“Strangely perhaps, there’s another profession that is disproportionately hallowed as an empire declines. The Romans, the Ottomans, and the Spanish all made celebrities of their chefs.”
Why Celebrity Chefs Herald The End Of Empire.
After watching the brilliant Netflix, Season 2 Chef’s Table yesterday, I realised; that the Brazilian chef Alex Atala, who runs the restaurant D.O.M., 4th best restaurant in the wold (São Paulo), but also started the beautiful ATÁ institute, which focuses on promoting Brazilian food diversity in social and environmental ways (ATÁ – Alex Atala – CLIP) (CLIP 2), truly have become celebrities, it’s relationship with an empire, and the age of decadence we are in right now.
Not only Atala, but also;
- Dutch three star chef Sergio Herman (Net Worth €3 MILLION) (Fucking Perfect – 2DOC),
- Jamie Oliver, (Net Worth $400 MILLION),
- Gordon Ramsay (Net Worth $140 MILLION),
- Wolfgang Puck (Net Worth $75 MILLION),
- Rachael Ray (Net Worth $60 MILLION),
- David Chang (Net Worth $50 MILLION) etc.
Chef’s Table Season 2 – Official Trailer – Netflix [HD]
An empire lasts about 250 years, or 10 generations, from the early pioneers to the final conspicuous consumers who become a burden on the state.
The quote I started the article with
“Strangely perhaps, there’s another profession that is disproportionately hallowed as an empire declines. The Romans, the Ottomans, and the Spanish all made celebrities of their chefs.”
comes from The Four Horsemen doc. I watched in 2012, and I wrote about 3 yrs ago (“If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes politics.” – Article). This all reminded me again of General Sir John Glubb essay, The Fate of Empires (PDF), the soldier, diplomat and traveler. Glubb analyzed the lifecycle of empires. He found remarkable similarities between them all. An empire lasts about 250 years, or 10 generations, from the early pioneers to the final conspicuous consumers who become a burden on the state.
Six ages define the lifespan of an empire:
- the age of pioneers,
- the age of conquests,
- the age of commerce,
- the age of affluence,
- the age of intellect,
- ending with bread and circuses in the age of decadence.
Glubb’s paper states that decadence is marked by:
- Defensiveness
- Pessimism
- Materialism
- Frivolity
- An influx of foreigners
- The Welfare State
- A weakening of religion.
Decadence is due to:
- Too long a period of wealth and power
- Selfishness
- Love of money
- The loss of a sense of duty.
The life histories of great states are amazingly similar, and are due to internal
factors. Their falls are diverse, because they are largely the result of external causes. History should be taught as the history of the human race, though of course with emphasis on the history of the student’s own country. So the common features to every age of decadence bring us to what we are in today’s age.
- an undisciplined and over extended military,
- the conspicuous display of wealth,
- a massive disparity between rich and poor,
- a desire to live off a bloated state,
- and an obsession with sex.
- But perhaps the most notorious trait of all is the debasement of the currency.
The United States and Great Britain both begun on a gold or silver standard, long since abandoned. Rome was no different.
“Four Horsemen could be part of a new global manifesto for a desperately needed new world. Watch it and make up your own mind if you want to be part of it”
Four Horsemen (Trailer) is the debut feature from director Ross Ashcroft which reveals the fundamental flaws in the economic system which have brought our civilization to the brink of disaster. Ashcroft uses interviews with 23 leading economists, philosophers, academics and bankers. Including philosopher Professor Noam Chomsky, Financial Times editor Gillian Tett and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz. (Full list here).
Watch Full documentary below:
Photo credit: Netflix/ATA Institute.