“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind!”

Sometimes in life it is best to take it on the chin. Other times it is best to;  “get your first tackle in early, even if it’s late,” (Ray Gravel). Other times it is best to walk away and some times it is best to do nothing.

Over the summer I decided to educate myself on two empires , the Roman and British, and their history. This was probably due to the fact that at school I didn’t enjoy the prescribed method that history was taught to us. Looking back I know I didn’t appreciate Blackadder quite as much at 13 as I did in watching it a few years ago. Studying the Romans doesn’t quite come alive that well from a textbook with pictures of broken crockery. It doesn’t quite get the picture of Cicero and Caeser or what Cleopatra was up too.

After reading two books Rubicon and Empire, I have begun to think that both of these empires really were formed out of taking advantage of other people. Don’t get me wrong they both brought their own advantages long term to the people they colonized, but at what price.

The interesting thing about these two is the similarities, Rome brought administration so did Britain. Both waged long wars  in Afghanistan. Both helped develop an infrastructure within the countries they inhabited.

However aside from the nicities both brought with them a great trail of loot which led back to their homeland. Britain used Africa for its gold and diamonds and upto a coup of conscience slaves. Some of the wars they fought were based on commodities and trade.

It appears from reading the quotation of one of Britains great leaders who was at the helm when the empire finally dissolved that, ” the empires of the future would be empires of the mind”.  So these empires which were based on technological advancement and force were to be replaced. One started to fall with the taxation of the American colonies and over zealous rule in India. The other reached its tipping point with Caesar crossing the Rubicon.

Having an empire of the mind will be a much more interesting empire than what has gone before. What exactly does Churchill mean by this. Many of us have our own causes and internal wars. Many of us at times have crossed the Rubicon. Many of us have attempted to gain the upper hand by being underhand against adverseries. Many of us have been bogged down in meaninless wars with ourselves while we try to work out what we are supposed to be doing. Will the empire of the mind have its own political structure. Will it have a system to clear bad debts and reward inefficiency with extra bonuses.

If many of us could think of our own minds as an empire I would guess a lot of us would turn out to be tyrannical. I know for a fact that loads of us would be building palaces and temples for no reason. We would be using our might to take out our nearest rivals as we climb to the top. We would be doing reconnaisance and flyovers making sure we had the inside scoop. Then when the time was right we would drop some intelligence in the international media just to look better. We would have trade wars and no doubt be experts in propaganda. Next time we/I get near the Rubicon I hope  there will be at  least one step back!!

All fur coat and no knickers!

The title phrase I first heard probably about 10 years ago from the family postman. I remember the conversation vividly, he was telling me about the new housing developement up the street. He had noticed that the people had all the exterior appearance of wealth. The nice house, the nice car, the right postcode and social standing. He did however notice that several years after moving in they still had concrete floors and not much furniture. At the time I felt that this was quite sad and why would someone want that existance.

As time has moved on I have noticed again this scenario re-occurring time and time again in different contexts. I think we all have a touch of it in ourselves. We all like to be seen to have all the latest gear and to be part of the in crowd. More recently I have noticed that this need can have damaging consequences which I have seen first hand. In two organisations which I love very dearly I have noticed this phenomenon. In the first instance it is evident in the neglect that has been going on in the organisation just to have the ‘best’. I ask at what cost will this have. While one part of the ship has money fired at it to look nice, below the surface are the bilge pumps starting to fail.

In the second organisation the expansion of all things new tends to take away from the core service delivery. So we can be all singing and all dancing on one front but the essential maintenance work is it getting done?

In both organisations all I want is the knickers back and a decent anorak!