing history. It’s well worth a read as he goes into detail about the fall of empires past.
The final stage of the end of an empire is the Age of Decadence. Some signs of this age are political dissensions (Antifa, anyone?), an influx of foreigners (Europe, anyone?), the welfare state (America, anyone?), despair (350 million people diagnosed), depravity (see below), and the rise of frivolity as people try to fill lives that have less and less meaning.
Sound familiar?
This video is a brief synopsis of the signs of an empire that is near its end.
A synopsis I read makes Glubb’s theory entirely applicable to modern society:
In the age of decadence many people choose to behave in ways that are unsustainable, apparently unaware of the consequences. They indulge in excessive, often conspicuous, consumption.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
