More on Expansive Nature of Humanity: Yonger and Older Civilizations

New Technology

However, it often takes more advanced technology to be able to explore and exploit previously inaccessible or colonizable lands.

Spanish and Portuguese could only discover new world when they learned how to build sturdy enough ships to sail the open ocean. Roman era galleys and medieval ships were only good for Mediterranean and inland sea, they could not traverse the ocean. Open ocean higher than sea waves would have just capsized any galley.

This of course produce the situation where new civilizations on the frontier are more technologically advanced than those older civilizations in the formally prosperous areas.

It is like children and younger people are much more capable and comfortable using modern technology while older people are often struggled to adopt to the technological change.

Some older civilizations are as resistant to adopting new ways as some older people who cling to 'the way they always did things'. Other do try to keep up, but they could hardly get as proficient in it as newer civilizations.

Yonger and Older Civilizations

In the same lieu interactions between newer and younger civilizations such as the US or the EU and older ones such as Russia, China, Iran or even Latin America are like those between younger and older people.

Both think they know better; both think the other one is not getting it.

Young Civilizations

The US and the EU are confident that their technology is better and should be embraced throughout the world. Then think that people around them are backward and has to be educated in the better way to live. On human level it is like: 'we should teach boomers how to use Snapchat'. 

They are not incorrect in that per se. Their way is indeed better and more advanced that what was there before them.

However, they often act on assumption that they are civilization and, on its way, to educate the primitives. This of course a misunderstanding at best. It could as well be taken as an insult by these older civilizations. 

Old Civilizations

In contrast older civilizations often stuck in the nostalgia for their past, or some other form of trying to get back the glory days. 

In their defense they, indeed were better off back then. As I explained in my previous article, that was due to them still not exhausting all resources that was available to them. 

That is why Russia and China are as dismissive of the US and EU as they are. They stuck in memories of their glory days that were back before the US or EU were not even a thing. That sound just like human: "I was doing whatnot before you were even born." The old civilizations do think this way at times. 

They refuse to face their current reality that by now they are nothing, but senile old men on their deathbed. Russia recently went on to recreate 19th century uniforms for its ceremonial guards. That is just like nostalgia by the times when 'Beatles were cool'.

How Older Civilization Behave

However old civilization at times could have better understanding of things both past and present.

They too were young once. They too once had some technology that was very advanced and revolutionary for the times. Ottoman Bombards and organization of their Janissaries were cutting age for the 1444 when they took Constantinople. By 18th century however they were nothing that relics of no practical use.

They too used these technologies to become great and conquer vast empires. By 1550s something Ottomans conquered pretty much everything that was worth conquering back in the days.

Then after the golden age they started to decline. In 18th century they lost wars and territories to Austria and Russia with weapons that were cutting age for that century. They used British goodwill to keep themselves alive in 19th century and finally came to an end when Mustafa Kemal went on to create modern Turkey on the territory, formerly occupied by the Ottomans.

Russia too had great cutting age army by the end of 18th century when they conquered Poland-Lithuania and significant parts of the Ottoman Empire. 

Thus, they normally would have a much better understanding of younger civilizations than the other way around. They could see their former selves in these new civilizations.

Most however are not as willing to share their wisdom with the young civilizations, like Obi Wan Kenobi did for Luke Skywalker.

Because of that these older civilizations can often trick younger ones to support their ageing selves. Ottomans for example managed to extract a lot of help from British and Germans in their dying days.

Older civilizations often harbor ill will towards the younger civilizations. They envy the youth and vigor these possess. They understand that they could never be like this anymore as aging is a one-way process. They also fear that these newer civilizations will eventually replace them.

Surely there could be better examples of the old civilizations, but most of the time civilization aging is a very ugly sight to behold. I for one cannot readily named any graceful aging of a civilization.

Impossibility for a Civilization to Become Young Again.

Just as old person could not simply have their youth back, older civilizations cannot simply modernize and be young again.

They however could not learn and adapt the tricks and ways of these younger civilizations. That would be just like suddenly turning 30 again after being 70. Sure, some of them do attempt such feats every now and then. Communism and USSR for example was an attempt to reinvigorate old Russia that ultimately did not succeeded.

The reason who older civilizations cannot modernize is always the same, however. Vested interests and influential people end up preventing any change. Because change will mean they will lose their influence or will have to share power with some new elites. 

Thus, vested interests' groups always oversee degradation and collapse of their civilizations, because they will rather see their countries rot around them as they squeeze last juices out of them, then see any real change if that means someone else will wield power in what they deem 'their state'.

Emigration from Old Civilization to Yonger Ones

Because of that smarter young people often choose to emigrate from aging civilizations to still young ones. They do not want to toil for vested interests while getting nothing in return.

In turn vested interests, knowing they have nothing to offer to these young people, begin cultivating stupidity, in order to create 'useful idiots' who will 'sacrifice' for their country. Of course, these sacrifices will do nothing but feed vested interests' insatiable greed. 

However, they often do prolong the suffering of the aging country and prevent change that will actually benefit younger people in there.

Back in 19th century people immigrated to Russia, now they emigrate out of it.

Back in the 17th-18th people would immigrate into Spanish colonies of what is now Latin America. Now Latins emigrate to the US and other places.

This an emigration is an inevitable reaction to aging of the civilization. The place ran its time and could no longer provide for its children.

On the other hand, younger civilizations have both means and resources to provide for these people. They can take care of them. Thus, it is only reasonable for them to attract talents from aging civilizations.

Death and Potential Rebirth of Civilization

Fundamentally civilization can die on its own without being conquered by anything. Such conquests can only happen against completely collapsed and decaying state.

Barbarians did not conquer prosperous Rome in its golden age. Painting made in later days are deceptively misleading of the reality. 

Barbarians conquered rotting remnants of that once glorious but by 5th century, rotten to the core civilization. Rome of 5th century most likely literary starved, was in constant civil war and was besieged by plethora of problems.

Emperor Honorius literary feed pigeons from his throne as some senile old man would do from a park bench nowadays. Hardly anyone lamented when Odoacer and Lombards replaced this kind of governance. In fact, the Lombards would have to work out how to fix this broken country before they could enjoy anything civilizational Rome had.

Eventually, after long and chaotic Dark Ages where different conquerors would conquer former Roman lands from each other, medieval Europe emerged from that transformation. Charlemagne could finally offer the system that would satisfy the populace in the former Western parts of Rome. 

Many of his predecessors were unable to create a government that will last. Possibly the way they government did not created loyalties and satisfy the people. Lombards, Visigoth and Vandals eventually lost power to someone else. 

After all people are selfish beings and would not support the system that does not benefit them in some way.

Out of more recent examples Mustafa Kemal first created his appropriately named Yong Turks association to fix decaying Ottoman Empire. They eventually set up their separate government in Ankara that existed in parallel to Ottoman one in Constantinople at a time.

Mustafa Kemal and his Young Turk Army fought both foreign armies as well as those still loyal to the Ottoman government. When Yong Turks won and took Constantinople, they disestablished Ottoman government and dissolve all its institution. The Ottoman Sultan and possibly many of his officials went into exile and died there, they had no place in the Turkey Kemal just created.

Eventually Kemal created new and modern Republic of Turkey. It can be considered a beginning of new second Turkish civilization. New state has none of the institutions of the original Ottoman state. It is like a young son of an old dead father. It has lineage of the dad, but none of his memories and knowledge. New Turkey is its own independent entity in all regards. It retains next to nothing of what was once staples of Ottoman system.

Yet there is one other way of building new civilizations. European Union. EU did manage to create a new way forward for the old Europe. In a way it's a modern incantation of Habsburg monarchy, that managed to balance the interests of various polities east of Holy Roman Empire as well as those in it.

Eventually more and more European states opted to join. By now it is rather clear that EU is the future of Europe. Like a magnet or a black hole its sucks in more and more nations in its system.

Its success lies in offering prospect of prosperity of people of Europe together with offering a say in politics to the business and political elites of various European nations. 

Thus, it offers an interesting alternative of the future and rebirth for aging civilizations, that nations and people actually join willingly. A rare example of such event as most civilizations collapses against the will of their elites.