Dear Friends,
It seems to me, there is an Ironic Cycle of Civilization. In one sentence… it is that societal trust builds prosperity, and prosperity erodes trust, that lack of trust then ushers in poverty. If people come together in that poverty, the cycle can renew, but if they remain islands without trust, the cycle is broken and perpetual poverty results. This happens because a poor society is best served if they pull together, instead of apart. A society that pulls together naturally is more prosperous and has higher trust. The prosperity generates a need for more laws to guard that prosperity. The simple fact that there is a need for more laws makes people less trusting. As time goes on, laws replace morals, until trust is obliterated. That’s when laws fail to control and so collapse happens.
Each individual fiber in a rope may be strong but twisted into a united strand they become an order of magnitude stronger. Trust is the winding of the societal rope. A culture then that has a high trust ratio could be said to have a good wind to it. It will be much stronger than one without a twist. Just as a cord is strongest when wound properly. Taking the analogy further, we can say that a strong rope is capable of more work than a weak rope. It’s also more durable since a tight weave sheds water and grit. Such a society then, one that is tight-knit is going to be more prosperous. Just as a tightly wound rope is stronger than a bundle of loose fibers. Societies then that fail to come together in poverty, often because trust was completely lost, stay poor for generations, due, ironically to that lack of trust.
Wealthy civilizations erode trust with laws written to benefit those who write them, at a cost to those who don’t. This creates a situation where political power is of the utmost importance. Parties will spend whatever it takes to get power. This is because everyone wants to benefit from such a system and not be extracted from, by it. As a result, factions will spend billions to get their preferred candidate elected. Next comes the double standards. This is a consequence of elites exploiting their power. Laws go from being regulative to extractive. Once people recognize the double standard and the extractive nature of law, they lose faith in the system. Trust is lost and often lost forever. Once law is seen as unjust, no one follows it. Without morality or law ordering society, the cycle turns and chaos follows.
Civilization is all about interpersonal trust. Where people act morally there is natural trust between them. The result is civilization. A civilized person will hold themselves to their word. When that is the case, there is little friction to win-win interactions. Indeed, every interaction becomes a win-win. This leads inexorably to prosperity as well as resiliency. Profit is ever-present, because if every interaction is a win-win both sides profit. Once the phase shifts from a moralist regime to a legalist one and trust is lost… every interaction becomes at best a win-lose, or often lose-lose. Once a handshake is insufficient contracts become required. Then once lawyers and courts have nullified the utility of contracts with loopholes, what’s next? Other than chaos and collapse?
The ironic cycle of civilization is only ironic because of human nature. Not the nature of the average man or woman, but the nature of any of us once in power. Give a saint unlimited power without consequence and they will busy themselves with tyrannizing mankind for our benefit. Meanwhile, they sleep with a clean conscience. Most of us aren’t saints though. As proven by history. Ironically the very thing that powers wealth creation, trust, is eroded as wealth is created. So if, as Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” then the ironic cycle makes perfect sense. The power to write law must be invested in someone, and if that power corrupts them, that seems hardwired. I wonder though… would it be possible to break that cycle?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
