This was sent to me for posting by a like minded person, we will call that person "Special K." until they decide to create an account and post for themselves.
Special K's post:
Excerpt from Emergency by Neil Strauss (page 121-122)
“The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers” by Paul Kennedy was written by in 1987. The Book meticulously traces the histories and economics of the world superpowers of the last five hundred years. Its thesis, born of an endless array if historical example, is that the collapse of every superpower in modern history has been due not just to lengthy fighting by its armed forces, but to its interest expanding internationally while its economy weakens domestically. In other words, empires collapse when they stretch themselves too thin.
Furthermore, Kennedy explains, “Great Powers in relative decline instinctively respond by spending more on ‘security’, and thereby divert potential resources from ‘investment’ and compound their long-term dilemma.”
Though he doesn’t discuss America for most of the book, every word and every example has parallels in the United States today. For example, he writes of the declining Spanish empire in the sixteenth century, Spain resembled a large bear in the pit: more powerful than any dog attacking it, but never able to deal with all of its opponents and growing gradually exhausted in the process.
Similarly, two hundred years later, the British, “like all other civilizations at the top of the wheel of future… could believe that their position was both ‘natural’ and destined to continue. And just like all those other civilizations, they were in for a rude shock.”
As each successive empire fell on the same economic sword, Hegel’s words kept echoing in my head: What experience and history teach us is this – that people and governments have never learned anything from history.”
Special K's comment: "By the time I fished the book, it seemed clear that whether or not there was another devastating terrorist attack in America , the end of the empire as we know it was approaching. The only remaining questions were: Would we become a smaller player, like Spain and Great Britain after their zenith, or disappear altogether, like Rome , Austria-Hungary , and the Soviet Union ? And what world power would eventually take its place: China , the European Union, maybe India?"
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