day no. 16,075: soft slapdashery

"True to the normal course followed by nations in decline, internal differences are not reconciled in an attempt to save the nation. On the contrary, internal rivalries become more acute, as the nation becomes weaker." -- Sir John Glubb, The Fates of Empires and Search for Survival

Sound familiar? Is a growing and looming threat of Chinese world dominance leading to an American "let bygones be bygones" sort of unity? Far from it. Is Russian aggression producing American unification? Not a chance.

As a nation becomes more decadent, it becomes more vulnerable. Its people do not rally together around the common cause of preserving the nation, but rather indulge in the luxury of intensified, divisive rivalries. This increased lack of clarity as to what constitutes a nation inevitably leads to it being overtaken by one who lacks no certainty as to who they are and what they are doing. A nation that has forgotten what makes them distinct is easy pickings for one who has a clear identity. The crisp sharpness of the invading society's distinct personality makes short work of the soft slapdashery of a society with disassociated identity disorder.