Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples

Yet another excerpt from a book in Kuwait.

"...In it, Ibn Khaldun tried to explain the rise and fall of dynasties in a way which would serve as a touchstone by which the credibility of historical narratives might be judged. The simplest and easiest forms of human society, he believed, was that of the people of the steppes and mountains, growing crops or rearing livestock, and following leaders who had not organized power of coercion. Such people had a certain natural goodness and energy, but could not by themselves create stable governments, cities, or high culture. For that to be possible, there had to be a ruler with exclusive authority, and such a one could establish himself only if he was able to create and dominate a group of followers possessing 'asabiyya', that is to say, a corporate spirit oriented towards obtaining and keeping power. This group could best be drawn from the energetic men of the steppe or mountain; it could be held together by the sense of common ancestry, whether real or fictitious or by ties of dependence, and reinforced by common acceptance of a religion. A ruler with a strong and coherent group of followers could found a dynasty; when its rule was stable populous cities would grow up and in them there would be specialized crafts, luxurious ways of living and high culture.

"Every dynasty, however, bore in itself the seeds of its decline: it could be weakened by tyranny, extravagance, and the loss of the qualities of command. Effective power might pass from the ruler to members of his own group, but sooner or later the dynasty might be replaced by another formed in a similar way. When this happened, not only the ruler, but the whole people on whom his power had rested, and the life they had created, might disappear; as Ibn Khaldun said in another context, 'when there is a general change of conditions, it is as if the entire creation had changed and the whole world had been altered.' The Greeks and Persians, 'the greatest powers of their time in the world,' had been replaced by the Arabs, whose strength and cohesion had created a dynasty of which the power stretched from Arabia to Spain; but they in their turn had been replaced by Berbers in Spain and the Maghrid, and by the Turks further east."

Of particular interest to me, here, is, "it could be weakended by tyranny, extravagance, and the loss of the qualities of command." Extravagance. The end of the Roman empire is sometimes tied to extravagance on the part of the Roman citizens, which forced the legions to be manned by Barbarians. In time, Romans, except for the poor and destitute, stayed out of service. What does that say about us, here in America? 80 percent of our citizens are obese, by last estimates. Only a small percentage volunteers for the military. "What we do in life, echoes in eternity." Extravagance.