Decline and Fall: The End of Empire and the Future of Democracy in 21st Century America

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. Although he was writing nearly a century ago, William Butler Yeats could just as easily be describing the United States today. The decline and fall of America's global empire is the central feature of today's geopolitical landscape, and the nature of our response to it will determine much of our future trajectory, with implications that reach far beyond the limits of one nation's borders. Decline and Fall: The End of Empire and the Future of Democracy in 21st Century America challenges the conventional wisdom of empire. Using a wealth of historical examples combined with groundbreaking original analysis, author John Michael Greer: * Shows how the United States has backed itself into a blind corner in the pursuit of political and economic power * Explores the inevitable consequences of imperial collapse * Proposes a renewal of democratic institutions as the only constructive way forward By shifting the conversation from whether today's American empire should survive to whether it can survive, and arguing persuasively that the answer to the latter question is "no," Decline and Fall makes an invaluable contribution to the body of speculative post-industrial literature. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about the state of the Union, or who believes that the time has come to reinvent the American Dream. John Michael Greer is a scholar of ecological history, an internationally renowned Peak Oil theorist, and the author of more than thirty books including The Long Descent.

Table of Contents:
Prologue: Understanding Empire Part One: The Course Of Empire 1. Origins of American Empire 2. The Struggle Over Empire 3. America at Zenith Part Two: The Widening Gyre 4. The Failure of Politics 5. The Economic Unraveling 6. The Specter of Defeat 7. The Consequences of Collapse Part Three: A Republic, If You Can Keep It 8. The Future of Democracy 9. Reinventing Society 10. Facing a Hard Future Afterword: A Choice of Tomorrows Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

About the Author :
John Michael Greer is a scholar of ecological history and an internationally renowned Peak Oil theorist whose blog, The Archdruid Report, has become one of the most widely cited online resources dealing with the future of industrial society. He is the author of more than 30 books including Green Wizardry and The Wealth of Nature . He has been active in the contemporary nature spirituality movement for more than 25 years.

Review :
June 2014 - UTNE Magazine Shedding new light on the misunderstood idea of empire and the costs of imperial overstretch, Greer shows how the US has backed itself into a corner in the pursuit of political and economic power and explores the inevitable consequences of imperial collapse. June 2014 - Review, Resilience.org, Mary Wildfire... there is much food for thought in this book, which brings together the realities of oil depletion and the other elements of the impending age of limits with the evidence that America's empire is in decline. Greer's work is nothing short of brilliant.---Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post-Carbon Institute, and author, The Party's Over and The End of Growth When we find ourselves falling off the lofty peak of infinite progress, our civilization's mythology predisposes our imaginations to bypass reality altogether, and to roll straight for the equally profound abyss of the Apocalypse. Greer breaks this spell, and instead offers us a view on our deindustrial future that is both carefully reasoned and grounded in spirituality. --Dmitry Orlov, author, Reinventing Collapse and The Five Stages of Collapse The enormous virtue of John Michael Greer's work is that his wisdom is never conventional, but profound and imaginative.--Sharon Astyk, author, Depletion and Abundance and Independence Days John Michael Greer writes with unsurpassed clarity about the predicaments of energy and economy mankind faces. And he does it with a wonderfully kind, genial, and wise spirit. --James Howard Kunstler, author, The Long Emergency and The World Made by Hand novels The enormous virtue of John Michael Greer's work is that his wisdom is never conventional, but profound and imaginative. --Sharon Astyk, author, Depletion and Abundance and Independence Days, Greer ... offers us not only an excellent read, but tangible tools for navigating the transition. --Carolyn Baker, author, Speaking Truth to Power