"The Curse of the Giants"...Luke Kemp writes about civilizations that brought about their own demise.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Sea - Nada Hoteit There are books you read, and others that inhabit you. They don't just pass through your eyes into your mind, but seep into your soul, leaving behind a deep tremor and a noble anxiety. The book by Australian academic Luke Kemp, "The Curse of the Giants: The History and Future of Societal Collapse," is of this rare kind; it quickly transcends historical narrative or academic analysis, to be like a long and poignant elegy for civilizations that brought themselves to ruin, and at the same time, a stubborn glimmer of hope that refuses to be extinguished in the darkness of inevitable fate. Kemp takes us on a journey through five thousand years of human ambition and its fall, not to amaze us with the ruins of Rome or the mystery of the Mayan civilization, but to take our hands and make us feel that hidden thread that weaves all the tales of collapse. "The Curse of the Giants" quickly establishes a logic that will govern its narrative, by tearing apart a veil we have long hidden behind, abandoning the term "civilization," which the author sees as mere gilded propaganda crafted by rulers to justify their dominance. So what do we find when we visit the cradle of the first kingdoms in Mesopotamia, China, or the Andes? He answers in a voice filled with sorrow: "Wars, patriarchy, and human sacrifices." It was, in essence, a tragic regression from the egalitarian hunting and gathering societies that shared and existed for hundreds of thousands of years, to revert to "chimpanzee hierarchies and gorilla harems." Instead of "civilization," he offers us a more honest and harsh term to describe those vast kingdoms and empires: "Giants," borrowing the biblical name Goliath, that legendary figure who was born in the Bronze Age, imbibed violence to the point of intoxication, and was terrifyingly fragile. In order for these giants to be born, they needed special fuel, three types of fuel that ignited the engine of domination. The first is "the gold of the poor": grains, that surplus that can be seen and stored, and therefore, stolen and plundered. The second is "the glitter of death": deadly weapons, like bronze swords, which a small class monopolized to impose its power. The third fuel is the most cunning: "the walled land," that geography that trapped people between seas, deserts, and mountains, preventing them from escaping rising tyrants, and turning them into subjects in a cage. With these tools, history is no longer a story of progress, but as he says with painful boldness: "The best way to tell history is as a story of organized crime." The story of a class that appointed itself guardian of the destinies of others, monopolized resources, and erected towering structures on the skulls of slaves and citizens. But every giant, no matter how powerful, carries within its bowels the seeds of its demise. This is the "curse" that the book's title speaks of. It is inequality. Not just an economic gap measured in numbers, but a cancer that gnaws at the soul of society and corrupts its moral fabric. Kemp believes that greed is not an inherent human nature, but a disease that afflicts a minority of elites, those who embody the "dark triad" of the human psyche: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. These, in their feverish race for power and status, deplete the wealth of the earth and its people, leaving their societies hollow shells, ready to shatter at the first shock, whether it be an epidemic, a war, or a change in climate. The painful paradox that history reveals is that the collapse of these oppressive regimes was often a mercy for the public; after the fall of Rome, people became taller and healthier, as if they had gotten rid of a fever that had weighed down their bodies for centuries. And here we come to the heart of the tragedy, to our present. Past collapses were regional, and there was always an escape, a land to return to, and agriculture that could be resumed. Today, we do not live in scattered kingdoms, but we all live in the bowels of "one interconnected global giant," a capitalist system that wraps the planet in its networks. And the collapse this time will not be regional or partial, but will be, as he warns, comprehensive, catastrophic, and rapid. Why? For three soul-gripping reasons. First, the violence accompanying the fall will not be fought with swords and spears, but with nuclear weapons capable of erasing life itself. Second, we are a specialized generation, entirely dependent on a complex global infrastructure. If this system collapses, we will not find land to cultivate, but will fall with it into the abyss. Finally, the threats we face today are immeasurably more deadly: climate change that threatens to boil the planet, mysterious artificial intelligence, and manufactured epidemics. The "agents of ruin" who rule our world today - from leaders representing the dark triad, to giant corporations operating with a psychopathic logic that cares only about profit - are putting us all on the edge of an end that may be the last. Is there a way out? Despite his declared pessimism, Kemp does not leave us prey to despair. The solution he proposes is not easy, but it restores dignity to the human idea. He calls for "true democracy," administered through citizen councils and juries, and for curbing savage wealth by taxing it. These dreams may seem utopian, but he reminds us that we have been brainwashed for five thousand years, making us "imagine the end of the world easier than imagining the end of capitalism." They have convinced us that we are helpless, while the truth, as he shouts in our faces, is that we are "social beings, inherently democratic, and have an innate anti-domination intuition." In the end, "The Curse of the Giants" leaves us with a final testament, direct and intimate, that summarizes his philosophy: "Don't be a jerk." Don't be a cog in the machine of destruction. Don't work for those who make our weapons or poison our planet. Resist relationships of domination, and share power whenever you can. It is a call to challenge, to stand with moral firmness, even if defeat is likely. Because the real battle, as Luke Kemp whispers to us between the lines of his beautiful and painful book, is not a battle for victory, but for being worthy of survival. To fail while resisting is a thousand times better than to succeed while being part of the problem. "The Curse of the Giants" is a mirror of extreme clarity, reflecting the ugliness of what we have become, and the beauty of what we can be if we dare.