Given such a situation, the control by the republic over the policy-making apparatus of dependencies is likely to have been established by force of arms.  In such a case it is only a matter of time and occasion when the dependency will demand the right of self-determination and be prepared to fight for independence of “foreign tyrants, oppressors and exploiters.”

Minor inexpensive military operations for the suppression of colonial revolt which are quickly and successfully ended may add to the stature of empire-building leaders.  But major operations, long continued, expensive and inconclusive, will undermine the prestige and weaken the position of the most firmly seated imperialist.  The Boer War against the British and the wars waged by the Koreans and the Vietnamese against a series of occupiers and exploiters are excellent examples of the operation of this principle.

As empire building proceeds under its inescapable expansionist drive, a point will be reached at which the overhead costs of maintaining the empire will exceed the income.  As that point is approached in one after another of the empires comprising the civilization, the central authority will be successfully challenged by the dependent, colonial periphery.  Ordinarily, such challenges will coincide with the inter-imperial wars which have periodically disrupted every civilization known to history.  When such a coincidence does occur, as it did in western civilization from 1914 to 1945, the bell is likely to toll loudly for the civilization in question.

Measures usually adopted to prevent such a catastrophe—­martial law, military dictatorship, self-perpetuating monarchy, divine authority, are more than likely to heap fuel on the flames of rebellion and lead into a social revolution.

An unstructured social group operating under the competitive principle “Let him take who has the power” tends to develop into absolutism.  At any stage in the history of a civilization this development can take place.

Civilization, therefore, comes into being with this built-in contradiction:  the strong and predatory exploit the weak, but at a certain point protect the weak and nurture the defenseless.  Exploitation by the rich and powerful is recognized and accepted as a prerogative enjoyed by the rich and powerful.  At the same time limitations are placed on the character and intensity of the exploitation.

This dichotomy is perpetuated by agreements, laws and constitutions which guarantee the property rights and social privileges by which the rich and powerful safeguard and increase their wealth and power.  Under the same agreements, laws and constitutions, the privileges and rights of the defenseless and weak, are specified.

Political institutions in every civilization, including that of the West, have accepted and adopted a regulatory structure under which limits are imposed on profiteering.  The domestic life of a civilization consists of an establishment within which exploitation can continue in a manner which the constitution makers and legislators consider to be as efficient as possible and as fair as possible to all of the parties concerned.