There have been numerous empires in the world, some bigger and longer lasting than others. The Roman Empire is one of the best known. Technically this does not include the Roman Republic, although I would personally ignore that technicality (the idea that a republic cannot be an empire is something I can’t subscribe to).
The biggest empire in history was the British Empire,. It is interesting to think about the commonwealth and whether that will be seen in the future as a continuation of empire.
What is empire? The best definition I have found is a group of countries ruled by another country. In business it simply means a grouping of companies under a single umbrella. I think applying the business definition to countries is quite informative.
I wonder if we are actually living in the Western empire, a sort of amalgam of the influence of a few countries with common beliefs, imposing them on a wide range of countries in the world.
What ends empires? Is it because they overstretch? I don’t think so. I remember being taught that the Roman Empire fell because it became decadent. Not sure I agree with that either. Decadence doesn’t have a direct effect. But what it does is introduce distraction, and I think that is one of the causes for the fall of empires.
No doubt another cause is the realisation of the ruled states that there is an unacceptable imbalance in the benefits.
So are we being distracted? And is there an unacceptable imbalance in benefits of our systems? The Trump influence is to say the systems are too equitable and he is slowly pushing toward a less balanced system in the world. So yes, I think we are priming the pump of the end of the Western Empire through increasing imbalance. But distraction?
I have started to wonder whether the fake news – the anti-science that is become so prevalent is our distraction.
And that has got me wondering what the end of empire would look like. I know a lot of people that thinks this capitalist system needs to be overthrown. But what would replace it? The end of empires tends to be discord.
I think the end of empire may be coming, but I am not sure we will enjoy the replacement.