The Decline of Empire

Empires decline, and over time become backwaters, but the memory of the past remains long after the empire has lost what it can do. One thing that rapidly degrades as an empire declines is its state power, in its introverted sense.

Lee Kuan Yew visited London in October 1946 and saw an empire still in power:

Perhaps the most impressive sight I came upon was when I emerged from the tube station at Piccadilly Circus. I found a little table with a pile of newspapers and a box of coins and notes with nobody in attendance. You take your newspaper, toss in your coin or put in your 10 shilling note and take your change. I took a deep breath – this was a truly civilised people.

That's the London that LKY saw at the time and intended to replicate. By today, August 2024, however, the view of what one should expect in London has deteriorated to

Downvote me all you want but none of you are actually from London. I'm noticing cases of some middle class people living sheltered lives with utopian thoughts being killed over petty arguments. They ask roadman trash on the bus to turn down their shite music and get knifed for example.

As someone who grew up in council housing, just swallow your pride, you aren't going to change the world, go about your life and ignore these people who have nothing to lose. Have some street smarts, It's not worth losing your life over a petty argument. Some of them even see prison as a 'win'.

People believe that the end of empire is a violent time of overthrow as a new empire takes over the existing power. But the reality is that all states devote a large amount of their state power to maintaining their sovereignty since that is the basis of a state. Those ruling then devote as much state power as they can exercise to maintaining rule. And finally, the conditions of the remainder of people reflects the ability of the state to provide a well-regulated society.

The Decline of Empire therefore does not manifest as apocalyptic, but as the slow rot of state instruments culminating in the inability of the state to maintain internal order.

Errors become more common as systems can no longer sustain operation at 100%. Failures like the following happen more frequently:

The Coroner’s report states that Evelyn was born at Leeds General Infirmary on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at 4.38am, following a prolonged labour. She and her parents were discharged home four afters after the birth - despite her mother being “exhausted”, having had little sleep from Sunday, September 24, until her baby was born.

At around 1.45am on Wednesday, September 27, the baby was brought into her mother’s bed because she was unsettled. As she was being breastfed the mother is thought to have fallen asleep. When she woke up again at around 4am the baby was under the mother’s breast, in an unresponsive condition.

Things fall apart slowly till the memories of a better world fade into myth.