The Fate of Empires

A fascinating read, only 26 pages, but it's somewhat dry and scholastic in style so I'll note that the author first observes that human beings do not learn from history, and that in fact many people are ignorant about history, and so cannot learn from it. 

He lists numerous empires that lasted approximately 200 to 250 years, and analyzes the repeated, predictable stages of their rise and fall.  As I read this, I thought he might have been writing a thumbnail sketch of the United States (he was not). 

For those who don't care to wade through the whole article, I'll quote the summary from the last page of the article:

The stages of the rise and fall of great nations seem to be:
The Age of Pioneers  
The Age of Conquests
The Age of Commerce
The Age of Affluence
The Age of Intellect
The Age of Decadence.

Decadence is marked by:  
Defensiveness
Pessimism
Materialism
Frivolity
An influx of foreigners
The welfare state
A weakening of religion

Decadence is due to:
Too long a period of wealth and power
Selfishness

See anything here that's familiar?

http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2014/092814_files/TheFateofEmpiresbySirJohnGlubb.pdf