December 09, 2019
The Taxonomy of Collapse
Source: https://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-taxonomy-of-collapse.html
The
higher up the wealth-power pyramid the observer is, the more prone they
are to a magical-thinking belief that the empire is forever, even as it
is crumbling around them.
How great nations and empires arise, mature, decay and collapse has long been of interest for a self-evident reason: if
we can discern a template or process, we can predict when the great
nations and empires of today will slide into the dustbin of history.
One of the justly famous attempts to lay out the stages of expansion, zenith, decline and collapse is Sir John Glubb's 1978 The Fate of Empires. Succinct and deeply informed, Glubb's essay lists these stages:
The Age of Pioneers (outburst or Boost Phase)
The Age of Conquests
The Age of Commerce
The Age of Affluence
The Age of Intellect
The Age of Decadence
The slippery slope to collapse--decadence--is characterized by greed,
corruption, irreconcilable internal political rifts, moral decay,
frivolity, materialism--hmm, sound familiar?
All of this fits the S-Curve model which I've described here many times, for example:
But what triggers the collapse of a weakening but still functioning empire? For that, I propose a taxonomy of collapse. A taxonomy is a system of classification that groups organisms or types that share characteristics and origins.
What taxonomy of collapse does history suggest? I would start with:
1. Bolt from the blue: a
fast-moving, unexpected crisis that overwhelms the usual defenses and
responses of the empire. An invasion by previously unknown forces with
superior technology and/or organization fits the bill: the Mongols in
Eurasia, the Spanish in the New World, etc.
Extremely contagious and previously unknown infectious diseases like
plague and smallpox are also bolts from the blue, devastating
populations with no immunity. It is estimated that 80% or more of the
population of North America died from exposure to smallpox and other
European diseases, in many cases long before the victims had ever seen a
European, as the diseases spread much faster than the invaders
themselves.
A drought that never ends is another unexpected catastrophe that quickly depletes food stores.
These bolts from the blue can strike at the same time: one reason why
the small-in-number Spanish forces conquered vast empires in the New
World was the empires had already been fatally weakened by diseases
introduced by Columbus decades earlier.
2. Irreplaceable declines in essential resources. Food
tops the list, as a decline in calories leads to weakened immune
systems and heightened odds of pandemics spreading and a subsequent drop
in the number of workers needed to support the empire's vast
infrastructure.
The book The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire makes
a compelling case that the Western Roman Empire centered around the
Mediterranean suffered from a slow environmental transition from an
unusually wet era that enabled grain to be grown in previously marginal
areas to a drier era that no longer supported the immense grain harvests
needed to feed the empire.
Other forms of depletion can also sap the empire of essentials: forests
are cut down, silver mines are tapped out, nearby sources of slaves
(labor) are no longer available, and so on.
The imperial machinery that is accustomed to there's always more somewhere refuses
to trim its expenses, elites refuse to lessen their skim, and since the
fat of elite excess is retained, eventually the muscle of military
power and trade decay, leaving a hollowed out empire on the edge of a
precipice awaiting one final kick into the abyss.
3. Reversal of fortune. Military
misadventures top the list, as invasions of nearby competing powers are
in effect last-ditch gambles to acquire desperately needed wealth and
resources to prop up the status quo. When the imperial army is defeated
and destroyed, there are no longer sufficient resources and recruits to
rebuild the army.
4. Internal civil conflict: civil
wars and political conflicts that break out into society and the
economy end up consuming the last of the empire's seed corn, just like
an invasion of a bordering empire that fails. Once the conflict is
resolved, there are no longer enough resources left to support the
imperial infrastructure.
Like Nature, History offers a near-infinite variety, but just as Nature
fits into taxonomies of organisms, history can be shuffled into its own
taxonomy, however messy and imperfect it might be.
These triggers of collapse can overlap, of course, accelerating the final decline. All
complex hierarchical systems are intrinsically fragile and prone to
disruption; we don't see the fragility or vulnerabilities until the
decline has reached the terminal phase. The higher up the wealth-power
pyramid the observer is, the more prone they are to a magical-thinking
belief that the empire is forever, even as it is crumbling around them.
My recent books:
Will You Be Richer or Poorer? Profit, Power and A.I. in a Traumatized World (Kindle $6.95, print $11.95) Read the first section for free (PDF).
Pathfinding our Destiny: Preventing the Final Fall of Our Democratic Republic ($6.95 (Kindle), $12 (print), $13.08 ( audiobook): Read the first section for free (PDF).
The Adventures of the Consulting Philosopher: The Disappearance of Drake $1.29 (Kindle), $8.95 (print); read the first chapters for free (PDF)
Money and Work Unchained $6.95 (Kindle), $15 (print) Read the first section for free (PDF).
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