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How to Destroy a Civilization
Or at least enslave it. In 10 easy steps….
“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.”
— Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long (1978)
Introduction.
Civilizations move in cycles. I’ve written of this elsewhere; so have others.
In the account I cited, they begin with a breakout period and age of pioneers where events get mixed with legend because there’s a sense of greatness — an identification with something larger than the civilization itself that becomes part of its identity and ethos.
Life is, during this period, an adventure, however tough. Optimism reigns!
This ensures an age of expansion, and heaven help anyone in the way (ask the indigenous peoples of the Americas about this).
What follows is then an age of commerce, with relative internal stability. The civilization is under a single governing structure. Trade routes are laid down. One language is spoken. Citizens’ customs and expectations of one another are mostly clear. Immigrants come and eagerly assimilate and contribute. Wealth is created. Growth and optimism continue even if they confront major bumps along the way (think of the War Between the States).
Following is an age of affluence. Things begin to go awry, although not obviously, and no one will notice unless they know exactly what to look for. But for some, wealth has become an end in itself. For others, it starts to serve as a means of exacting desired policies and tendencies the elite class wants as it becomes conscious of itself. These may differ from what the general population would choose.
An age of intellect arises: something more than the civilization’s having created a few great universities during earlier stages. Its elite class now…
