But this spirit of dedication was slowly eroded in the Age of Commerce by the action of money. People make money for themselves, not for their country. Thus periods of affluence gradually dissolved the spirit of service, which had caused the rise of the imperial races. Glubb was perfectly well aware that more study would helpful. “If the present writer were a millionaire, he would try to establish in some university or other a department dedicated solely to the study of the rhythm of the rise and fall of powerful nations throughout the world.” This is, in fact, what Peter Turchin, the originator of cliodynamics, which purports to scientifically study exactly this, has done. I don’t know if he’s come up with any suggested answers on what to do, but certainly his prediction in Ages of Discord that the 2020s would be a time of chaos in the West are looking pretty good right now. The habits of the members of the community have been corrupted by the enjoyment of too much money and too much power for too long a period. Sir John Bagot Glubb (1897-1987), a highly honored British general and historian better known as Glubb Pasha, wrote about the collapsed empires of the past. In his 1978 book The Fate of Empires and the Search for Survival, he described a common pattern fitting the history of some fallen empires. They went through a cycle of stages as they started, expanded, matured, declined and collapsed. Scholars also might manage schools that teach the ruling class and/or some of the average people subjects that are either mainly oriented towards financial success or are simply impractical. For example, in the early Roman Republic, students received a basic education that stressed character development and virtue. But in the later Roman Empire, teachers taught rhetoric (the art of speaking) when emotionally persuading assemblies was no longer of political or practical value.

The first direction in which wealth injures the nation is a moral one. Money replaces honour and adventure as the objective of the best young men. Because of their prominent locations within the empire, their influence greatly exceeds their percentage of the population. Here diversity plainly leads to divisiveness.What are some common features of an empire's culture in its declining period? Glubb describes developments like these: In 1913, Hubbard was aware of the changes that were taking place in the Western and non-Western world. He would be astonished to see the result of this process. Particularly, he would be surprised that the Western world is far better off than it was 100 years ago; however, the higher the rise, the harder the fall. He might conclude that these victories are only prolonging the inevitable: the fall of Western civilization. Hubbard might even be more surprised to know that the Chinese civilization, one that awed him, is on the rise and has global domination ambitions.

He had already proved his worth in Iraq before- he showed wisdom beyond his years , although he had just come from 4 years on the Western Front. The first thing he did in Iraq and later in Jordan was set up a tent and receive the local notables and people and just listen: imagine if our government did so… then he sparingly and judiciously helped when he could. This paid great dividends when the Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) invaded from Arabia; they rallied around him instead of scattering and the RAF strafed the invaders (Transjordan 1924).We have to interpret religion in a very broad sense. Some such definition as ‘the human feeling that there is something, some invisible Power, apart from material objects, which controls human life and the natural world’. 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. Many foreign immigrants settle in the empire's capital and major cities. The mixture of ethnic groups in close proximity in these cosmopolitan places inevitably produces conflicts. In the parabolic trajectory of an empire, what comes next is “High Noon,” the transition from conquest and commerce to affluence. “Service” is replaced by “selfishness.” A defensive mindset takes hold of the nation, manifested in such tangible signs as Hadrian’s Wall and the Maginot Line. Conquest and military readiness are seen as immoral by a stagnant, wealth-focused citizenry. Glubb, Sir John Bagot (1983). The changing scenes of life: an autobiography. Quartet Books. pp.58–59. ISBN 978-0-7043-2329-2.

The religious motive allows us to anchor our actions beyond our time, the significance of life is found in its relation to the infinite and the universe. According to Hubbard, the religious motive can be geocentric or cosmocentric. Their main difference is their relation to time; while the former focuses on the here and now (i.e. Stoic philosophy), the latter goes beyond the human conception of time (i.e. Christianity). The cosmocentric religious motive is better aimed at attaining our racial and societal objectives through self-sacrifice than the geocentric religious motive. “Geocentric actions seeks a permanent civilization as an end, but cannot attain it. Cosmocentric actions attains it, but does not seek it as an end.” Moreover, the cosmocentric religious motive possesses the power to retain the competition spirit demanded by individual/societal impulses and the reproductive need demanded by racial impulses. It works as mechanism that gives significance and a path to both.

Comparing how empires fall

Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb, KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC, KStJ, KPM (16 April 1897 – 17 March 1986), known as Glubb Pasha ( Arabic: غلوب باشا) and Abu Hunaik ( Arabic: أبو حنيك) by the Jordanians, was a British soldier, scholar, and author, who led and trained Transjordan's Arab Legion between 1939 and 1956 as its commanding general. During the First World War, he served in France. Glubb has been described as an "integral tool in the maintenance of British control." [1] Life [ edit ]