I was listening to a group of Americans talk about the decline of the American empire. It was in my estimation an almost quintessential American discussion for a few reasons.
Mostly because of what I thought were assumptions and opinions. Firstly there were the assumptions. The first was that America was actually an empire. The second was that the decline of empire was a reality. My initial response was some skepticism over whether the United States makes the grade as far as being declared a bona fides empire. But after some thought and some reading I think the Americans make the empire club for three reasons. Territory, wealth and cultural influence.
I think that my initial skepticism I had over the empire assumption was based on a sense I had that empire spanned a considerable time frame and the Americans hadn’t reached that pinnacle as yet. The Americans themselves have existed since 1776 and that puts the country at roughly 250 years old. Number 15 and 14 on the list of uninterrupted empires are the Russian empire at 204 years and the Qing Empire at 268 years. So the Americans are in the ballpark as far as years go. But I don’t think the Americans got around to real empire building until they fought Mexico in the 1840’s and Spain in the 1890’s. Once they took a third of Mexico and most of Spain’s colonial territory, then they had demonstrated distinct empire qualifiers. Namely a powerful enough military to land grab, and the population and industry to support projection of that military power for an extended period of time.
So, if you add Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, The American Virgin Islands, Wake, American Samoa, and some of the Marianas Islands, then the territory box is ticked. Also, the United States military budget last year was a smidge over 900 billion dollars so a tick in the wealth box seems appropriate. Finally the Americans have around 350 million people, and that appears to be enough to populate somewhere around 800 military bases around the world. And so it appears power projection is also a ticked box.
Additionally, when the concept of wealth is factored in, it’s hard to miss that the American dollar is a measuring stick for the rest of the worlds currency. American wealth then provides the next box to be ticked, and that’s a cultural influence on the rest of the world. Hollywood is a good place to start, but let’s not ignore Macdonald’s, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart, and just about every aspect of the entertainment industry. From jazz to rap to Motown to Nascar, American cultural exports are most certainly influential. I suppose I should add that American scientists and researchers have added a few items to cultural exports, and so Apple, Microsoft, Chevy trucks, the assembly line and all sorts of innovations for the military that proved useful for everyone else deserve a mention.
Like global positioning satellites.
So I guess that despite a lack of longevity, the Americans make the cut and qualify as an empire. Plus they’ve had slaves, exploited the people inhabiting their absorbed territories and haven’t hesitated to use their military for interventions to protect the aforementioned wealth. The latest numbers I could find are five years old but that data says the Americans have deployed their military for actual or potential conflicts 211 times in 67 countries since the end of the second world war.
That looks a lot like empire behavior.
I still feel like I need to kind of justify my initial skepticism and so here’s some world history.
- Byzantine Empire – 874 years.
- Holy Roman Empire – 844 years
- Zhou Empire – 790 years
- Ottoman Empire – 624 years
Anyway, the panel of Americans weren’t interested in other empires. They were interested in the American experience as far as empires go, and were generally agreeable that the end of empire is inevitable and any end starts with a decline.
So the panel folks began to offer their opinions on when the decline began and what trends or events they saw as evidence of this recession of empire. And here’s where the discussion earned the quintessentially American label I applied.
There was a lot of blame to go around and the fingers were pointed at morality, education, too little Jesus, Liberals, Conservatives, immigrants, the internet and drugs and pornography. Essentially every panel member blamed the supposed decline on any change to America that they found personally unappealing.
It was kind of like a mom for liberty Karen blamed the alphabet people, and the blue haired girl blamed the patriarchy. The oil executive blamed the environmentalists, the evangelical blamed the atheists and the liberal blamed wall street.
And I should add that there seemed to be a consensus among a group of panelists that too many immigrants was a key component of the decline. Muslims and Mexicans mostly.
I was a bit surprised that other than immigrants and Islam. no one blamed any other outside factors for the perceived decline. No one even mentioned Russia or China. The decline of the American empire in the minds of this panel was almost strictly an internal affair. Kind of a self destruct situation where no one knows the abort code.
Truth be told I pretty much tuned the panel out once the reasons for the apparent decline began to get voiced. I’ve heard all of it ad fucking naseum and I concluded that the volume, variety and veracity of opinion was the actual harbinger of impending decline.
It’s like a Roberts rules of disorder. A force of nature where too many people, too much personal latitude and too many interpretations of equity guarantees disorder and a reset. Or put another way, the end of empire.
It makes me wonder if the Romans ever convened a panel of citizens and senators and had exactly the same discussion as the American panel was having. Did they blame the Christians and the orgies for the arrival of the Vandals? Maybe taxes and inflation?
Probably, but my guess is that they had too many assholes with too much time on their hands, mixed with a high end sense of entitlement and topped off with corrupt politicians. An age of entitlement and never ending injustice.
Then eventually everyone said fuck it. I’m not guarding the gates. or put another way, end of empire.
I think though that the decline starts when the empire abandons its outposts. At that point the empire no longer expands or holds its own, Rather it constricts and continues to constrict until it implodes. That’s why I don’t understand the mentality of the Nationalists. The Steve Bannon types who claim to have a plan to make America great again. It seems to me that once the empire decides to abandon its allies and outposts that the age of greatness is over, and the process of decline has begun. It’s not just the physical presence at those outposts that defines empire but the traditions and cultural mores that accompany the outpost community. And most importantly the financial exploitation of the denizens that surround those outposts.
No more Coca Cola and Taylor Swift, and more importantly no more American dollars being funneled to the empires coffers from soda sales to non-Americans. Come to think of it, Taylor should probably tell her fans to vote for Joe or she’s going to have to rename her tour the end of an era.
Because putting a madman in charge is also another sign of decline of empire.
Like Nero and Caligula. Like George the third and Charles the sixth. And Ludwig of Bavaria, the nutbar builder of Disney castles. Those kinds of leaders. Although I’ve got to say that the American situation is somewhat different in that the citizens get to vote and ultimately assist in deciding if they want to end their empire with delusional Don the first. If the Americans decide that Donny is their future then a unique historical even will have occurred where the madness enveloped not just an emperor, but the citizenry as well.
I’ve started to accept the thought that the entire American empire has fallen victim to toxic narcissism. Dondelusional is merely a projection of that toxicity. A figurehead of illness that seems to inevitably infect every empire. An illness where the citizens stop looking outward because of a firm belief that they are the best and brightest. Sumus numero unum chanted at the colosseum is no different than we’re number one at an American event of any kind.
It’s an expression of arrogance from the empire that enables and invigorates the barbarians to hasten the decline. A self indulgence that breed’s not just a lack of concern for anything not of the empire but also a lack of awareness of anything not of the empire. Early onset myopia is in my opinion a sign of the end of utopia. Once you have a populace infected with anosognosia then you’re pretty much fucked.
Or to put it another way, the end of empire.