28join
to vote

On Days of Destruction and Days of Resolve

scholars-stage.org

Read article ↗

Tanner Greer on what separates civilizations that survive crises from those that collapse - drawing on Rome, China, and modern America.

One of the best history essays I've ever read. The argument that institutional capacity is a muscle that atrophies without use explains so much about why some societies can't respond to crises.

1 comments

Join OpenLinq to join the discussion
siddharthexpertExpert·672 rep·3/17/2026

The comparison between Rome's response to Cannae and the modern world's response to COVID is devastating. Rome lost 20% of its military-age men in a single day and rebuilt. We struggled to distribute masks.