Moral decadence

An otherwise invincible Roman Empire fell in the 5th century CE. The classical Maya's mighty civilisation collapsed, and so did the empires of Ad, Thamud, Pharaoh, biblical Sodom, Gomorrah, Plato's Atlantis and Homer's Troy. The fates of the medieval Khmer and Byzantine empires were no different. What elevates a nation to the pinnacles of power and glory? And what largely, despite all might, influence and resources, brings about the collapse? What is, if anything, common in all falls?

Would there have been a rise of the Roman Empire without mos maiorum, or the custom of ancestors; Ancient Greece's arete, or virtue; Ancient Egypt's ma'at, or goodness; the Ottoman Empire's Shariah, or Islamic law; Maya civilisation's covenants, or reciprocal obligations; Atlantis's Divine laws of Poseidon; Troy's xenia, or hospitality; Camelot's chivalric code; or Asgard's laws and oaths of the gods?

Throughout human history, moral orders have served as the invisible architecture binding otherwise irreconcilable identities into cohesive societies. Though droughts, invasions, economic constraints and overexpansion might also have contributed to the collapse, the roots of the same could rarely be traced beyond moral issues. Plagues or invasions, for instance, could be dealt with effectively by the strengths of strong moral practice in a society.

Through shared ideals like honesty, equality and respect for elders; uncodified behavioural norms like not cutting in line; and collective responses to conduct — praise, gossip and ostracism — morality establishes a common grammar of right and wrong. Whether grounded in divine injunction or secular humanism, it cultivates inherent social harmony and collectivism, making social life predictable and productive. This is what Ibn-e Khaldun, the Middle Ages' eminent social scientist, captured in his concept of Asabiyyah — the social cohesion that transforms crowds into functioning societies.

Though apparently limiting in choice and scope, moralities add to liberty by undoing the potential interpersonal constraints that could rob one of freedom should there be no moral order at all. Though beneficial in the shorter run, the amoral cultures and practices often court chaos and collapse.

Imagine a life with or without all knowledge, yet without morality or notions of right and wrong in and around you, and you will find yourself and your surroundings in the midst of a Hobbesian state of nature or Shelley's Frankenstein. In other words, even an ephemeral rise to glory of a handful, let alone a society or a nation, would remain immaterial. Even if it does, it carries, in its immoral base, the roots of its own collapse.

The collapse of most of the empires across history is essentially rooted in the breakdown of the moral order and resultant vulnerabilities. From Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson's tracing exclusive and extractive political and economic institutions — the manifestations of absence of or decaying moral order — as the forces behind the nation's collapse to Ibn-e Khaldun's loosening Asabiyyah, or the invisible bond of virtue, the breakdown of moral order breaks a society down should it not reform.

Today, the moral order throughout the world is in retreat, which is manifested in the rise of populism, authoritarianism, mis/disinformation, xenophobic tendencies, wars, the Epstein Files, deterioration of nature, and the existential Armageddons of climate change and nuclear wars.

Pakistan clings to morality, democracy and truth by the barest of threads. This is manifested, among other things, in the normalisation of corruption, nepotism and hypocrisy both in institutional and interpersonal spheres. Political instability, tightening elite capture and impunity, and eroding leadership's legitimacy suggest a crumbling moral order. Also, declining education, critical thinking and space for dissent have weakened community bonds, shared purposes and responsibility.

Preventing societal collapse requires reconnecting to moral order. A strong moral order is not only a defence against internal threats and chaos, but also a key that elevates nations to the pinnacles of prosperity and distinction.