Empires in decline often demonstrate certain patterns before collapse. They produce worse art for example. Wealth disparity rises. They often experience widespread loss of institutional trust. But another trend can be seen within sexual behaviour. As empires decline, research suggests that they also tend to reach heightened points of sexual obsession and decadence. While historians are not certain why this happens, many note that these trends are correlated to the rise of wealth and affluence amongst imperial elites. We have recently discovered horrific things about our elites in the recent release of the Epstein files. But our empire is not the first in history that has declined under perverted elites. History indicates that the ultra-wealthy in empires tend to engage in sexual behaviours more shocking and extravagant than mere “sexual liberation”. The most famous example was the Roman Empire, in which multiple emperors were known for dramatically pushing boundaries in regards to sex, gender, and taboo sexual behaviours. Emperor Tiberius for instance allegedly raped and staged orgies with children on the island of Capri, while Caligula reportedly engaged in incest with his sisters and forced senators’ wives into brothels. Nero castrated and “married” a young boy who he forced to cross-dress to resemble his late wife, and he also staged public rapes and indulged in necrophilic acts. Increased sexuality amongst the ultra-wealthy can be noted in other empires as well, including the Hellenistic period in Greece and the Abbasid Caliphate of 10th century in Baghdad. Historians and anthropologists like J.D. Unwin and Sir John Glubb suggest that extended periods of economic success within empires tends to breed selfishness and hedonism within upper classes. As elites model behaviour that prioritizes pleasure and individualism over civic duty and family bonds, obsession with sex tends to trickle down and permeate the rest of society. As elites increasingly normalize taboo behaviours, hyper-sexualization and pornification tends to eventually affect urban populations, contributing to low birth rates and family breakdowns across classes. There appears to be multiple variables contributing to elites’ hyper-sexualization and boundary-pushing. First, they are bored and affluent. Elites can afford everything, and lack for nothing. There is thus nothing driving them forwards. Due to their focus on indulgence and material wealth, they experience a spiritual emptiness that they attempt to fill with thrill-seeking and pushing the boundaries of acceptable social behaviour. As their elite peers are similarly bored and affluent, their sociocultural environment also breeds permissiveness. This is why elites are able to actually indulge in the acts that horror movies have always warned us about. No one rats them out because it is simply not within their own best interests. Elites also push the boundaries of sex because when sex is not about connection (or reproduction), the focus turns to either individual pleasure or power exploration. As I’ve mentioned prior, this is why sex and sexual blackmail (ie kompromat) are so commonly used as mechanisms of bribery and control. Elites are aware that trauma and shame are powerful tools. Sex is not only intrinsically vulnerable, but it also evokes primal drives tied to dominance and submission. As sex is a social act, it also inherently involves power dynamics and imbalances, regardless of whether they are spoken or not. This is why empires in decline tend to not only be associated with an increase in pedophilia—which has obvious power differentials within sex—but also homosexuality. Discourse tends to get uncomfortable discussing this latter trend, as it is seen to be homophobic, so I want to be direct and point out that my suggestion here is not that homosexuality is immoral or that homosexuality destroys empires. Rather, I am saying that for most of Western history, including our present, our most powerful elites have been men. Thus, when power dynamics are explored in a hyper-sexualized societies, homosexual acts may increase not because of immorality in homosexuality, but because a) men tend to hold power b) sex is used for power and control, thus c) two bored elite men exploring power differentials may do so through sexual relations. Elites also appear to practice religions that are different from religions more familiar to us mere goyim. This supplies them with psychological justification to escape and remove any sense of guilt or accountability. These religions appear to teach philosophies that prioritize the individual will over the collective and also encourage pushing moral transgressions. If we are looking at our own sexual behaviour amongst the lower class goyim, we can note some interesting trends. There is for example a noticeable shift amongst Gen Z towards intentional abstinence, asceticism, semen retention, and celibacy. Contrasting with the hookup/“sex positive” dating culture of Millennials, supporters of contemporary trends argue that dating culture is over-sexualized. They argue that porn, apps, and media advocate for and normalize consistent sex while society delivers an ultimately lonelier society with shallower connections. From this argument it appears that many younger people believe we could have been in an era of peak sexual indulgence, which is why they are reevaluating the culture. Whether this is true or not, hyper-sexualization is certainly a problem amongst our elites. ----- Written By Eleanor M. See comments for sources, more of her work and how you can support her writing.