Gibbon affords the 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' to five specific causes. Corrupt Politicians, civils wars, attacks from outsiders, a toothless army, and the empire itself becoming too large to manage.
I see many comparisons in today's world, only we also have the added disaster of COVID-19.
Firstly our politicians. We all know what is happening here. We have the crazies, the megalomaniacs, the evil, and the downright criminal. Luckily most of Europe is ruled-over by intelligent and honest people who care about their citizens.
Civil wars are still in their infancy, but they will certainly become more important; for the moment we still refer to them as 'riots'. We have those who are blatantly anti-Democracy, others who are racially motivated, and yet more who are religiously driven. Governments are currently taking such activities far too lightly, and the perpetrators are given false support from such lax response. Sweden has been a classic example of such liberalism. There's a lot going on that needs to be watched very closely.
Attacks from outsiders covers a multitude of woes, from Brexit, to cyber attacks from Russia and China, the USA's export of poor food standards, to The Muslim world; there are people everywhere who either wish us ill, or want to take us for everything they can get. Again, just look at Sweden.
Defence of the nation is a priority for any Prime Minister or President. Neglect it at your peril; and IT IS being neglected.
And finally an unwieldy Empire. Well, Great Britain's Empire was the greatest in history, and we all know what happened there.
Gibbon wrote his oeuvre in 1776, only a few years after Cook established Botany Bay less than 250 years ago. Since then there have been two World Wars, a flu' pandemic that killed anywhere between 20 and 50 Million people, disruption in the Middle East, and a population explosion that is taxing the finances and social welfare of most first-world nations.
I don't expect the worst of this to happen until I'm long gone, but if history is anything to go by; happen, it will.
Am I worried? Well, no not really. The anti-democracy movement is slightly worrying, but they'll soon see the error of their ways when they actually experience the practical side of anarchy.
The Democrats actively call for violence against Republicans at the moment. So much for democracy.
ReplyDeleteI've just finished reading the 'News', and there seems to be rioting everywhere. It's like a rumbling volcano; one day it will blow. Already in the USA towns are boarding up their shops, etc, expecting riots after the election result. What a state of affairs!
DeleteArmed militias anyone? They tried to kidnap and murder a US governor - and they weren't Democrats!
DeleteMargie, what do you call people who make speeches in front of the anarchist flag and who support BLM. Because that's what they had on their social media sites🤔
DeleteWoe. So much faux news here. It is not Democrats who have been advised to stand down and stand by.
DeleteThe world has always been a mess.
ReplyDeleteIn the rush to decentralise petty factions now fight each other. We have for centuries lived with the Muslim problem but never before have governments actively encouraged them. At the other end of the spectrum we have the queers and trannies who even now are breaking into attention seeking groups. It's a mess but liberals will struggle to coalesce as at the end of the day they all want to be queen bee.
The normal folk are still the majority.
The 'Muslim problem' I was thinking of is the constant threat of Jihad. It may be a minor problem in Europe, but it's still responsible for many deaths each year. Like the activities of so many protesters, their activities only damage their reputation further. Eventually people will say 'enough is enough'.
DeleteAdd to that our glorious leaders seeming reluctance to bring a robust response to problems and the leniency shown to hard-line dissidents and you have a recipe for civil war.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that is so, as has been demonstrated so many times.
DeleteThe whole thing frightens me Cro, I fear for us all but particularly for my children and grandchildren,what sort of world will they be living in? People are still having babies too - I wouldn't want to bring a child into this world these days, what it's going to be like for them is too awful to contemplate. I lost my mother 18 months ago, I was devastated at the time but now I thank heavens she went when she did so that she didn't have to live through all this now.
ReplyDeleteI'm very pessimistic for the long term future, but as I said above, I don't think it'll happen in my life time. Like you, I'm worried for the future of my grandchildren.
DeleteI don't think life is any worse that it ever has been, we just have these platforms to stir each other up. Imagine living at the time of the Gordon Riots in 1780? Not much fun in the UK then either and it was possible to muster a crowd of 50,000 without the help of social media.
ReplyDeleteThe Gordon Riots were anti-Catholic, I don't think any anti-doctrine riots would ever compare again. Of course in 1780 the military didn't hold back on shooting the rioters, and I believe there were many who were later sentenced to death. Whatever one thinks about the country's radical response, it certainly quelled the revolution.
DeleteThe man most likely to start the next war is President Erdogan of Turkey. I hope he won't want Great Britain in his new Ottoman Empire. Now this will happen in our lifetime if it happens. He had a good stir up of Macron yesterday.
DeleteHas the robot thing gone now?
DeleteTest
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DeleteI can't find anything... but at least it seems to be working.
DeleteChina is aiding in the trouble in the US along with the media who even now are suppressing the news that Hunter Bidens business partners have turned over evidence to support the evidence gleaned from his laptop. They clearly implicated Joe Biden as having aided in business deals and to be the recipient of money from China, Russia and the Ukraine. They've provided emails, texts, photos, travel records and sworn testimony.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the media its either Russin disinformation,though that doesn't explain how Hunter's partners have all their records,or ignored totally
Wellive iin dangerous times,ttimes tthat Orwell warned aabout .
I'm anxiously waiting for our 'Interesting times' to become less interesting.... I may have a while to wait.
DeleteI agree. The radically motivated, anti-democracy and religiously driven groups must be taken seriously. They are a very real threat.
ReplyDeleteThey are, and the bleeding heart liberals treat them like pet Poodles. They need to be surveyed; CLOSELY.
DeleteI'm old enough to remember clearly the turbulence of the 1960s and 70s. My mother, a Depression Era baby, remembers other turbulent times. The difference today is that all is amplified via modern communications technology and a shift from news reporting to news activism. The global pandemic response has further amplified things; lockdowns and isolation mean we're unable to see or experience reality with our own eyes. Instead, we see one another as "the enemy", which then leads to lashing out at those (we believe) are a threat. It's happening everywhere. Can we get a grip? That's the real question. Civilizations fall only when we can't. But the pendulum always swings and humanity endures. Else we'd be extinct.
ReplyDeleteI hope your analysis is correct, and that the pendulum does swing the right way. Otherwise I fear for the future.
DeleteThoughtful consideration sir. As an 83 year old friend of mine often says - he's glad he was born in 1937 - believing that he has experienced the best of things. And we might look at what is happening to the great post-war American Empire too.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Lady M always tells me when we talk about the decline in behavioural standards in our tiny hamlet; "We've had the best of times". I tend to agree.
DeleteFreedom of speech is part of democracy. The US is a diverse country of 328 million people. Rioting happens here on occasion, like it does in France, the UK and throughout other countries. It’s root is usually injustice. Our elections are always peaceful but our divider in chief has done everything he can to cause what could be a great constitutional debacle. We fear he will win and we fear what he and his cult will do if he doesn’t. Win or lose, though, he will not go away. He mentioned that he might leave the country but he always lies. Maybe his good friend Putin will take him in.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, in my formerly peaceful area, we've had "free speech" that has included blocking the freeway throwing objects at cars, police shootings and vandalizing. Because that's not at all divisive. "Rioting happens here on occasion." Seriously? Perhaps Cro and Lady M are right.
DeleteRioting on occasion? Good grief it's been going on for 3 months plus in nearly a dozen Democrat run cities. Portland is like a warzone and Minniapolis resembles parts of Iraq for destruction for an incident in city run by Democrats for over 5 decades, and you still blame Trump . Yesterday police in New York were deliberately run over and Philly has had 2 days of rioting and looting. Meanwhile you deranged Democrats say its mostly peaceful. In the meantime hard solid evidence has emerged that Biden is in China's pocket and you're all trying to blame the Russians for it when even Hunter and Joe's business partners are on record implicating them. Democrats have turned full fascist and are applauding themselves for doing so. Utterly surreal.
DeleteSo the lesser food standards from the US now apply in Europe? I didn't know if that got through or not. I didn't think it would.
ReplyDeleteNot yet, but it looks very likely that some post-Brexit deal will be done to accept lower food standards from the USA. The UK's only response will be not to buy it.
DeleteCro, watch the Tucker Carlson interview from last night. It's an eye opener as to how deep the corruption of free speech and censorship of the left wing media has become. Biden fully implicated in deals with China, Russia and Ukraine and the media does not even want to see the compelling evidence. Shameful.
ReplyDelete