PDF Summary:The Lessons of History, by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
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What can you learn from 5,000 years of history? Are we in truly novel times, or do we face the same problems that the Romans and Egyptians faced 2,000 years ago?
Will & Ariel Durant, Pulitzer Prize winning historians, are famed for writing The Story of Civilization, a massive 9766-page, 11-volume treatise of the entirety of Western history. They compiled the most important recurring patterns in this book. Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater, considers this one of his 3 must-read books.
Learn how human nature hasn’t changed over thousands of years, how societies cycle between inequality and redistribution like a heartbeat, and why eventually all civilizations fall.
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Morals and History
Morals are the rules societies use to exhort its members to behave. Moral codes look different between societies and across history, but they’re quite universal and necessary. They change depending on societies’ economic engines—hunting societies promoted survival at all costs, including fighting and killing. Agricultural societies spurred the importance of hard work and regularity. Industrialization promoted individualism as people left families to work for wages.
The Durants argue that even though our times seem to have unprecedented moral laxity, it may not be unique in history. Prostitution, gambling, and alcohol have flourished at every age. In times of war, morals become laxer as women have more freedom and soldiers taste adventure and learn to kill. But history tends to emphasize exceptional behavior while ignoring the many stories of the ordinary—behind all the war, politics, murder, and adultery, there were millions of orderly homes.
Religion and History
Religion has existed throughout history. On the positive side, it’s given comfort to many, even the most unfortunate, and provided general social stability through divine surveillance and moral prescriptions handed down by gods. On the negative side, religion has been used as a tool of the state to legitimize power and has enabled corrupt abuses of power (for example, through the Crusades).
The recurring nature of abuses triggered skepticism of religion, contributing to its declining influence over the past centuries. As civilization grew more complex, secular alternatives also rose to substitute for religion’s functions. For example, education formerly done by priests became done by secular teachers. However, despite its erosion, religion survives because it inspires imagination and hope.
Economics and History
Every economic system must eventually rely on some form of profit motive to stir people to productivity. Alternatives like slavery, brute force management, or ideology have historically proven too unproductive or unsuccessful.
However, economic systems must also contend with the unequal distribution of wealth. Because some individuals are better equipped than others to survive, and because economic freedom magnifies these differences, wealth naturally becomes more concentrated. Over time, this concentration creates tension between the wealthy and the disadvantaged, leading to a redistribution—whether through violent or peaceful means. We can see this play out throughout history: the Roman civil wars were motivated in part by the uprising of the plebeians, the Reformation, was partly a redistribution of the Catholic Church wealth, and taxation and social programs were peaceful means of redistribution in the US from the 1930s-1960s.
Socialism and History
Nothing instills the spirit of competition, inventiveness, and exhaustive labor like capitalism and self-interest do. Yet elements of socialism have recurred throughout history. These include state control of commerce, wide government employment, price controls, welfare, progressive taxation, redistribution of wealth, and large public works that reduce employment.
Socialism is especially palatable when there’s a threat to security—people are more willing to forsake internal liberty. For example, in Diocletian Rome, the threat of barbarians spurred the society to subsume individual liberty to collective liberty. In Communist Russia, the fall of the Czarist government led to internal disorder and the threat of external attack, allowing a socialist system to take hold.
The Durants say that socialist institutions are commonly overturned when:
- the authorities become corrupt, no longer returning taxes to benefit the populace
- high taxation causes indolence, resentment, and escape of high earners to lower-tax societies
- revolt is spurred by those whose profits are cut short (often the rich, who mobilize the masses on their behalf)
- disasters (natural and manmade) cause upheaval and discontent
In the modern day, communism has taken on capitalist flair to stimulate productivity. Inversely, capitalist societies have taken on socialist programs to curb discontent with inequality. And so capitalism and communism look more like each other than they did decades past.
Government and History
The Durants argue that freedom requires limits because absolute freedom leads to chaos and would destroy freedom itself. An organized central government provides the stability and order necessary for society to function.
Drawing on Plato’s “five regimes,” they describe the progression of government through four systems:
- Monarchy: Descending from the father of the family or the chieftain of a tribe. Since succession is hereditary, leaders become prone to incompetence, laziness, or excess.
- Aristocracy: The elite hold power and train their offspring to rise in governance. This provides stability but, like a monarchy, it’s prone to corruption and hedonism. Hence, the masses (stirred partly by rich, non-aristocratic merchants) overthrow the aristocracy.
- Democracy: Offers greater freedom, but morals weaken and old customs are washed away. Wealth inequality intensifies as a consequence of unequal concentration of ability. If uncontrolled, strife between the rich and poor erupts, which leads to the next system.
- Tyranny: An authoritarian leader promises to solve the problems.
Such was the progression in Rome: Military expansion, slavery, and the concentration of wealth displaced small farmers and corrupted political institutions. As money increasingly determined political power, conflict between aristocrats and commoners contributed to the rise of Caesar’s dictatorship and, later, Augustus.
History and War
War is a constant in history. In the past 3,421 years, there have been only 268 years of no documented war. It’s driven by the same reasons that lead individuals to fight—to secure more resources and power, for profit, and to survive under threat. The state inherits these individual impulses but operates with fewer constraints, since it’s not subject to the same moral and legal boundaries as its citizens. As a result, nations may pursue their interests through force, with nationalism further intensifying their willingness to fight.
Although philosophers may argue against war, military leaders view it as an unavoidable means of defending a society and resolving conflicts between competing powers. Prolonged peace can also weaken a society’s ability to defend itself, making it susceptible to outside attack. The Durants thus see war as a recurring force in history and, from the military perspective, its final arbiter.
Growth, Decay, and Progress
Civilizations often begin through conquest and the spread of the victor’s practices, then grow by taking advantage of natural resources, directing people toward productive work, resolving internal tensions, and overcoming external challenges. Decay occurs when political or intellectual leaders mail to meet new challenges like natural disasters, improper use of resources, economic changes, class wars, and external threats.
Is Progress Real?
The Durants question whether history’s recurring patterns mean that humanity is truly progressing. The answer depends on how progress is defined: If it’s defined as humanity’s control over the environment, the answer is yes—quality of life for the average person is much better compared to primitive times. However, if it’s defined as an increase in happiness, the answer is no, there’s been little progress. Humans will always find a way to be miserable, and we romanticize our ancestors who had to worry only about their local village. As the world’s complexity increases, our perceived troubles rise in kind.
The Durants ultimately end on an optimistic note. Civilization’s achievements—from fire and agriculture to language, technology, and philosophy—connect generations, with education transmitting an ever-expanding heritage of morals, technology, culture, and ways of thinking. Progress lies in creating, preserving, transmitting, and building upon this heritage, since interrupting its transmission could cause humanity to lose centuries of accumulated achievement.
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