More observations

Reading over my last post, it seems a bit more pessimistic than I intended. Today we drove across the Mojave desert in 103 degree temperatures, listening to "The Wisdom of History" by Professor J. Rufus Fears, University of Oklahoma, one of the Teaching Company courses. Perhaps the high temperature has gotten to me.

What comes across from this course, time and again throughout history, is the inevitable evolution of a ruling elite, who quite naturally work to preserve their power, wealth, and privileged position, and eventually end up destroying their nation or society as a consequence. Time and again the ruling elite proves adept at maximizing their own short term gains, and oblivious to the long term threats to their culture, nation or empire. And part of the reason they are oblivious to the gathering threats is because they become more and more isolated from reality, more and more driven by a common ingroup world view.

This is a common thread throughout the history of the world, across all ages and cultures. It happened in ancient Greece and Rome and China. It happened in recent history in the empires of Spain, Britain, and the Soviet Union. It is happening today in Iran and China. And I cannot help but see the same pattern in our own nation, ruled by an elite coalition of powerful politicians and wealthy CEOs.

The interesting question is whether there is anything unique about the American system of democracy that can evade what seems to be an inevitable historical pattern of national decay and decline.