The Romans, the Aztecs, the Greeks, and the Third Reich. They've all got something in common and I'm not talking their obsessions with dressing up. Great empires spanning huge parts of the globe. Sophisticated governmental systems, huge armies making monumental impacts on history and the way we lead our lives today. They all foundered.

There's one empire I haven't mentioned. The British Empire. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Britain still ruled over 200 countries and four hundred million people. The world map still had a large shade of red showing our great 'achievements' in spreading our own particular flavour of world domination. Like any patriotic country we politely kid ourselves that we were bringing the benefit or our way of life to a world of savages. The reality is of course that Britain committed atrocities. We invented the concentration camp. We forced our way of life onto hundreds of countries who were happy with their own way of life beforehand.

Meltdown

And do we think that our empire is going to be exempt from meltdown? Or are we in meltdown and we don't realise it? I'm beginning to think we've just tipped over the edge. Our society is based on a set of rules. For a golden period those rules were based on a simple set of morals. Society as a whole understood the concept of morals. No longer is that the case. Abuse of the rules is now widespread. The concept of moral behaviour is no longer understood in large parts of our society. Blame and self-pity now drive people rather than ambition and the desire to give anything back to society.

Swathes of the population now consider the Government of this country is a cash cow to be milked rather than being representative of the people. Civilised society is supposed to be about looking after those in our community who can't look after themselves. Now too many are helping themselves at the expense of those who are prepared to play by the rules.

Drowning

The powers that be continue to use the same blunt tools to govern. More rules are created. Rules are fine until we are drowning in a sea of them. No longer are rules based on simple morals. New laws, new rules are now created merely to address loopholes in other rules exposed by money grabbing lawyers or those seeking to squirm out of justice.

The situation on our roads amply demonstrates this. A simple set of rules intelligently applied would suffice. Look at the number of signs telling us what's allowed and what's not allowed. Decent education, and simple application of rules regarding driving with care and attention could be used to police our roads. They're not however. We now need a law banning the use of phones whilst driving. We now need laws and cameras to tell us that we need to be careful when driving near young children. We don't need individual laws. It's a sign that existing rules aren't effective.

Too Far

An intellectual backlash has started. The powers that be have created a spider's web of rules designed to control the carnage on our roads. The intelligent members of society toed the line but they're being pushed too far now. Law abiding citizens are now being criminalised in an effort to control those with no respect for the law anyway.

The over regulation on our roads and in society at general is a sign of the breakdown of our social system. When the core of society starts to question the very means by which we manage our country, we need a seachange in thinking. Not so long ago Britain almost governed the world. Now we can barely govern ourselves.

Unless fresh thinking is applied then our own society will continue the meltdown until it reaches historic proportions. 'Historic' being a big hint.

Link: www.britishempire.co.uk