If you were wondering what the collapse of an empire looks like from the inside, just look at the past few days. Empires don't collapse overnight, they collapse gradually, with systems steadily degrading and failing over decades. It's not a spectacular, singular event, it's watching shit that worked fine in the past just stop working and never getting fixed.
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@malcircuit
Ancient Rome -- death by a thousand cuts by oligarchs unwilling to act for the common good or public benefit.
https://www.worldatlas.com/ancient-world/how-corruption-destroyed-the-roman-empire.html
https://theconversation.com/the-waters-become-corrupt-the-air-infected-heres-how-ancient-greeks-and-romans-grappled-with-environmental-damage-236680
https://lens.monash.edu/democracys-bad-eggs-corruption-pork-barrelling-and-abuses-of-power/
Public corruption played an enormous role in the collapse of the Soviet Empire and China's Empire.
https://www.fpri.org/article/2023/03/the-roots-of-russian-military-dysfunction/
https://www.thecollector.com/most-corrupt-chinese-dynasty-of-all-time/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-03/china-probes-politburo-member-in-widest-purge-since-1976
Lebanon's failed state
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2026/06/04/hsbc-charged-for-helping-former-lebanese-central-bank-head-embezzle-hundreds-of-millions_6754142_8.html
Jared Diamond "Collapse" -- often triggered by environmental degradation.
Client Challenge
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
TheCollector
The Roots of Russian Military Dysfunction
Democracy’s bad eggs: Corruption, pork-barrelling, and abuses of power – Monash Lens
‘The waters become corrupt, the air infected’: here’s how Ancient Greeks and Romans grappled with environmental damage
How Corruption Destroyed The Roman Empire