The Cycles and Lines of History and Nations
Civilizations rise out of chaos.
Order reigns.
Order turns to a regimen.
Regimen becomes oppressive.
Oppression graduates to full-blown brutality, injustice, cruelty, despotism, corruption, and tyranny.
Civilization crumbles back to chaos - and it all starts over.
This seems to be the order of society and civilization. Greece, Rome, the Mongols - each being very different, but with similar story arcs.
History is both cyclical and linear. There are patterns and straight lines. There are layered complexities and a beginning, middle, and end.
These days I often wonder where we are, both in the cycle and in the line.
“O kings, be wise;
Be warned, O rulers of the earth. ”
