The Law of Civilization and Decay: An Essay on History Contributor(s): Adams, Brooks (Author), Bolton, Kerry (Introduction by) |
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ISBN: 1910881406 ISBN-13: 9781910881408 Publisher: Black House Publishing OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: December 2016 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Business & Economics | Economic History - History | Europe - General |
Physical Information: 0.74" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (0.91 lbs) 356 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Before Oswald Spengler, Arnold Toynbee and other historians of cultural rise and fall, there was Brooks Adams. And while today there are ever more historians adding their theories as to why civilizations collapse through such factors as military invasion, over-taxation, or ecological shifts, most of these theories do not get to the cause of how civilizations, if not stunted and killed in youth or middle age, die of old age.
In the Law of Civilisation and Decay, Adams considers various societies and civilisations by the symbolism, manner and influence of their coinage, and concludes that a society or civilisation becomes sapped of its culture-vigour, its creative genius, when entering a cycle where money becomes the dominant factor rather than merely serving as a mechanism. The energy of a society, or what we might regard as its collective libido, is diverted fully into commerce and trade and what remains of cultural creativity becomes an economic activity for the market: a commodity. This is precisely where our Western Civilisation stands today. For those 'with eyes to see' the value of Brooks Adams' work should strike an immediate chord. |