Part 1 of 2... Is America's time up? The Fate of Empires and the Search for Survival-ANOTHER INDICATOR
READ Sir John Glubb's masterpiece of analysis and forecasting of what destroyed the great empires... and those same issues are destroying America!
From Author Jack Lawson…
This July 4th, 2026, America celebrates 250 years of freedom — won and kept by ordinary citizens who were PREPARED.
The Civil Defense Manual by Jack Lawson is the definitive guide to protecting your home, family, and neighborhood when it matters most. Spanning over 950 pages across two volumes, it covers everything from building your own Neighborhood Protection Plan™ to surviving natural disasters, surviving a gun battle, tactics, civil unrest, pandemics, where to get salt, emergency food recipes and more — written in plain language that anyone can understand.
Because the spirit that built this nation wasn’t just courage. It was preparation.
Honor 250 years of America. Protect the FUTURE of You and Yours.
READ THE FOLLOWING AND TAKE IT AS A WARNING. According to the Late Sir John Glubb, ALL EMPIRES have lasted 250 years MAXIMUM, except one. That one lasted 267 years.
The nation Dates of rise and fall Duration in years
Assyria 859-612 B.C. - 247 years
Persia 538-330 B.C. - 208 years
(Cyrus and his descendants)
Greece 331-100 B.C. - 231 years
(Alexander and his successors)
Roman Republic 260-27 B.C. - 233 years
Roman Empire 27 B.C.-A.D. 180 - 207 years
Arab Empire A.D. 634-880 - 246 years
Mameluke Empire 1250-1517 - 267 years
Ottoman Empire 1320-1570 - 250 years
Spain 1500-1750 - 250 years
Romanov Russia 1682-1916 - 234 years
Britain 1700-1950 - 250 years
Only one lasted a little more than 250 years!
The 13 Great Empires flourished and collapsed in mankind’s past before America existed. From the Arab Empire to the British Empire… they each had the identical problems that America has now.
The same problems affecting us NOW destroyed these Empires. Foreign Immigration, welfare, wars, corruption, sexual deviancy, abandonment of religion and fraud caused their demise.
READ WHY AND HOW… AND READ TO THE END…
Part 1 of 2
From the Late Author Sir John Glubb…
THE FATE OF EMPIRES and
SEARCH FOR SURVIVAL
By Sir John Glubb
Born 16 April 1897 - Died 17 March 1986 (aged 88)
John Bagot Glubb was born in 1897, his father being a regular officer in the Royal Engineers.
At the age of four he left England for Mauritius, where his father was posted for a three-year tour of duty.
At the age of ten he was sent to school for a year in Switzerland. These youthful travels may have opened his mind to the outside world at an early age.
He entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in September 1914, and was commissioned in the Royal Engineers in April 1915.
He served throughout the first World War in France and Belgium, being wounded three times and awarded the Military Cross.
In 1920 he volunteered for service in Iraq, as a regular officer, but in 1926 resigned his commission and accepted an administrative post under the Iraq Government.
In 1930, however, he signed a contract to serve the Transjordan Government (now Jordan).
From 1939 to 1956 he commanded the famous Jordan Arab Legion, which was in reality the Jordan Army.
After his retirement he published seventeen books, chiefly on the Middle East, and has lectured widely in Britain, the United States and Europe.
Introduction
As we pass through life, we learn by experience. We look back on our behaviour when we were young and think how foolish we were. In the same way our family, our community and our town endeavour to avoid the mistakes made by our predecessors.
The experiences of the human race have been recorded, in more or less detail, for some four thousand years. If we attempt to study such a period of time in as many countries as possible, we seem to discover the same patterns constantly repeated under widely differing conditions of climate, culture and religion. Surely, we ask ourselves, if we studied calmly and impartially the history of human institutions and development over these four thousand years, should we not reach conclusions which would assist to solve our problems today? For everything that is occurring around us has happened again and again before.
No such conception ever appears to have entered into the minds of our historians. In general, historical teaching in schools is limited to this small island. We endlessly mull over the Tudors and the Stewarts, the Battle of Crecy, and Guy Fawkes. Perhaps this narrowness is due to our examination system, which necessitates the careful definition of a syllabus which all children must observe.
I remember once visiting a school for mentally handicapped children. “Our children do not have to take examinations,” the headmaster told me,” and so we are able to teach them things which will be really useful to them in life.”
However, this may be, the thesis which I wish to propound is that priceless lessons could be learned if the history of the past four thousand years could be thoroughly and impartially studied. In these two articles, which first appeared in Blackwood’s Magazine, I have attempted briefly to sketch some of the kinds of lessons which I believe we could learn. My plea is that history should be the history of the human race, not of one small country or period.
I. Learning from history
‘The only thing we learn from history,’ it has been said, ‘is that men never learn from history’, a sweeping generalisation perhaps, but one which the chaos in the world today goes far to confirm. What then can be the reason why, in a society which claims to probe every problem, the bases of history are still so completely unknown?
Several reasons for the futility of our historical studies may be suggested.
First, our historical work is limited to short periods—the history of our own country, or that of some past age which, for some reason, we hold in respect.
Second, even within these short periods, the slant we give to our narrative is governed by our own vanity rather than by objectivity. If we are considering the history of our own country, we write at length of the periods when our ancestors were prosperous and victorious, but we pass quickly over their shortcomings or their defeats. Our people are represented as patriotic heroes, their enemies as grasping imperialists, or subversive rebels. In other words, our national histories are propaganda, not well-balanced investigations.
Third, in the sphere of world history, we study certain short, usually unconnected, periods, which fashion at certain epochs has made popular. Greece 500 years before Christ, and the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire are cases in point. The intervals between the ‘great periods’ are neglected. Recently Greece and Rome have become largely discredited, and history tends to become increasingly the parochial history of our own countries.
To derive any useful instruction from history, it seems to me essential first of all to grasp the principle that history, to be meaningful, must be the history of the human race. For history is a continuous process, gradually developing, changing and turning back, but in general moving forward in a single mighty stream. Any useful lessons to be derived must be learned by the study of the whole flow of human development, not by the selection of short periods here and there in one country or another.
Every age and culture is derived from its predecessors, adds some contribution of its own, and passes it on to its successors. If we boycott various periods of history, the origins of the new cultures which succeeded them cannot be explained.
Physical science has expanded its knowledge by building on the work of its predecessors, and by making millions of careful experiments, the results of which are meticulously recorded. Such methods have not yet been employed in the study of world history. Our piecemeal historical work is still mainly dominated by emotion and prejudice.
II. The lives of empires
If we desire to ascertain the laws which govern the rise and fall of empires, the obvious course is to investigate the imperial experiments recorded in history, and to endeavour to deduce from them any lessons which seem to be applicable to them all.
The word ‘empire’, by association with the British Empire, is visualised by some people as an organisation consisting of a home-country in Europe and ‘colonies’ in other continents. In this essay, the term ‘empire’ is used to signify a great power, often called today a superpower. Most of the empires in history have been large landblocks, almost without overseas possessions.
We possess a considerable amount of information on many empires recorded in history, and of their vicissitudes and the lengths of their lives, for example:
The nation Dates of rise and fall Duration in years
Assyria 859-612 B.C. - 247 years
Persia 538-330 B.C. - 208 years
(Cyrus and his descendants)
Greece 331-100 B.C. - 231 years
(Alexander and his successors)
Roman Republic 260-27 B.C. - 233 years
Roman Empire 27 B.C.-A.D. 180 - 207 years
Arab Empire A.D. 634-880 - 246 years
Mameluke Empire 1250-1517 - 267 years
Ottoman Empire 1320-1570 - 250 years
Spain 1500-1750 - 250 years
Romanov Russia 1682-1916 - 234 years
Britain 1700-1950 - 250 years
This list calls for certain comments.
(1) The present writer is exploring the facts, not trying to prove anything. The dates given are largely arbitrary. Empires do not usually begin or end on a certain date. There is normally a gradual period of expansion and then a period of decline. The resemblance in the duration of these great powers may be queried. Human affairs are subject to many chances, and it is not to be expected that they could be calculated with mathematical accuracy.
(2) Nevertheless, it is suggested that there is sufficient resemblance between the life periods of these different empires to justify further study.
(3) The division of Rome into two periods may be thought unwarranted. The first, or republican, period dates from the time when Rome became the mistress of Italy, and ends with the accession of Augustus. The imperial period extends from the accession of Augustus to the death of Marcus Aurelius. It is true that the empire survived nominally for more than a century after this date, but it did so in constant confusion, rebellions, civil wars and barbarian invasions.
(4) Not all empires endured for their full lifespan. The Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, for example, was overthrown by Cyrus, after a life duration of only some seventy-four years.
(5) An interesting deduction from the figures seems to be that the duration of empires does not depend on the speed of travel or the nature of weapons. The Assyrians marched on foot and fought with spears and bow and arrows. The British used artillery, railways and ocean-going ships. Yet the two empires lasted for approximately the same periods. There is a tendency nowadays to say that this is the jet-age, and consequently there is nothing for us to learn from past empires. Such an attitude seems to be erroneous.
(6) It is tempting to compare the lives of empires with those of human beings. We may choose a figure and say that the average life of a human being is seventy years. Not all human beings live exactly seventy years. Some die in infancy, others are killed in accidents in middle life, some survive to the age of eighty or ninety. Nevertheless, in spite of such exceptions, we are justified in saying that seventy years is a fair estimate of the average person’s expectation of life.
(7) We may perhaps at this stage be allowed to draw certain conclusions:
(a) In spite of the accidents of fortune, and the apparent circumstances of the human race at different epochs, the periods of duration of different empires at varied epochs show a remarkable similarity.
(b) Immense changes in the technology of transport or in methods of warfare do not seem to affect the life-expectation of an empire.
(c) The changes in the technology of transport and of war have, however, affected the shape of empires. The Assyrians, marching on foot, could only conquer their neighbours, who were accessible by land—the Medes, the Babylonians, the Persians and the Egyptians. The British, making use of ocean-going ships, conquered many countries and subcontinents, which were accessible to them by water—North America, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand—but they never succeeded in conquering their neighbours, France, Germany and Spain. But, although the shapes of the Assyrian and the British Empires were entirely different, both lasted about the same length of time.
III. The human yardstick
What then, we may ask, can have been the factor which caused such an extraordinary similarity in the duration of empires, under such diverse conditions, and such utterly different technological achievements?
One of the very few units of measurement which have not seriously changed since the Assyrians is the human ‘generation’, a period of about twenty-five years. Thus a period of 250 years would represent about ten generations of people. A closer examination of the characteristics of the rise and fall of great nations may emphasise the possible significance of the sequence of generations. Let us then attempt to examine the stages in the lives of such powerful nations.
IV. Stage one. The outburst
Again, and again in history we find a small nation, treated as insignificant by its contemporaries, suddenly emerging from its homeland and overrunning large areas of the world. Prior to Philip (359-336 B.C.), Macedon had been an insignificant state to the north of Greece. Persia was the great power of the time, completely dominating the area from Eastern Europe to India. Yet by 323 B.C., thirty-six years after the accession of Philip, the Persian Empire had ceased to exist, and the Macedonian Empire extended from the Danube to India, including Egypt.
This amazing expansion may perhaps he attributed to the genius of Alexander the Great, but this cannot have been the sole reason; for although after his death everything went wrong—the Macedonian generals fought one another and established rival empires—Macedonian pre-eminence survived for 231 years.
In the year A.D. 600, the world was divided between two superpower groups as it has been for the past fifty years between Soviet Russia and the West. The two powers were the eastern Roman Empire and the Persian Empire. The Arabs were then the despised and backward inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. They consisted chiefly of wandering tribes, and had no government, no constitution and no army. Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa were Roman provinces, Iraq was part of Persia.
The Prophet Mohammed preached in Arabia from A.D. 613 to 632, when he died. In 633, the Arabs burst out of their desert peninsula, and simultaneously attacked the two super-powers. Within twenty years, the Persian Empire had ceased to exist. Seventy years after the death of the Prophet, the Arabs had established an empire extending from the Atlantic to the plains of Northern India and the frontiers of China.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Mongols were a group of savage tribes in the steppes of Mongolia. In 1211, Genghis Khan invaded China. By 1253, the Mongols had established an empire extending from Asia Minor to the China Sea, one of the largest empires the world has ever known.
The Arabs ruled the greater part of Spain for 780 years, from 712 A.D. to 1492. (780 years back in British history would take us to 1196 and King Richard Cœur de Lion.) During these eight centuries, there had been no Spanish nation, the petty kings of Aragon and Castile alone holding on in the mountains.
The agreement between Ferdinand and Isabella and Christopher Columbus was signed immediately after the fall of Granada, the last Arab kingdom in Spain, in 1492. Within fifty years, Cortez had conquered Mexico, and Spain was the world’s greatest empire. Examples of the sudden outbursts by which empires are born could be multiplied indefinitely. These random illustrations must suffice.
V. Characteristics of the outburst
These sudden outbursts are usually characterised by an extraordinary display of energy and courage. The new conquerors are normally poor, hardy and enterprising and above all aggressive. The decaying empires which they overthrow are wealthy but defensive-minded. In the time of Roman greatness, the legions used to dig a ditch round their camps at night to avoid surprise. But the ditches were mere earthworks, and between them wide spaces were left through which the Romans could counter-attack. But as Rome grew older, the earthworks became high walls, through which access was given only by narrow gates. Counterattacks were no longer possible. The legions were now passive defenders.
But the new nation is not only distinguished by victory in battle, but by unresting enterprise in every field. Men hack their way through jungles, climb mountains, or brave the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans in tiny cockle-shells. The Arabs crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in A.D. 711 with 12,000 men, defeated a Gothic army of more than twice their strength, marched straight over 250 miles of unknown enemy territory and seized the Gothic capital of Toledo. At the same stage in British history, Captain Cook discovered Australia. Fearless initiative characterises such periods.
Other peculiarities of the period of the conquering pioneers are their readiness to improvise and experiment. Untrammelled by traditions, they will turn anything available to their purpose. If one method fails, they try something else. Uninhibited by textbooks or book learning, action is their solution to every problem.
Poor, hardy, often half-starved and ill-clad, they abound in courage, energy and initiative, overcome every obstacle and always seem to be in control of the situation.
VI. The causes of race outbursts
The modern instinct is to seek a reason for everything, and to doubt the veracity of a statement for which a reason cannot be found. So many examples can be given of the sudden eruption of an obscure race into a nation of conquerors that the truth of the phenomenon cannot be held to be doubtful. To assign a cause is more difficult. Perhaps the easiest explanation is to assume that the poor and obscure race is tempted by the wealth of the ancient civilisation, and there would undoubtedly appear to be an element of greed for loot in barbarian invasions.
Such a motivation may be divided into two classes. The first is mere loot, plunder and rape, as, for example, in the case of Attila and the Huns, who ravaged a great part of Europe from A.D. 450 to 453. However, when Attila died in the latter year, his empire fell apart and his tribes returned to Eastern Europe.
Many of the barbarians who founded dynasties in Western Europe on the ruins of the Roman Empire, however, did so out of admiration for Roman civilisation, and themselves aspired to become Romans.
VII. A providential turnover?
Whatever causes may be given for the overthrow of great civilisations by barbarians, we can sense certain resulting benefits. Every race on earth has distinctive characteristics. Some have been distinguished in philosophy, some in administration, some in romance, poetry or religion, some in their legal system. During the pre-eminence of each culture, its distinctive characteristics are carried by it far and wide across the world.
If the same nation were to retain its domination indefinitely, its peculiar qualities would permanently characterise the whole human race. Under the system of empires each lasting for 250 years, the sovereign race has time to spread its particular virtues far and wide. Then, however, another people, with entirely different peculiarities, takes its place, and its virtues and accomplishments are likewise disseminated. By this system, each of the innumerable races of the world enjoys a period of greatness, during which its peculiar qualities are placed at the service of mankind.
To those who believe in the existence of God, as the Ruler and Director of human affairs, such a system may appear as a manifestation of divine wisdom, tending towards the slow and ultimate perfection of humanity.
VIII. The course of empire
The first stage of the life of a great nation, therefore, after its outburst, is a period of amazing initiative, and almost incredible enterprise, courage and hardihood. These qualities, often in a very short time, produce a new and formidable nation. These early victories, however, are won chiefly by reckless bravery and daring initiative.
The ancient civilisation thus attacked will have defended itself by its sophisticated weapons, and by its military organisation and discipline. The barbarians quickly appreciate the advantages of these military methods and adopt them. As a result, the second stage of expansion of the new empire consists of more organised, disciplined and professional campaigns.
In other fields, the daring initiative of the original conquerors is maintained—in geographical exploration, for example: pioneering new countries, penetrating new forests, climbing unexplored mountains, and sailing uncharted seas. The new nation is confident, optimistic and perhaps contemptuous of the ‘decadent’ races which it has subjugated.
The methods employed tend to be practical and experimental, both in government and in warfare, for they are not tied by centuries of tradition, as happens in ancient empires. Moreover, the leaders are free to use their own improvisations, not having studied politics or tactics in schools or in textbooks.
IX. U.S.A. in the stage of the pioneers
In the case of the United States of America, the pioneering period did not consist of a barbarian conquest of an effete civilisation, but of the conquest of barbarian peoples. Thus, viewed from the outside, every example seems to be different. But viewed from the standpoint of the great nation, every example seems to be similar.
The United States arose suddenly as a new nation, and its period of pioneering was spent in the conquest of a vast continent, not an ancient empire. Yet the subsequent life history of the United States has followed the standard pattern which we shall attempt to trace—the periods of the pioneers, of commerce, of affluence, of intellectualism and of decadence.
X. Commercial expansion
The conquest of vast areas of land and their subjection to one government automatically acts as a stimulant to commerce. Both merchants and goods can be exchanged over considerable distances. Moreover, if the empire be an extensive one, it will include a great variety of climates, producing extremely varied products, which the different areas will wish to exchange with one another.
The speed of modern methods of transportation tends to create in us the impression that far flung commerce is a modern development, but this is not the case. Objects made in Ireland, Scandinavia and China have been found in the graves or the ruins of the Middle East, dating from 1,000 years before Christ. The means of transport were slower, but, when a great empire was in control, commerce was freed from the innumerable shackles imposed upon it today by passports, import permits, customs, boycotts and political interference.
The Roman Empire extended from Britain to Syria and Egypt, a distance, in a direct line, of perhaps 2,700 miles. A Roman official, transferred from Britain to Syria, might spend six months on the journey. Yet, throughout the whole distance, he would be travelling in the same country, with the same official language, the same laws, the same currency and the same administrative system. Today, some twenty independent countries separate Britain from Syria, each with its own government, its own laws, politics, customs fees, passports and currencies, making commercial co-operation almost impossible. And this process of disintegration is still continuing. Even within the small areas of the modern European nations, provincial movements demanding secession or devolution tend further to splinter the continent.
The present fashion for ‘independence’ has produced great numbers of tiny states in the world, some of them consisting of only one city or of a small island. This system is an insuperable obstacle to trade and co-operation. The present European Economic Community is an attempt to secure commercial cooperation among small independent states over a large area, but the plan meets with many difficulties, due to the mutual jealousies of so many nations.
Even savage and militaristic empires promoted commerce, whether or not they intended to do so. The Mongols were some of the most brutal military conquerors in history, massacring the entire populations of cities. Yet, in the thirteenth century, when their empire extended from Peking to Hungary, the caravan trade between China and Europe achieved a remarkable degree of prosperity—the whole journey was in the territory of one government.
In the eighth and ninth centuries, the caliphs of Baghdad achieved fabulous wealth owing to the immense extent of their territories, which constituted a single trade bloc. The empire of the caliphs is now divided into some twenty-five separate ‘nations’.
XI. The pros and cons of empires
In discussing the life-story of the typical empire, we have digressed into a discussion of whether empires are useful or injurious to mankind. We seem to have discovered that empires have certain advantages, particularly in the field of commerce, and in the establishment of peace and security in vast areas of the globe. Perhaps we should also include the spread of varied cultures to many races. The present infatuation for independence for ever smaller and smaller units will eventually doubtless be succeeded by new international empires.
The present attempts to create a European community may be regarded as a practical endeavour to constitute a new super-power, in spite of the fragmentation resulting from the craze for independence. If it succeeds, some of the local independencies will have to be sacrificed. If it fails, the same result may be attained by military conquest, or by the partition of Europe between rival super-powers. The inescapable conclusion seems, however, to be that larger territorial units are a benefit to commerce and to public stability, whether the broader territory be achieved by voluntary association or by military action.
XII. Sea power
One of the more benevolent ways in which a super-power can promote both peace and commerce is by its command of the sea.
From Waterloo to 1914, the British Navy commanded the seas of the world. Britain grew rich, but she also made the Seas safe for the commerce of all nations, and prevented major wars for 100 years.
Curiously enough, the question of sea power was never clearly distinguished, in British politics during the last fifty years, from the question of imperial rule over other countries. In fact, the two subjects are entirely distinct. Sea power does not offend small countries, as does military occupation. If Britain had maintained her navy, with a few naval bases overseas in isolated islands, and had given independence to colonies which asked for it, the world might well be a more stable place today. In fact, however, the navy was swept away in the popular outcry against imperialism.
XIII. The Age of Commerce
Let us now, however, return to the life-story of our typical empire. We have already considered the age of outburst, when a little-regarded people suddenly bursts on to the world stage with a wild courage and energy. Let us call it the Age of the Pioneers.
Then we saw that these new conquerors acquired the sophisticated weapons of the old empires, and adopted their regular systems of military organisation and training. A great period of military expansion ensued, which we may call the Age of Conquests. The conquests resulted in the acquisition of vast territories under one government, thereby automatically giving rise to commercial prosperity. We may call this the Age of Commerce. The Age of Conquests, of course, overlaps the Age of Commerce.
The proud military traditions still hold sway and the great armies guard the frontiers, but gradually the desire to make money seems to gain hold of the public. During the military period, glory and honour were the principal objects of ambition. To the merchant, such ideas are but empty words, which add nothing to the bank balance.
XIV. Art and luxury
The wealth which seems, almost without effort, to pour into the country enables the commercial classes to grow immensely rich. How to spend all this money becomes a problem to the wealthy business community. Art, architecture and luxury find rich patrons. Splendid municipal buildings and wide streets lend dignity and beauty to the wealthy areas of great cities. The rich merchants build themselves palaces, and money is invested in communications, highways, bridges, railways or hotels, according to the varied patterns of the ages.
The first half of the Age of Commerce appears to be peculiarly splendid. The ancient virtues of courage, patriotism and devotion to duty are still in evidence. The nation is proud, united and full of self-confidence. Boys are still required, first of all, to be manly—to ride, to shoot straight and to tell the truth. (It is remarkable what emphasis is placed, at this stage, on the manly virtue of truthfulness, for lying is cowardice—the fear of facing up to the situation.)
Boys’ schools are intentionally rough. Frugal eating, hard living, breaking the ice to have a bath and similar customs are aimed at producing a strong, hardy and fearless breed of men. Duty is the word constantly drummed into the heads of young people. The Age of Commerce is also marked by great enterprise in the exploration for new forms of wealth. Daring initiative is shown in the search for profitable enterprises in far corners of the earth, perpetuating to some degree the adventurous courage of the Age of Conquests.
XV. The Age of Affluence
There does not appear to be any doubt that money is the agent which causes the decline of this strong, brave and self-confident people. The decline in courage, enterprise and a sense of duty is, however, gradual.
The first direction in which wealth injures the nation is a moral one. Money replaces honour and adventure as the objective of the best young men. Moreover, men do not normally seek to make money for their country or their community, but for themselves. Gradually, and almost imperceptibly, the Age of Affluence silences the voice of duty. The object of the young and the ambitious is no longer fame, honour or service, but cash.
Education undergoes the same gradual transformation. No longer do schools aim at producing brave patriots ready to serve their country. Parents and students alike seek the educational qualifications which will command the highest salaries. The Arab moralist, Ghazali (1058-1111), complains in these very same words of the lowering of objectives in the declining Arab world of his time. Students, he says, no longer attend college to acquire learning and virtue, but to obtain those qualifications which will enable them to grow rich. The same situation is everywhere evident among us in the West today.
XVI. High Noon
That which we may call the High Noon of the nation covers the period of transition from the Age of Conquests to the Age of Affluence: the age of Augustus in Rome, that of Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad, of Sulaiman the Magnificent in the Ottoman Empire, or of Queen Victoria in Britain. Perhaps we might add the age of Woodrow Wilson in the United States.
All these periods reveal the same characteristics. The immense wealth accumulated in the nation dazzles the onlookers. Enough of the ancient virtues of courage, energy and patriotism survive to enable the state successfully to defend its frontiers. But, beneath the surface, greed for money is gradually replacing duty and public service. Indeed the change might be summarised as being from service to selfishness.
XVII. Defensiveness
Another outward change which invariably marks the transition from the Age of Conquests to the Age of Affluence is the spread of defensiveness. The nation, immensely rich, is no longer interested in glory or duty, but is only anxious to retain its wealth and its luxury. It is a period of defensiveness, from the Great Wall of China, to Hadrian’s Wall on the Scottish Border, to the Maginot Line in France in 1939.
Money being in better supply than courage, subsidies instead of weapons are employed to buy off enemies. To justify this departure from ancient tradition, the human mind easily devises its own justification. Military readiness, or aggressiveness, is denounced as primitive and immoral. Civilised peoples are too proud to fight. The conquest of one nation by another is declared to be immoral. Empires are wicked. This intellectual device enables us to suppress our feeling of inferiority, when we read of the heroism of our ancestors, and then ruefully contemplate our position today. ‘It is not that we are afraid to fight,’ we say, ‘but we should consider it immoral.’ This even enables us to assume an attitude of moral superiority.
The weakness of pacifism is that there are still many peoples in the world who are aggressive. Nations who proclaim themselves unwilling to fight are liable to be conquered by peoples in the stage of militarism—perhaps even to see themselves incorporated into some new empire, with the status of mere provinces or colonies.
When to be prepared to use force and when to give way is a perpetual human problem, which can only be solved, as best we can, in each successive situation as it arises. In fact, however, history seems to indicate that great nations do not normally disarm from motives of conscience, but owing to the weakening of a sense of duty in the citizens, and the increase in selfishness and the desire for wealth and ease.
Continued in Part 2 of 2… on July 03, 2026
From Author Jack Lawson…
I have communicated with Mark Glubb, Sir John Glubb’s Grandson. Wonderful man. He told me he was approaching the rest of the Glubb Family about me having publication rights for Sir John’s 17 previous literary works. Communication on that has long since ceased, so I accept no response, as a polite ‘no.’
Sir John Glubb was considered “One of them” by Arabs when it came to Middle Eastern Royalty. NO ONE, OUTSIDE ARABS, were trusted enough to be allowed in the Archives of every country to read (in Aramic or Farsi, common Arab Semite languages) the ancient documents of the History of the Middle East. Sir John Glubb was, as he was fluent in their languages. He spoke, read and wrote them.
He kept the Jews from massacring the Muslims and the Muslims from massacring the Jews, as Commander of the Arab Legion for 16 years (Now the Jordanian Army). He adopted a Muslim boy as his Son, who became a Christian and his Blood Son converted to Islam. I have not bothered the Glubb Family since, about publishing, in an attempt to respect their privacy.
THE ABOVE IS A WARNING ON THE FATE OF GREAT CIVILISATIONS… LIKE AMERICA !! 250 years is about the maximum, according to Sir John Glubb. America, is your time up?
250 Years of American Resilience. Are You Ready for the FUTURE?
Look around you… while driving the road, in the store, in cities… in the Metropolitan Areas, especially. MANY PEOPLE.
When you think about that situation being the identical situation everywhere in America and the World… on every road, in every store, in every city, in every Metropolitan Area… you have to come to the same conclusion…
THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE FOR THE RESOURCES OF EARTH TO SUPPORT WITH THE UNRELIABLE SUPPLY SYSTEM WE HAVE.
Too many mouths to feed. A correction will come at some point.
I do not even attempt to be “Prophetic…” I simply post INDICATORS. I’m not telling you what or when it will happen. That, you have to piece together yourself from INDICATORS. But never has America and the World faced so many issues that have put us on the edge of the cliff next to the “Gorge of Chaos.”
I don’t describe them as “Probable Indicators...” because they are not just probable… one or more of them WILL create a Catastrophic Event that will turn your world TO CHAOS… causing further Catastrophic Event to happen!
YOUR LIFE and that of your Family, Wife, Friends, Neighbors and Americans WILL ONLY CONTINUE WITH LIFE ESSENTIAL ITEMS. YOU AND THEY WILL DIE WITHOUT TWO OF THEM… WATER AND FOOD, AROUND THIS TIME PERIOD.
THE CIVIL DEFENSE MANUAL TIMELINE OF DEATH…
●Water equals three to four days without-then incapacitation and death
●Food equals three to four weeks without-then incapacitation and death
●Medicines that you depend on daily to keep you alive-that, you will have to calculate
Financial calamity has already begun, it just hasn’t completely shown its ugly rattlesnake-shaped and venom deadly head to affect you. Financial chaos will start famine and starvation. None of your elected officials will be able to stop the financial deterioration and destruction.
However, thirst and your growling stomach will totally remove the worry of financial issues from your mind.
More to come in following Newsletters… or buy the Civil Defense Manual here… DO IT BEFORE THE SHYTTE HITS THE PROVERBIAL FAN !!
PREPARE !
The Civil Defense Manual is available at 41% OFF during the month of July to celebrate our 250th Independence Day.
Regular $96.49 and on sale for $56.29
http://www.JackLawsonBooks.com
You will find nothing as comprehensive between book covers for Preparedness anywhere.
http://www.JackLawsonBooks.com
The Author advises the Reader that the Author, the Contributing Authors, Publisher, Copyright Holders, Website Administrators are not attorneys and some recommendations or actions in this book that the Reader takes may lead to loss… financial and otherwise, injury or death. The Author, the Contributing Authors, Publisher, Copyright Holders will not be liable for situations that arise from the Reader’s interpretations, recommendations or misunderstanding of material in this essay, article, supplement, newsletter, emails, my books The Civil Defense Primer, the Civil Defense Manual or the Author’s instructions to others. Even though the Reader may determine that action or inaction to be as instructed by this book or in the spirit of simple self-defense, it may not be viewed that way by authorities in some States and Locales and the Authors accept no responsibility for your actions. Consult an attorney and apply common sense and their advice in your actions and interpretation of instructions and recommendations from us.
Reader’s actions or implementation of recommendations and information or misinformation from this book or essay, article, supplement, newsletter, email… may lead to the Reader’s liability, loss of their money or that of others or other damages or injury or death. You’re all adults… behave as responsible, safe, compassionate, common sense, lawful adults. Verify your Federal, State and Local laws and ordinances before using the information in this book or essay, article, supplement, newsletter or email. As an adult… make your decisions independent of advice, information or misinformation from my books The Civil Defense Primer, A Collapse Of Society, the Civil Defense Manual and any and all other information. Wear big people’s pants and live with the decisions you make as your decisions… made by your independent thinking mind. Don’t blame others for your mistakes or misfortune… and that includes us.
Other authors, books and resources I recommend for Preparedness and Survival… because I don’t do this just for money… it’s also for my children, grandchildren, Americans and America!
Recommended Blogs, Internet Shows and Websites…
Western Rifle Shooters Association at: https://www.westernrifleshooters.online/
OUR COUNTRY OUR CHOICE at: https://www.ourcountryourchoice.com/
Matt Bracken at: www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com
AND Matt Bracken’s Substack
Forward Observer at: www.ForwardObserver.com
NC Scout at: www.brushbeater.org
SELCO at: www.shtfschool.com/ (His books and his Survival Boot Camp)
Johnny Paratrooper at: www.patreon.com/GreenDragonAcademy
Prepared Airman at: www.preparedairman.bigcartel.com/
Big Country Expat at: www.bigcountryexpat.com/
Stan Szymanski at: www.EcouragingAngels.org
Survivor Library at: www.survivorlibrary.com
Joe Dolio at: www.Tactical-Wisdom.com
Nehemiah Strong at: www.johndyslin.com/
Don Shift at: www.amazon.com/Don-Shift/e/
Daisy Luther at: www.theorganicprepper.com
Christopher Parrett at: www.ldsavow.com
The Tactical Hermit at: www.thetacticalhermit.com
J.C. Dodge at: www. www.masondixontactical.wordpress.com/
Infantry Dort at: https://www.InfantryDort.Substack.com
Bob Rodgers at: https://prepperswill.com/
Modern Exodus at: modernexodus.substack.com
The Civil Defense Manual is AVAILABLE ONLY at…
This is a WARNING from the Author of the Civil Defense Manual…
STORE WATER and FOOD. NOW! Your firearms won’t do you any good if you are dying of thirst or starving to death.
You can buy the Civil Defense Manual here…
http://www.JackLawsonBooks.com
Sign Up for the Civil Defense Manual Newsletter at the bottom of any page of our website to get updates, our newsletter and supplements. FREE READING. While you’re on our website, use the tools such as our FREE Water & Food Calculator.
Free Articles…
We also invite you to view over 150 preparedness articles and information at www.JackLawsonBooks.Substack.com
The Civil Defense Manual is ONLY AVAILABLE at
http://www.JackLawsonBooks.com
We DO NOT SELL through Amazon or EBay and their price gougers who are selling this book for up to three times what we sell it for. I still can’t believe that.
Sign Up for the Civil Defense Manual Newsletter at the bottom of any page of our website to get updates, our newsletter and supplements. FREE READING. We do not use your email for marketing or anything else. While you’re on our website, use the tools such as our FREE Food & Water Calculator.