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On EmpiresEmpires Are Human Nature In ActionEmpires are a natural extension of the human will to exist and to survive. Empires protect a system of government or a system of beliefs against obsolescence. Empires create history and change the world through its actions or inaction. Empires and beliefs expand because people believe their methods or beliefs are better than the next person’s. In order to prove they are correct, you must be converted to their system. Competition cannot be allowed because being wrong is unacceptable. Competition means there is a possibility of being wrong but if the competing view is conquered or destroyed, that view must have been incorrect. Might makes right. History tells us that empires, nations, and beliefs expand by destroying or plagiarizing the ideals and beliefs of its nearest competitors. Perhaps it is a natural result of position and power or just the desire of the people in power to expand and maintain that power. Empires expand until they either meet a force greater than or equal to itself or internal greed and corruption weaken the empire so a less powerful foe can conquer. Creating an empire has always required violence to the competition. While nationalistic empires have existed for thousands of years, religious empires are relative new. Belief-structured empires conquered other beliefs by using willing agents from kings to peasants to vanquish competing beliefs. They also absorbed competing religious beliefs and rituals into their creed and theology as a way of destroying a competing belief. An empire can last only as long as the people of that empire believe it deserves to survive. Empires cannot survive by always listening to those outside the empire. Survival implies correctness, regardless of the methods or beliefs. Survival is the ultimate test of correctness, at less for most of us. As soon as an empire quits expanding, history indicates it begins to stagnate. Unless a change is made or a new vision is initiated, that empire will cease to exist. Empires have a responsibility to provide the world with a vision of a possible future. So far no empire has been able to truly survive without expansion even though some still exist as nations. The US is the only real empire left and as such it must inspire the world to create a future better than the past. John F. Kennedy realized this and directed our attention and thoughts to space instead of earthly conquests. Now President George W. Bush has renewed the dream by extending the challenge of creating a colony on the moon. This is again a challenge to expand without earthly conquest. However to do this, the US cannot allow itself to be defeated or to be relegated to the balcony seats of human affairs. To realize this dream, the US must remain a viable empire while maintaining the strength to go it alone. The US must also extend the hand of cooperation and friendship to those nations that also see the wisdom of this adventure and the value of this challenge. The mantle of leadership will fall to the nation that opens a new frontier, that provides a direction and a challenge. There are only two frontiers available to us: outer space and the ocean depths. Yes, I know there are lots of things that can be done to make Earth a better place such as finding cures for our worst diseases but to only look inward is to destroy the essence of human nature. Russia was the last empire to challenge the US. Now China is trying to take the lead and space is the challenge. If the US does not accept this challenge then we will no longer create the future but we will live in the one created by others. What we do today determines the future - the present and the future are entwined. We must explore to better understand ourselves and to better understand our place in a universe with more possibilities than infinity can provide time for us to find. Without a dream and a challenge we will die. We must awaken to this new dream of exploration. Dreams have gotten us to this point, now we must advance or become a footnote of history, a dusty shadow of what we might have been. The future of humanity is in our hands to shape if we only have the courage. Do we lead or follow - the choice is ours. Added Feb. 7, 2004 Author: Don Miller
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