Byron King also wrote The Essential Ingredient for Survival: Not Destroying Yourself Does a nation possess what is, at root, the essential ingredient for survival? Is it willing to change? Can it refrain from destroying itself? Perhaps you are wondering by now, dear readers, if I am writing indirectly about the U.S. war in Iraq. Well, yes, but it does not end with that one episode in that one nation. The U.S. is, and has been for many decades, sustaining itself and its empire on borrowed money and imported, and depleting, oil supplies. At what point will the self-destructive fiscal and monetary policies end? When will the energy policies swing toward recognizing the looming decline in available oil supply, at almost any price? What kind of systemic shock will it take? Yes, the war in Iraq is one manifestation of a nation that has mislearned its own history and has extended itself too far in an effort to do too much. But as my good friend Bill Bonner likes to say, "Every empire finds a way to destroy itself." And there are many ways to do so, notes Bill, with one of the easiest ways being "to invade Mesopotamia and conquer Baghdad." Think about it. The Greeks conquered Baghdad, as did the Romans. The Greeks, under Alexander, were smart enough to move on to the east through Persia and to conquer Afghanistan and advance into India. The Romans were smart enough to withdraw from Baghdad shortly after winning their war. But in the past two millennia, Persians, Mongols, and Turks have overrun the place, to their eventual regret. In the 20th century, it was the British who expended their army in the deserts of Mesopotamia, and in the 21st century, it is now the turn of the Americans. http://www.prosefights.org/shattuck/shattuck.htm