Professor J,
Let us imagine for a moment the illustrious English historian, Edward Gibbon, sitting down to read the musings of a certain professor and housewife. What would he find us discussing? The pleasure seeking selfish society in which we live, and admittedly are not immune to. The ever increasing distrust among people. The shallowness and distracted nature of the culture. Education. Freedom. Politics. Power. How thoroughly he would be familiar with all this, having spent much of his life shining light on those very topics with a distant historical glow as he studied the demise of a republic and then an empire while writing his magnum opus, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. With his full chin resting on a pudgy hand he might wonder if we've learned nothing from the past. But let's let him speak to us across time in his own words:
"...the uniform government of the Romans introduced a slow and secret weapon into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished..." Chapter 2
"The name of Poet was almost forgotten; that of Orator was usurped by the sophists. A cloud of critics, of compilers, of commentators darkened the face of learning and the decline of genius was soon followed by the corruption of taste." Chapter 2
"Augustus was sensible that mankind is governed by names; nor was he deceived in his expectation, that the senate and people would submit to slavery, provided they were respectfully assured that they still enjoyed their ancient freedom." Chapter 3
Mightn't we substitute your corporate masters or Beck's over reaching government, or some combination of the two there in place of Augustus?
"Of all our passions and appetites, the love of power is of the most imperious and unsociable nature, since the pride of one man requires the submission of the multitude. In the tumult of civil discord, the laws of society lose their force, and their place is seldom supplied by those of humanity. The ardor of contention, the pride of victory, the despair of success, the memory of past injuries, and the fear of future dangers, all contribute to inflame the mind, and to silence the voice of pity."
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Selfish ambition, greed, individualism, and lack of community spirit?
"... in the enjoyment of plenty, the Romans should lose the memory of freedom." Chapter 17
"...their profuse luxury must have been the result of that indolent despair that enjoys the present hour and declines the thoughts of futurity." Chapter 27
Strapping future generations with crushing debt so we can keep up our adopted standard of comfort? I find it so interesting that he connects this behavior to despair, which I think is rampant in our own day. We are losing the "Hope, the best comfort of our imperfect condition" that he speaks of early on.
"The dangerous secret of wealth and weakness of the empire had been revealed to the world." Chapter 10
Debt to other countries, a struggling economy and weakened currency, perhaps? Or as you put it:
...the day is coming for our comeuppance. As we make ourselves weaker and weaker, and as we arrogantly and utterly selfishly trample or exploit others overseas, as we demand rules of others but hypocritically refuse to abide by them ourselves, we breed seething resentment that will blowback one day on us in continuous cascade, instead of just the occasional blowback as happens now.
I've no doubt that our readers can make many more astute observations of the unfortunate and often chilling similarities between the two. I've only skimmed the surface here, and poorly, I fear.
...the day is coming for our comeuppance. As we make ourselves weaker and weaker, and as we arrogantly and utterly selfishly trample or exploit others overseas, as we demand rules of others but hypocritically refuse to abide by them ourselves, we breed seething resentment that will blowback one day on us in continuous cascade, instead of just the occasional blowback as happens now.
I've no doubt that our readers can make many more astute observations of the unfortunate and often chilling similarities between the two. I've only skimmed the surface here, and poorly, I fear.
While you seem to have finished off the horse of corporate vs. government responsibility, I'm going to take one last whack at him (unless you'd like to have the last word while claiming your aren't). :) I don't disagree with anything you've said but still disagree with that overall view. I think time is the problem. We haven't suddenly arrived here (in which case I would agree with you wholeheartedly) but over many decades. This flood of corporate power hasn't burst upon us out of nowhere but is instead the result of countless tiny little cracks of corruption, selfishness (perhaps mostly unnoticed), and greed in the dam that was supposed to be protecting us.
Every politician who's ever taken a bribe, every public servant who has overlooked wrongdoing, every elected official at every level who has thought about how he can profit by his vote, these are the people I hold accountable. It probably isn't even the waves of corruption and short sightedness combined with a lack of vision we see on the surface as much as it is the tide of greed and self-interest, that has been rising for many years.
If power equals strength over time, what does weakness over time come to? Or has Gibbon laid it out clearly for us?
More to follow on your puffing and a few other things.
If power equals strength over time, what does weakness over time come to? Or has Gibbon laid it out clearly for us?
More to follow on your puffing and a few other things.
2 comments:
"Every politician who's ever taken a bribe, every public servant who has overlooked wrongdoing, every elected official at every level who has thought about how he can profit by his vote, these are the people I hold accountable."
Speaking only of historical fact, not daring opinion (though I certainly have one) blaming the politician is like blaming the heroine addict while ignoring the dealer. Political machines became, for our nation, an invention after the civil war. By that I mean, of course, the modern corrupt political machines which gathered, organized, funded and controlled political power as our nation entered into the gilded age. At the time minorities and working class folk were doing their best to adjust to the transformation away from the farm and into the factory, America saw an astounding political equality between the working class and the middle to wealthy class citizens in politics. The foundation for this, of course, was the developing modern cities which were growing all across the nation (albeit an healthy portion founded in the north, but that's another topic).
In the daze and dazzle of urban growth and the beginning of the great migration of black slaves from the rural south into the urban north for a time, however brief, it seemed as though the masses might actually find some semblance of democracy - one where the majority of urban dwellers, the working class, might actually find a voice.
But behind the scenes were the organizers and power brokers - corrupt ones like Tammany Hall, all eager to get a slice of the political pie - veins of power coursing with money. Then, as today, the power in these veins was supported by the plasma of corporate money.
It makes sense - Power and money is concentrated. Capitalism holds corporations highest. They have the most protections, the most exemptions; they are (today and in the past) afforded a "voice" in politics and are even allowed to become "too big to fail." Citizenship tends to take second seat to the ever glorious corporation.
But these organizations, corporations, cartels and syndicates are not expected to be moral entities. They must endure whatever laws the government places before them, but they are not called to a sanctified place within society. It seems the invisible hand, that ever loving, gently guiding force which draws all for-profit companies forward gets a pass where politicians, beggars and other men must check their path.
What good is it to gain the world if in doing so you lose your very soul?
Corrupt politicians are not the problem. A society which allows, let alone encourages the greed of our current commercial culture is bound to crack and fail under the pressure. America is not ready to take on the role of Empire (not having the stomach for such a leader) and will not confront its current rival China.
Domestically we are like ourselves just before the Civil War where compromise after compromise is reached in government but no one walks away satisfied.
Abroad we are weaker in influence than we have ever been - behold, how the mighty have fallen.
Between the failures and mishaps of President Bush II and the lack of fire by President Obama now, I fear what we are really facing is similar to the gates of a divided Roman Empire just before collapse: Power, strength or weakness is immaterial to the debate - the question is, what color coffin would we like?
Thank you for your comment! Understudy indeed. :)
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