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Browsing by Subject "decay phase"

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    Corruption of Institutions and the Decay of Civilizations
    (Nova, 2013-02-08) Andregg, Michael M.
    CORRUPTION OF INSTITUTIONS AND THE DECAY OF CIVILIZATIONS Michael Andregg University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA ABSTRACT This chapter discusses the dangers of corruption of institutions, especially governments, and how such corruption can be exposed and partially cleansed. Theories about the decay phase of civilizations are briefly cited, and examples of corrupted forms of six professions illustrated (military, law, medicine, journalism, business and the clergy). Parallels between large organizations and the human body are shown to illustrate system consequences of dysfunction. An enduring theme is the need for constant, built in mechanisms to reduce corruption in living systems, including the largest scale of civilizations. Some solutions to these problems are mentioned, but readers are also challenged to do better since the problems of corruption of governance have been eternal and have successfully resisted many reform efforts. INTRODUCTION Civilizations are living systems, so like any living system they need at least 19 subsystems to acquire and process food, water, energy and information, to safely dispose of toxic byproducts or wastes, to avoid being eaten themselves, and otherwise to stay alive and to reproduce themselves. In one sense all these life functions are equally “essential” (Miller, Living Systems, 1978). Still I will maintain here that cleansing a civilization regularly of corruption (or empire or nation state) is especially important. Why?
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    The Decay Phase of Civilizations: Some Comparisons between Rome and the Current Situation
    (2011-06-02) Andregg, Michael M.
    This 61 slide PowerPoint discusses the "Decay Phase" of civilizations alleged by Carroll Quigley among others with data from the early Third Millennium and the Roman period. There are many, and we are not the only people who have wondered if our current civilization is "decaying" in various ways, moral, economic and practical.