Comments by "Itinerant Patriot" (@itinerantpatriot1196) on "Thomas Sowell: Is America On the Brink of Collapse Like Rome?" video.
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Most people focus on the Roman Empire and draw comparisons based on Rome post-Caesar. However, prior to that, Rome was a republic, and what we are experiencing now is more in-line with Rome circa 48 BC. The republic had degenerated into an oligarchy with a corrupt senate and a patrician class buying the support of the peasants in their regions. It's where the term patronage comes from. Caesar saw an opportunity to capitalize on the growing discontent of the populace and he promised them the sun and the moon if they would support him. He was taken out by senators who didn't want to lose their power and they couched his murder in terms of restoring the republic to its true roots. Sound familiar? Booth tried to make the same argument in 1865 and saw himself as an American Brutus.
Of course Caesar had influence that extended beyond the popular front and the call went out to restore order and consolidate the gains that had been made. And that meant getting rid of the Triumvirate that had caused all the division. A wise dictator, a leader in the mold of Plato's Philosopher King was what the doctor ordered, and who better to fill that role than Julius's favorite nephew, Augustus. Remember, Augustus was a very popular emperor. The people loved him and they loved that order had been restored, the mythical Pax Romana had been established. After that the die was cast. It took another 400 years but over time, as the quality of the emperor's continued to diminish new forces, forces that were Roman in name only, got tired of trying to join the club and decided to just take the place over. They didn't want the empire to die, they wanted to run the thing. That should ring a bell as well.
I say all of this because we have gotten in the habit of trying to explain deep issues in 10 minutes or less. Anything more than that and people aren't interested. They don't see history as anything more than stories about a past they have no connection with so if you don't give it to em fast and simple they have better things to do, like spend two hours watching Barbie or Mario Brothers at the air conditioned theater with the reclining seats and the seven dollar small container of soda. Our founders were influenced by the old Roman Republic. Cincinnati is named for the great Roman general who returned to his crops once the republic was saved. The man who became the role model for George Washington. Yet if you ask most American's about the Roman Republic they will say they have no idea there even was such a thing and claim our form of democracy was based on the Greek model. That's too bad, because the fall of the Roman Republic isn't the only example we can point at and say hey, that looks quite familiar. Check out the Hapsburg Empire sometime if you want to see what happens when you try to rule a bunch of people who want to keep their own cultural practices and way of life rather than assimilate with a bloated bureaucracy they don't understand and some culture they don't have any special allegiance to. History doesn't repeat as much as it rhymes. Or as the demon Azazel tells Denzel in the movie Fallen: "Take a look around sometimes Hobbs."
I get it, this post won't get a lot of attention, but you really should take the time to learn the whole story on your own. It's like fine tuning the monitor and getting rid of all the squiggly lines. Things become much clearer.
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