This article was written by Charles Hugh Smith and originally published at his Of Two Minds blog.

Editor’s Comment: History has many lessons to reveal to those who bother to pay attention. But closer to the ground in modern America, ordinary and even above average people are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, to avoid an avalanche of debt, and to make any kind of true, upwardly mobile progress.

Indeed, it seems that the ‘dream’ of a better life for those who work hard to achieve it has been replaced by a cruel illusion, and a crumbling powers-that-be ruling class at the top. As difficult as it is to imagine, economically, the middle class is being pushed back into the hierarchy of feudalism – though, presumably, people will be allowed to keep their iPhones and TV screens, for they are they great pacifying bread and circuses of our day.

The Lesson of Empires: Once Privilege Limits Social Mobility, Collapse Is Inevitable

by Charles Hugh Smith

The next few years will strip away the illusions of “growth” and reveal which dominates our society and economy: privilege or social mobility.

Among the many lessons of empires is one shared by virtually every empire: once the privileged few limit the rise of those from humble origins (i.e. social mobility), the empire is doomed to rising instability and collapse.

Just as a reminder of how wealth and income are increasingly concentrated in the top of the wealth/power pyramid:

The greater the concentration of wealth and power, the lower the social mobility; the lower the social mobility, the greater the odds that the system will collapse when faced with a crisis that it would have easily handled in more egalitarian times.

When the economy is expanding faster than the population and the tide is lifting all ships large and small, the majority of people feel their chances of getting ahead are positive (even if the actual chances remain low).

But when the economy is stagnating, and they see those at the apex of the pyramid still amassing monumental gains, the majority realizes their chances of securing a better life are declining.

The natural result is frustration, anger and a disavowal of the corrupt status quo: in other words, precisely what the U.S. is experiencing in this election cycle.

People are waking up the reality that the status quo exists to protect the privileged, period. When the serfs do all the right things–get a university degree, work hard, serve their masters well, etc.–they find that “getting ahead” has been redefined as “running in place to keep from falling behind” (i.e. the Red Queen’s Race).

One of my projects is to better understand what social, economic and cultural elements of empires enabled their rise and durability. I was especially interested in locating traits shared by virtually all empires that endured.

One key trait that all enduring empires shared was high levels of social mobility: in enduring empires, those of humble birth had multiple pathways to wealth, power and influence.

When social mobility is lost, all those denied access to the empire’s top rungs leave for greener pastures or devote their energy and ambition to bringing the empire down.

Social mobility is only possible if merit is valued more than privilege. When privilege locks up all the top rungs for cronies, the empire crumbles under the weight of incompetence, elitist squabbling, inefficiency and wasted resources, while the best and the brightest seek outlets for their ambition elsewhere–often in the ranks of the empire’s enemies.