Are We Heading Back to Barbarism?

Nasty, Brutish, and Short

Life has changed. Politicians are, as usual, well behind the curve.

Once upon a time the easy way to survive was to set up an army and send it out to steal their neighbours’ goods. Half or more of the soldiers didn’t need to be paid as they got killed. It was a very cheap way of providing workers.

If you didn’t produce coal, kill off the people who had plenty of coal and steal there’s.

It was a methodology that worked. And killing your enemies (which meant people who have what you want) gradually turned into a noble art.

I remember visiting the Central African Republic (CAR) way back was I was in my early twenties. I travelled with a group of Germans who initially wanted to travel east. We were all living perfectly well, and perfectly peacefully in Addis Ababa at the time. That was one of the nicest places I have ever lived, but we were all bored. The Germans favoured a trip east across the Danakil desert. I did some research which quickly put a stop to that idea, and the Germans learned a new English word: gonads. I’ll leave you to look up the grisly things the Danakil tribesmen did to unwelcome travellers.

And that was the problem too with CAR. It’s the size of France, and when we visited the population was estimated at about one million people speaking about eighty languages and quite frankly hating each other. The folks from the next village spoke a different language and were regarded as a permanent threat. It was expected that one day they would rise up and invade their neighbours and steal everything in sight.

That way of life changed rather slowly and not necessarily for the better when strong powers arose and commanded professional armies which acted like businesses. One of the most successful of those was that of Rome. And what happened there? The governments descended into gangs or idiots and the empire was lost and Europe returned to barbarism. We know that era as the Dark Ages when life was ‘nasty, brutish and short’. In the modern era a great empire was run by the Netherlands, which was quickly followed by the British.

That brought with it a variation of the “steal everything in sight” mantra. In England it was known as “Trade follows the flag”. A new concept was born, namely, that one could get one’s neighbours’ goodies if you bartered your goodies with them. It was cheaper (no armies were needed). It was safer. People rarely got killed. And a calmer and more pleasant attitude to life started to emerge.

What we seem to have inherited after a frightful start to the twentieth century was the concept that if we all got together and made treaties with each other the concept of trade alone, without needing to be directed by a flag, could lead to a rather friendly and peaceful lifestyle.

Does anyone really want to return to the bad old days and start fighting for things?

All of the folks I know quite like peace. We could walk the streets without needing high city walls to keep out those blighters from next door. In fact we welcomed them because they produced things we didn’t, and they bought the things we produced. This new system worked, and people not only felt happier and safer, they also began to realise that peace allowed them to be a lot richer, and they also got addicted to wealth.

What is now happening in the East is that this new way of life is catching on fast, and they are becoming richer by the minute as well as safer and happier.

Unfortunately, what is happening in the West is that we are destroying trade lines, destroying our industries, and destroying our peaceful previously happy way of life.

Are we heading back to a modern form of the dark ages?

That way of life is a route back to primitivism. I have to admit I cant see the advantage. I quite liked going to the shop for fresh bread, or making it myself. I certainly enjoyed going out friday nights to local dances, and not having to worry about escorts. And most of my friends, and of course myself, thought that joining an army was a half-witted action.

What has gone wrong in Europe and the USA?

Across the West there are people living in tents. There are people living on meagre handouts. Factories are closing so we have nothing to sell in exchange for the other things we dont have and have grown to like. And we have a serious shortage of energy, which is something that a modern world runs on.

Folks, do you really think we are heading in a great direction, or are we heading back to a world that will once again be nasty brutish and short?

I’m loathe to say this but increasingly it looks as though the only way forward is to bring on the revolution.