Understanding history is the ultimate passport to the future.

Studying history gives us the opportunity to learn from others' past mistakes. It helps us understand the many reasons why people may behave the way they do. As a result, it should help decision-makers become more impartial. The only trouble is that history seems to prove, time and time again, that we don’t learn from history!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Sir John Glubb’s research that showed how in the past all nations go through six stages ending with a decline into ‘Decadence’. Having written his essay ‘The Fate of Empires’ he was inundated with letters which prompted him to write a follow up essay ‘Search for Survival’ in which he analysed the reasons for our decline in more detail and proposed a remedy.

I had not read his second essay for a few years now, so whether subconsciously or not, I had also come to the same conclusions as to how we could at worse soften our decline and at best start a revival in our fortunes.

This is what his summary said:-

“The object of my first essay was not to moan that ‘the end is nigh’, rather the reverse. Our decline is due not to external forces over which we have no control, but to our own greed, selfishness and immortality, and to our loss of courage and energy, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.’ These failings which each one of us can help to rectify.

Our duty is therefore, to inaugurate movements for the reversal of these trends; scrupulously to carry out our duties to our families; to work as hard as we possibly can, and to carry our subordinates with us, through comradeship and personal relation; to seize every opportunity to speak and to write in favour of self-sacrifice, service and unselfishness. It is above all, the revival of our spirit which will transform our situation and guarantee our future.

Our country is obsessed by the grudging spirit of ‘why should I?’ We need leaders to inspire us once again with the spirit of selfless service. But if our leaders are incapable of setting us such an example, we must do it ourselves.

We need the spirit of the prophet who, when he heard that hard service was needed, cried joyfully, “Here am I! Send me!”

So, if our leaders won’t lead the way then we must do it ourselves and for me that means a peaceful mass movement providing relentless pressure on our politicians demanding they up their game and listen and react to their concerns. The BIG question is when will the people wake up to reality and then, importantly do something about it? It is because I believe reform to our system of governance, with the key recognition of the people’s inherent sovereignty, is a vital part of our renewal that I promote our agenda.

Finally, I would like to address those, who from the comfort of their mod con homes and life styles, believe that this age of ‘Decadence’ is grossly overstated and the ‘Liberal’ age in which we live has brought nothing but benefits. I would like to recommend that you read ‘Liberal Delusion – The roots of our current moral crisis’ by John Marsh and you might view things differently.

In conclusion it is certainly true that in the 10 years I have been promoting THA it has been a hard sell, which is because most people are still too comfortable, but as things get worse the people will demand change. When change comes it will not be one single ‘Big Bang’ improvement that will address our decline but hundreds of little changes that will set us on the course for our revival.