The New Serfdom: Why Freedom Online Was the Greatest Illusion of All

Why Civilizations Fall (and Why Ours Might Too)Patterns of Collapse from Rome to Silicon Valley Every civilization believes it is exceptional — until it falls. Drawing on the lessons of Rome, Byzantium, the Islamic Golden Age, and the modern West, Why Civilizations Fall (and Why Ours Might Too) reveals the recurring patterns that shape the rise and decline of societies across history. Lucas Almanza argues that collapse is not an accident of fate but a rhythm: shared purpose gives way to comfort, duty to indulgence, unity to fragmentation. From moral exhaustion among elites to demographic retreat and cultural self-doubt, civilizations crack from within long before any external enemy arrives. Written in the tradition of Niall Ferguson, Will & Ariel Durant, and Tom Holland, this book blends narrative storytelling with sweeping analysis. Leclerc takes readers from Roman triumphal arches to Silicon Valley campuses, showing how technological abundance, hyper-individualism, and digital distraction echo the same forces that hollowed out ancient empires. Across five major sections, readers will discover: • The universal laws of civilizational decline — loss of shared meaning, elite decay, overcomplexity, shrinking populations, and cultural pessimism. • Why prosperity breeds its own undoing — and how luxury, comfort, and relativism quietly erode the virtues that built great societies. • How modern life mirrors ancient decline — from bread-and-circuses consumerism to the rise of credentialed elites and the collapse of civic identity. • The dangers of worshipping progress — and how digital abundance accelerates moral and institutional fragility. • What history teaches about renewal — humility, meaning, discipline, and the rediscovery of cultural memory. The Lucas Almanza does not argue that doom is inevitable. Instead, he shows that civilizations fall when they forget what made them strong — and endure when they rediscover purpose before it is too late. Clear, erudite, and urgently relevant, Why Civilizations Fall (and Why Ours Might Too) is for readers seeking wisdom beyond politics and noise. It is a call to see history whole — and to understand how much of our future depends on remembering our past.