Secular Café: The “Fall of The Roman Empire” is a myth.

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

The "Fall of The Roman Empire" is a myth. Nov 13th 2012, 02:26 Rome has never fallen – it's still with us today. Actually, we, in the 'Western' world are it. There is a direct, continuous (although fading in and out) line that connects us to our heritage. It is the same philosophy: values, methods, aims, decadence -- just as it was back in Nero's time (although with a lot more lying and denial). Everything we pursue today: science, 'democracy', technology, 'justice', bureaucratic and hierarchical structures, 'civilizing' the savages – were there already: in Rome. The rest of the world is our playground: to conquer and loot at our whim and pleasure. Science and technology gives us the weapons, organizational ability gives us the methods to accomplish this. In this, we are 'superior' to the rest of the world and we never let them forget it. A cruise missile here and there and the occasional 'punishing war' will serve as a reminder. And our trump-card: our nuclear arsenal, that can destroy all life on Earth, is our final argument. That is why we go to any length to make sure that the 'savages' don't get their own. We certainly would not like it used against us, even as a threat. However, just like in Nero's time, we are so decadent, so out of touch with reality, that we seem to be helpless against the hatred and determination of the 'savages'. We bumble from one attempt at conquest or reprisal to another, bleeding our blood and money on the battlefields, losing way more than what we gain. In the meantime, the Planet is steadily being destroyed under our feet and we face self-destruction when we run out of victims to feed on. Yes, we are actually eating the rest of humanity alive. Yesterday's headlines on CBC website: "25 million people starve to death each year", "14,000 new HIV patients every day". Aids is spreading from Africa to Eastern Europe, Russia, India and China. The planet is fast running out of resources and pollution (especially outside 'Rome') reach catastrophic levels. This is the price the rest of the world has to pay for our 'affluence'. We pretend that globalization is helping those poor people 'over there'. We are giving them jobs in the factories we set up on their land to spread civilization. First we had to destroy their way of life, foist the most ruthless among them to do our slave-trading for us and prop them up with weapons and loans so they can suppress their own people for us. Then, since they are so deep in debt for the unpaid weapons, we make them pay for it by growing exotic fruit and coffee beans for us; make our shoes, clothes and play-things for us; let us extract and cart away all their natural resources, shipping it to the west in a never-ending convoy of transport ships. In exchange we let them live in the shanty towns surrounding our modern factories, and not quite starve on the wages we pay them. The lack of minimum safety standards and pollution preventing safeguards is just an unfortunate side effect they have to live with. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is true, we, in the 'Western Democracies', are still the Empire of Rome, in aims, methods, values, ruthlessness and appetite.

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