History Repeating Itself

3 min read

Just now

**Hell bent on the highway to hell back then. Are we on the same highway today?**

Full disclosure, I stopped reading Medium posts and writing posts since Story TV (sort of a variation of the History Channel, my other addiction) ran an entire day of programming concerning The Rise & Fall of The Roman Empire. Now I’m catching up.

What follows is my observations based upon binge watching. You probably already known these observations but my goal is to publish them, especially in advance of the 2024 national election:

Fact then: Roman empire got over extended. Battling forces on multiple fronts. Military overextended. Budget over extended. Loss of control at the extremities. Resentments and anxieties grow on all frontiers.

Fact now: same situation

Fact then: Corruption, infighting, polarization and internal tensions. Economic inequality, over-taxation, personal egoes and animosities trump the greater good of the nation and society

Fact now: same situation

Fact then: Roman leaders supporting pagan gods scapegoated the new christians especially when plagues threatened to destroy the society. Scapegoating the poorest, the politically weakest, those who look and speak differently. In sum, the easy targets. Bottom line, divide and conquer.

Fact now: same situation

Fact then: The roman empire cajoled, bribed, cut deals with the barbarians when they realized that barbarians had the upper hand as roman coffers were depleted and their military was overextended.

Fact now: we do the same. CIA conducts covert operations, State Department pays ransoms, cuts deals, Specal Ops launch surgical operations

Fact then: Romans had to utilize “auxillaries” who were basically mercinaries, unfortunate folks from conquered areas and the poor needing money opting for military service. Romans had a voluntary military service requiring creative ways of filling the ranks , especially when their rich and comfortable residents had no need or desire to join the military.

Fact today: We encourage our lowest income and working class residents to join the miliary on the promise that “their college debts will be forgiven”. Is it no coincidence that our exploding college debt coincides with out transfer to a volunteer only based military? We use mercinaries, so did the romans.

Fact then: Every military incursion was driven by the need for the emporor to establish a strong military resume. The roman empire did not need to expand as evidenced by their misguided incursion into the British Isles. Classic example of getting overextended.

Fact now: We got Saddam pushed out of Kuwait . Mission accomplished. So why did we have to re-invaded under Bush Jr. into Iraq?

Obama got Bin Laden, so why did we stay there many years afterwared?

Fact then: Romans considered themselves superior to those outside of the empire and more civilized than the barbarians. They used this rationale to justify expanded Roman territory. Romans threw their weight around when they were the superpower of that era.

Fact now: USA followed misguided policy of nation building, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union. USA constantly refers to exceptionalism and manifest destiny but doesn’t consider how that sounds to those outside of the USA.

Fact then: Romans revelled in blood sports with gladiators entertaining them in colosseums. General population became soft and complacent

Fact now: We have our stadiums and football games that have a sacraficial gladiator feel to them. Full disclosure, my guilty pleasure is watching football (American version) and rooting for my team (New England Patriots) but a gnawing sense of unease creeps into my consciousness. Like the Romans, our society is lulled into complacency and obesity as we gorge on entertainment watching our screens, playing our computer games and eating our chips.

Fact then: Romans were dragged down by plagues during the 300 years following the birth of Christ. They turned on eachother internally while barbarians attacked on all external fronts. The empire ran out of time, money, resources and the ability to cope with the death spiral it found itself in.

Fact now: I could go on and on with comparisons but I wanted to end with a glimmer of hope. We still have time to right this sinking ship but only if we steer away from the declining Roman Empire course. Only time, fortitude and courage will determine our fate.

Fall Of Rome

Decline Of Civilization

Political Polarization

Corruption

Decline Of America

Written by Greg Dunn

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Boomer who’s a late bloomer to writing/blogging and loving it! Published novel MALL CHILD based on 15 years as weekend mall cop & 40 years as city planner

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