DECLINE of EMPIRES: The Signs of Decay
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited in threads on American decline, civil unrest and economic crisis as a classic statement of the imperial-decay thesis.
What it is
Chalmers Johnson, author of Blowback and Sorrows of Empire, lectures on parallels between the decline of the Roman and Soviet empires and the United States. He argues the US shows the same symptoms: overextension, corruption, and an inability to reform.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2018 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Recommends hexbinencoded · 2020-09 · on “The N95 mask shortage America can't seem to fix”
Yep. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Actual exceptionalism ended coinciding with the end of WW2. It's America's slow and steady decline like Rome. 250 years / 10 generations is about all a civilization typically lasts. Apathy, corruption, incompetence, disorder, inequality, poverty, decay, tyrants, and ultimately: dissolution. Here's an insightful prognostication by the late, great Chalmers Johnson around 2005: [this video]
Cites king_nothing · 2018-06 · on “31% of likely voters think US civil war likely within 5 years”
I thought this was a possibility, however there’s not much to fight for, except chaos, discontent and something new, so it’s more likely America/western civ would collapse within 0-30 years (collapse tends to precipitate quickly), if nothing major socio-politically is done to stabilize the ship. [LINK] “America is Done” Chris Hedges on C-Span [LINK] “Decline of Western Civilization” Peter Thiel [LINK] “Decline of Empires” Chalmers Johnson [this video] ^- These aren’t exactly conspiracy theorist-centric nutters, but people known for being more right than most people v- Btw, just in-case anyone isn’t convinced yet corporate media will “save us” Phil Donahue on being booted from MSNBC [LINK] Jesse V
Cites campfireveteran · 2019-10 · on “The decline in U.S. life expectancy is unlike anything seen in a century (2018)”
Exactly. Chalmers Johnson and Chris Hedges concur. America: the Farewall Tour - [LINK] DECLINE of EMPIRES: The Signs of Decay - [this video] Today, in Paradise, the power was out for most of the day... like Mogadishu or Baghdad. America, like a slowly-boiled frog, has become a third-world country: - no universal healthcare - grotesque inequality: lower average pay, unlivable wages, more billionaires, millions of homeless. - wealth transfer from the poor to the rich through tariffs, fines, fees and other taxes - crumbling infrastructure - tens of thousands of structurally-deficient bridges and crossings - apathetic, uncaring police letting crime go unpunished and misery flourish Americans don't kn
Cites forkexec · 2020-03 · on “Why Can't America Handle the Coronavirus Crisis?”
The simplified answer: the US is a late-stage civilization in gradual decline since either post-WW2 or about 1960. The "frog" has been "boiling" slowly for a long time and is almost cooked. See also: - America: The Farewell Tour by Chris Hedges - Chalmers Johnson's Decline of Empires: Signs of Decay [this video] - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon - The Rise and Fall of the Great Empires by Taylor
Cites inscartwheelies · 2020-05 · on “Gripped by disease, unemployment and police outrage, America plunges into crisis”
America was already in a long, slow decline for decades. America: The Farewell Tour book by Chris Hedges DECLINE of EMPIRES: The Signs of Decay (2003) video by Chalmers Johnson [this video]
Cites 1letterunixname · 2022-09 · on “Charlie Munger Predicts Horrible Economic Crisis Where Everything Will Collapse”
The title of this piece is clickbait and inaccurate compared to the content. And low quality media source. The speaker is credible (being CM, but it assumes it's an entirely authentic video). This is partly a redux of the ideas of Chalmers Johnson but extends farther into macro economics, history, and current events. [this video] It's also doom prediction, in the spirt of people like Thom Hartmann.
Cites sacnoradhq · 2023-03 · on “”
"Decline of Empires: The Signs of Decay": Jan 22, 2008; Chalmers Johnson. [this video] Apathy, learned helplessness, inaction, cult-like fervor, magical thinking, pan-colonial ambitions, and inability to fund or defend itself lead a society to ruin. The thing is that every 8-12 generations (250+-50 years), a civilization must rework or recommit itself or it slides into decline and decay. No rampant conservative moral panic crusade, violent upheaval, civil war, or totalitarian junta can rebuild what divides left or right, or rebalances fewer haves and many more have nots.