The Fate of Empires
Being an Inquiry into the Stability of Civilisation
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Narrated by:
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Charlton Griffin
About this listen
The Fate of Empires analyzes many of the commonly held traits of the world’s historic empires and demonstrates how the presence or absence of these can determine the outcome of these societies. The author isolates two main forces operating in advanced civilizations: the urge to reproduce as well as competition among members of society. At times, one or the other may prevail under various circumstances, with a balance between these stresses being sought. Because this societal stress is evolutionary in nature, reflex, instinct, reason, and religious motive have flowed in that order from this development. Where it gets interesting is when reason overrules instinct and religious motive overrules reason. What emerges from this is a stress triangle composed of the individual, his tribe/ethnicity, and the larger society. The consequences of this stress can be disastrous for people living in these societies. Part one of this book examines the philosophy developed by Hubbard, while in the second part of the book he applies this philosophy to Ancient Greece and Rome, as well as to the Chinese Empire of his own day.
Arthur John Hubbard published his short masterpiece a few years before World War I, well before Oswald Spengler’s “Decline of the West”. Although some of the terminology used seems somewhat antiquated nowadays, the work still resonates in modern times. The listener is cautioned not to interpret Hubbard’s use of the word “race” as it is understood today. “Race” had a looser definition in Hubbard’s time, being used in phrases such as “the French race” or “the English race.” As incorporated in this book, a better definition would probably be “ethnicity” or even “tribe.”
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Max Weber's best-known and most controversial work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, first published in 1904, remains to this day powerful and fascinating. Weber's highly accessible style is just one of many reasons for his continuing popularity. The book contends that the Protestant ethic made possible and encouraged the development of capitalism in the West.
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Very good unprejudiced scholar
- By Viktor V. Choban on 07-11-19
By: Max Weber
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The Story of Philosophy
- The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
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Fantastic and insightful book
- By ESK on 01-25-13
By: Will Durant
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Theory and History
- An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution (LvMI)
- By: Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Like F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises moved beyond economics in his later years to address questions regarding the foundation of all social science. But unlike Hayek's attempts, Mises' writings on these matters have received less attention than they deserve. Theory and History, writes Rothbard in his introduction, "remains by far the most neglected masterwork of Mises". Here Mises defends his all-important idea of methodological dualism: one approach to the hard sciences and another for the social sciences.
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Without This Book, You Are Uneducated
- By Michael D. Rubin on 10-03-18
By: Ludwig von Mises, and others
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Escape from Freedom
- By: Erich Fromm
- Narrated by: Anthony Haden Salerno
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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lf a man cannot stand freedom, he will probably turn fascist. This, in the fewest possible words, is the essential argument in this modem classic, Escape from Freedom. The author, Erich Fromm, is a distinguished psychologist, late of Berlin and Heidelberg, now of New York City.
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Why is this not required reading in high school?
- By Xander on 09-07-16
By: Erich Fromm
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Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
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Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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Anarchy
- By: Errico Malatesta
- Narrated by: Caroline Collins
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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"Anarchy" (1907) is a political classic written by famous anarchist Errico Malatesta. "Anarchy is a word which comes from the Greek, and signifies, strictly speaking, without government: the state of a people without any constituted authority. Before such an organization had begun to be considered possible and desirable by a whole class of thinkers, so as to be taken as the aim of a party (which party has now become one of the most important factors in modern social warfare)."
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Malatesta is a Fantastic writer.
- By Elly on 08-28-21
By: Errico Malatesta
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The Law
- By: Frederick Bastiat
- Narrated by: Floy Lilley
- Length: 1 hr and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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How is it that the law enforcer itself does not have to keep the law? How is it that the law permits the state to lawfully engage in actions which, if undertaken by individuals, would land them in jail? These are among the most intriguing issues in political and economic philosophy. More specifically, the problem of law that itself violates law is an insurmountable conundrum of all statist philosophies. The problem has never been discussed so profoundly and passionately as in this essay by Frederic Bastiat from 1850. This essay might have been written today. It applies to our own time.
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This is abridged
- By Kipling Oren on 09-10-14
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On the Soul & Parva Naturalia
- By: Aristotle
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Two contrasting reflections by Aristotle which cover very particular ground. In 'On the Soul', Aristotle presents his view of the 'life essence' which, he argues, is possessed by living things whether plants, animals or humans. Not a 'soul' in the generally accepted Western use of the term, this 'soul', he says, is a life force that is indivisible from the organism that possesses it.
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DeAnima. Aristotle on the soul.
- By Reader on 07-28-18
By: Aristotle
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A Short History of Ethics
- By: Alasdair MacIntyre
- Narrated by: Tim Dalgleish
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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A Short History of Ethics is a significant contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. It remains an important work, ideal for all students interested in ethics and morality.
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Great philosopher made ridiculous by accents
- By Olivia Walling on 10-04-17
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The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
- By: Bernard Bailyn
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment", as a postscript. Here he discusses the intense nationwide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution.
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Bernard Bailyn is a genius!
- By John M. Crean on 04-21-19
By: Bernard Bailyn
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The Wisdom of Life, Counsels and Maxims
- By: Arthur Schopenhauer
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
'The two foes of human happiness are pain and boredom.' Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was one of the most influential philosophers of the 19th century because his humanistic, atheistic, if pessimistic views chimed with a new secularism that was emerging from a Western society dominated by religion. Despite his rather forbidding image (and a few outdated views), he is one of the most approachable German philosophers, and this is certainly evident in these two key works, The Wisdom of Life and Counsels and Maxims.
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depressingly hopeful
- By Sebastian huerta on 06-22-17
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What listeners say about The Fate of Empires
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- Alex Odom
- 11-20-24
Rambling
I'm an avid reader, and former English teacher; I can usually discover a thesis, even if it is poorly constructed. After listening to this entire book I am still waiting for a thesis. This book does contain some long-winded ramblings about eugenics, race, and family dynamics that don't seem to tie together in a way that would not help anyone understand the fate of empires. I feel like I just listened to someone's uncle rant about Rome and China.
If you want to look at this from a perspective of volume; this is a book that claims to explain the fall of Rome AND Chinese history in... 6 hours.
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