11: Imperial Visions
From Harari — Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
In this chapter, the author talks about empires and their development throughout history. He notes that there is a stigma associated with empires. That they are inherently evil and exploitative. But he carefully articulates that empires have actually been the norm throughout human history, and that from a different perspective, they have been very beneficial to human organization and survival.
The author defines an empire as a political order that rules over a significant number of distinct peoples, and that it has flexible borders and appetite to absorb more territory and peoples. So empires are able to unite diverse cultures within a single political umbrella. But over time, that diversity would be reduced and squashed away, and the peoples will be assimilated into the greater culture.
The author argues that empires are a stable form of government. They easily topple rebellions that may rise up. They are only defeated by an external invasion or an internal split.
The author also points out that empires have contributed a lot to human culture and art throughout history, often financed by the elites.
The author notes that evolution has made humans xenophobic by nature. In that humans naturally separate “we” vs “they”. But however, imperialism and empires throughout history have sought to unify this diversity. Often the religion or philosophy of a peoples mandated that they do so.
The author wraps up the chapter commenting on an emerging global empire. In particular, the world stage right now is rule not directly by military might, but other soft powers. Of course as of late, there has been a rise of nationalism spreading throughout the world. But I anticipate this is just a small blip in the grander sweep of history. Over time, borders will mean very little, as they already don’t mean much in the age of the Internet. And when global transportation truly becomes affordable and efficient, the merging global empire will only accelerate. To me, the most alarming or disappointing aspect is that cultures will be lost. I anticipate that we will all float, by osmosis, to some neutral culture, dictated by the global powers that be, right now the West, and increasingly, China and other Eastern powers. As people grow up and evolve in this increasingly bland culture, will there be pockets of subcultures? Will there be a long-tail of people groups who gather and identify with one another? I find that difficult. But it just seems depressing that as we unify, it seems inherent that the diversity will also be lost over time.
