Battle for America's Soul

The upcoming election has been framed by each major party as nothing less than a battle for the soul of the nation. May that prove to be more than some cheap bumper sticker sentiment as we close in on next week's election.

Reference to the country's soul suggests something far deeper than policy prescriptions or even ideology. It goes to America's very imagination of itself. We've been at this reckoning for over two hundred years, or at least since Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835 called America a blank page upon which history waited to be written. Let's back off from the news cycle of the day and see this as an opportunity to take a hard look at ourselves. This time may we approach the subject with a touch of humility given the stale air of foreclosure that seems to be in the offing.

We may hearken back to that ultimate leveling principle touched upon in our session two years ago -- this empire named America has continued and will continue on the same trajectory so many other empires have followed over the past four thousand years ( MM 7/30/18 ).  The eleven empires cited in that session's focus piece undoubtedly saw their regimes at their respective heights as "souls" destined for life everlasting. As it turns out the average age of each such (Western) empire was about 250 years (with the pre-Augustus Roman Republic separated from the post-Augustus Roman Empire). By such measurement America is becoming long in the tooth at 244. 

So, anyone who ever utters the word "exceptionalism" in reference to America might benefit from the above-referenced 24-page article as background (direct link to that article, once again, The Fate of Empires ). Perhaps the word "soul" is too poetic for purposes of this analysis so we'll substitute the word "characteristic" to describe the phases. Behold, then, the four stages characterizing every one of the studied empires:

The break-out phase: a previously-obscure race achieves rapid conquest through reckless bravery and daring (in the case of America, the conquest was primarily one of a relatively pristine land rather than an entrenched and defended civilization);

The absorption phase: absorption of those conquered with subsequent consolidation giving rise to the tremendous benefits of transportation and commerce;

The age of affluence;

And, finally, the age of intellectualism with the subsequent path to disintegration, decadence, and despair.

We observe each empire manifesting the same four stages which followed the exact pattern throughout an empire's life cycle, typically containing ten generations of twenty-five years each. While some may find a certain degree of comfort in such regularity, others may be put off by any notion of a preordained outcome i.e. that the empire's "soul" pretty much plays out on its own terms.

But the furthermost question in most readers' minds might be, given an empire blueprint, what is America's expected path and the avoidance of its natural fate. That is the subject of our focus article (by citing the above-mentioned background piece) ( Avoiding the Fate of Empires ). Hold on to your seats:

We learn later-stage empires are actually marked by the rise of intellectualism (e.g. the flowering of Arab and Persian intellectualism occurred after their respective political collapses) as "the ambition of the young, once directed to the pursuit of adventure and military glory, is channeled to the accumulation of wealth and then to the acquisition of academic honors. No amount of intellectual sophistication can replace the sense of duty and self-sacrifice necessary for empire preservation."

But the most jaw-dropping symptom of the late-stage imperial decline: dissension, the influx of foreigners, and a preoccupation with frivolity -- heroes of a declining nation are always the same, the "athlete, the singer, or the actor." Sound familiar? 

Maybe the Biden/Trump "battle" is but a sideshow in the long game for the nation's soul.

(To access previous Member Monday introductions, click TOC)