This is a great post, thanks for sharing. Very well written and Glubb's ideas remain insightful to this day.
I think the rise and fall of empires can also be viewed in a broader context, too; which is the rise and fall of meaning and decadence within a civilization itself. Under this construct, western civilization has been bleeding meaning and falling toward decadence/nihilism since at least the 10th century, which I delved into here exploring Richard Tarnas's The Passion of the Western Mind: https://neofeudalreview.substack.com/p/the-meaning-crisis-meaning-and-decadence
It’s interesting that even in the midst of decrying feminism, you can’t seem to avoid promoting feminism.
It would be very interesting to see at what age you considered each of the empires that you’re talking about have reached each of these stages. As opposed to an occasional mention.
I was thinking about adding specific dates, but for some reason decided not to. I'll probably come back later on and update it with more specific examples.
As for the feminism thing, it's probably because I was raised in a home of feminists-turned-conservatives. I'm totally fine with social equality but when it starts to stray into supremacist territory, I get nauseous.
>>Let me state that it is unwise for an empire to expect half of its adult population to “stay home,” or to cease working altogether after marriage. That itself is destructive, stifling economic growth and opening the door to dehumanizing norms and abuse
Methinks you make some assumptions here which are pretty dramatically false. Or perhaps you present a false dichotomy. It would, in fact, be wonderful for an empire to have half of its population 'staying home'. Indeed more than half, considering that 'stay at home mothers' can have 'stay at home children'... ie children who are not involved in schooling outside the home.
One issue that I don't know that you address that is affecting us dramatically nowadays is demographic decline. Our women are working, not getting married, not having children... and our population is going to crash as a result.
This is more of a cultural issue than a working issue. Women choose not to have children for a variety of reasons. However, the decline in birthrate has come as more women believe that men are useless and unessential to life.
However, I think that if a woman wants to stay home, she should be able to. But if she wants to go out and make a career for herself, then she should be able to do that, too. Either way, her goal should be the same: to be useful to society.
Well, I beg to differ :) Each civilization has its differing way they work out 'decadence' and I would argue that what feminism has done to our women, driving them into the workplace, driving them away from their own children, etc., is a mark of our decadence. Certainly it is suicidal, culturally speaking.
Assume you have read Oswald Spengler's "Decline of the West." If so, you surely understand that the decline of Western Civilization is, as was historical civilizations, is inevitable. All empires die; ours will die, too. And the causes and trajectories are similar, and the beginning of the decline starts with the introduction of -- money.
Of course all nations and empires die--all things must come to an end. But there's no reason a new nation can arise, even if it does exist on the same land and name as its predecessor.
In the last essay for this series, I'll be proposing a bit of experiment called "The Age of Heroes." There's a chance it may or may not work in revitalizing the West. And even if it doesn't, and the West turns into a dystopian nightmare, at least we'll know how to stay sane
How does Western civilisation recover from its age of self absorption and hyperbolic liberalism? It doesn't. Liberal individualism was great for most of its three-century-long trajectory. But it always carried the seeds of its own demise (a tendency to narcissism, social fragmentation, atomisation etc etc) and now its day is done. All civilisations eventually fail; this is how ours does. https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
Really, the only solution would be for the West to 'restart' itself. It's happened before: European nations such as France, for example, have reinvented themselves several times over the course of the past several centuries, with the imperial life cycle starting anew. All civilizations definitely do fail. But a new civilization can grow from the same land!
The future is hard to predict, but after Rome fell, there were plenty of Northern barbarians right next door to pick up the pieces. Current civilization is global. Moreover, it's surviving longer than it would have otherwise because its incredible technological advantages and lack of barbarian threats prevent anything from putting it out of its misery.
Maybe the bounce back has the potential to be faster since so much technology has been discovered... but if that technology merely bred dependence, it may be that civilization falls faster, deeper, harder, and more completely this time around.
This is a great post, thanks for sharing. Very well written and Glubb's ideas remain insightful to this day.
I think the rise and fall of empires can also be viewed in a broader context, too; which is the rise and fall of meaning and decadence within a civilization itself. Under this construct, western civilization has been bleeding meaning and falling toward decadence/nihilism since at least the 10th century, which I delved into here exploring Richard Tarnas's The Passion of the Western Mind: https://neofeudalreview.substack.com/p/the-meaning-crisis-meaning-and-decadence
@LIBRARIANOFCELAENO sent me
Excellent analysis and cri di coeur. History is cyclical and we forget that at our own peril.
It’s interesting that even in the midst of decrying feminism, you can’t seem to avoid promoting feminism.
It would be very interesting to see at what age you considered each of the empires that you’re talking about have reached each of these stages. As opposed to an occasional mention.
I was thinking about adding specific dates, but for some reason decided not to. I'll probably come back later on and update it with more specific examples.
As for the feminism thing, it's probably because I was raised in a home of feminists-turned-conservatives. I'm totally fine with social equality but when it starts to stray into supremacist territory, I get nauseous.
>>Let me state that it is unwise for an empire to expect half of its adult population to “stay home,” or to cease working altogether after marriage. That itself is destructive, stifling economic growth and opening the door to dehumanizing norms and abuse
Methinks you make some assumptions here which are pretty dramatically false. Or perhaps you present a false dichotomy. It would, in fact, be wonderful for an empire to have half of its population 'staying home'. Indeed more than half, considering that 'stay at home mothers' can have 'stay at home children'... ie children who are not involved in schooling outside the home.
One issue that I don't know that you address that is affecting us dramatically nowadays is demographic decline. Our women are working, not getting married, not having children... and our population is going to crash as a result.
This is more of a cultural issue than a working issue. Women choose not to have children for a variety of reasons. However, the decline in birthrate has come as more women believe that men are useless and unessential to life.
However, I think that if a woman wants to stay home, she should be able to. But if she wants to go out and make a career for herself, then she should be able to do that, too. Either way, her goal should be the same: to be useful to society.
Well, I beg to differ :) Each civilization has its differing way they work out 'decadence' and I would argue that what feminism has done to our women, driving them into the workplace, driving them away from their own children, etc., is a mark of our decadence. Certainly it is suicidal, culturally speaking.
Assume you have read Oswald Spengler's "Decline of the West." If so, you surely understand that the decline of Western Civilization is, as was historical civilizations, is inevitable. All empires die; ours will die, too. And the causes and trajectories are similar, and the beginning of the decline starts with the introduction of -- money.
Of course all nations and empires die--all things must come to an end. But there's no reason a new nation can arise, even if it does exist on the same land and name as its predecessor.
In the last essay for this series, I'll be proposing a bit of experiment called "The Age of Heroes." There's a chance it may or may not work in revitalizing the West. And even if it doesn't, and the West turns into a dystopian nightmare, at least we'll know how to stay sane
I'm looking forward to it. Thanks.
An excellent writing filled with great information. Thank you.
And thank you for reading!
How does Western civilisation recover from its age of self absorption and hyperbolic liberalism? It doesn't. Liberal individualism was great for most of its three-century-long trajectory. But it always carried the seeds of its own demise (a tendency to narcissism, social fragmentation, atomisation etc etc) and now its day is done. All civilisations eventually fail; this is how ours does. https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/
Really, the only solution would be for the West to 'restart' itself. It's happened before: European nations such as France, for example, have reinvented themselves several times over the course of the past several centuries, with the imperial life cycle starting anew. All civilizations definitely do fail. But a new civilization can grow from the same land!
Well... where is it going to arise? From whom?
The future is hard to predict, but after Rome fell, there were plenty of Northern barbarians right next door to pick up the pieces. Current civilization is global. Moreover, it's surviving longer than it would have otherwise because its incredible technological advantages and lack of barbarian threats prevent anything from putting it out of its misery.
Maybe the bounce back has the potential to be faster since so much technology has been discovered... but if that technology merely bred dependence, it may be that civilization falls faster, deeper, harder, and more completely this time around.
Don't count on it, the majority of the USA shit-eating public is way beyond functionally retarded
SATAN is alive
Just say it PUSSY, the USA is Satanic since 15AD
https://bilbobitch.substack.com/p/why-satan-created-the-usa-and-why