The Fate of Empires and the Search for Survival

[General DeGaulle]

'The Fate of Empires and the Search for Survival' - John Bagot Glubb

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/617 ... r-survival

John Bagot-Glubb was a British army officer . In this short, 52 page essay he describes many empires and cultures throughout history and how they appear to have gone through very similar stages of growth and decline. Needless to say, our society, if you agree with his hypothesis, is in one of the final two stages. Empires and cultures typically seem to go through an end stage which not only involves territorial loss, but a general decline in civility and stability. They also seem to go through a cultural stage in which achievements and personalities from the 'golden age' are disregarded or even vilified, and celebrities shift from being soldiers, industrialists and explorers, to being athletes, singers and comedians.

Take for example Lily Allen's recent over the top (IMHO) response to a note posted on a London Tube Station's announcement board, commemorating the defence of Rorke's Drift by 150 soldiers during the Zulu Wars.

In any case, following Bagot-Glubb's hypothesis, we are in for some kind of shake up or adjustment pretty soon.

[Arzosah]

Interesting! And one of the most interesting things is that it was published in 1978. Nowadays, I think that hypothesis is kind of "received wisdom", but back then, I'm sure it was much less thought of. Thanks for that.