These are two of my favorite essays. They are called “The Fate of Empires” and “Search for Survival” Both were written by the historian, Sir John Glubb. Someone recently sent me the audio for it. So, I figured I’d share it. Here is a link to the full texts:
“…As we pass through life, we learn by experience. We look back on our behaviour when we were young and think how foolish we were. In the same way our family, our community and our town endeavour to avoid the mistakes made by our predecessors.The experiences of the human race have been recorded, in more or less detail, for some four thousand years. If we attempt to study such a period of time in as many countries as possible, we seem to discover the same patterns constantly repeated under widely differing conditions of climate, culture and religion. Surely, we ask ourselves, if we studied calmly and impartially the history of human institutions and development over these four thousand years, should we not reach conclusions which would assist to solve our problems today? For everything that is occurring around us has happened again and again before…”
“… The only thing we learn from history, it has been said, is that men never learn from history. A sweeping generalization perhaps, but one which the chaos in the world today goes far to confirm. What then can be the reason why, in a society which claims to probe every problem, the bases of history are still so completely unknown?
Several reasons for the futility of our historical studies may be suggested.
First, our historical work is limited to short periods- the history of our own country, or that of some past age which, for some reason, we hold in respect.
Second, even within these short periods, the slant we give to our narrative is governed by our own vanity rather than by objectivity…. In other words, our national histories are propaganda, not well balanced investigations…”
” As the nation declines in power and wealth, a universal pessimism gradually pervades the people, and itself hastens the decline. There is nothing which succeeds like success, and, in the Ages of Conquest and Commerce, the nation was carried triumphantly onwards on the wave of its own self-confidence. Republican Rome was repeatedly on the verge of extinction- in 390 B.C. when the Gauls sacked the city and in 216 B.C. after the Battle of Cannae. But no disasters could shake the resolution of the early Romans. Yet, in the later stages of Roman decline, the whole empire was deeply pessimistic, thereby sapping its own resolution.
“…Frivolity is the frequent companion of pessimism. Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. The resemblance between various declining nations in this respect is truly surprising. The Roman mob, we have seen, demanded free meals and public games. Gladiatorial shows, chariot races and athletic events were their passion. In the Byzantine Empire the rivalries of the Greens and the Blues in the hippodrome attained the importance of a major crisis.
Judging by the time and space allotted to them in the Press and television, football and baseball are the activities which today chiefly interest the public in Britain and the United States respectively.
The heroes of declining nations are always the same- the athlete, the singer or the actor. The word ‘celebrity’ today is used to designate a comedian or a football player, not a statesman, a general, or a literary genius…”
“…Decadence is a moral and spiritual disease, resulting from too long a period of wealth and power, producing cynicism, decline of religion, pessimism and frivolity. The citizens of such a nation will no longer make an effort to save themselves, because they are not convinced that anything in life is worth saving…”
“…Another remarkable and unexpected symptom of national decline is the intensification of internal political hatreds…”
“…One of the most unfortunate tendencies which permeate modern thinking is the reliance on coercion. If we do not agree with anyone, we attempt to force him to comply with our views, if not with weapons, then with strikes, blockades or boycotts…
…This narrow-mindedness is extraordinary. We loudly proclaim the freedom of the individual, but if anyone dares to differ from our views in any respect, we immediately declare a blockade, a strike or a boycott. We claim to desire peace, yet we constantly stir up bitter hostility by our impatient intolerance. Would it not be wiser to be more calm, to reason, to discuss and to persuade amicably, than to issue peremptory ultimatums? Are we justified in assuming that we always know best, and that others had better agree with us, or else?…”
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