When In Rome...

I have added some channels to my cable television package, recently. And, I have been treated to a full day of Military.Discovery.Com's all-day feature, Rome: Power & Glory. To listen to it, it sounds like a very familiar tale. Apathy, corruption, over-indulgence, high taxes, and so forth, all are pages straight out of an all too familiar script that we have in this country, right now.

The truth is, the mistakes of Rome have been repeated by many nations and empires that have followed; and yet, very few people in a position to do anything about it even realize it. Those that do have the ability to do something, wont. This is because they are the ones that are making the mistakes.

The people are either blind to what goes on, or they just don't care. As long as they can watch their ball games, watch their movies, and essentially do whatever "their thing" is, why should they?

In the days leading up to WWI, we saw this kind of love for leisure time and the malaise that leads to a civilization's decline (be it through war or attrition). What followed was a period of time that brought the world, the most senseless war of the modern age. I have heard almost every explanation for why that war was fought, imaginable. And I truly can find no real good one.

That's not to say that there haven't been other senseless wars. There was no real need for Hitler and his allies to feel the need to spread their specific brands of fascism though out the world. They weren't forced to do it. There was, however, the real need to stop them before they succeeded.

And that's not to say that I am leaving myself out of some of criticism here. After all, I am guilty of doing the Monday Morning Quarterback posts (as well as the other occasional sports posts). I love sports and good cinema with a good story/message, as much as anyone. But, I do see things that certainly concern me about the state of my nation (and others that we align ourselves with). I see us all heading down the same path as those that were once great, before us.

After saying all of this, I am quite sure that some who come hear understand what I am trying to imply here. If you don't, then I am not going to say. I'll let you think this one through on your own, because it's very likely that nothing I say is going to light up the universe in your minds. But to the many that do see it, I have a question:

Will the demise of Rome also be the current western world's destiny?

Because from what we know about the world's history, it's hard to imagine that it won't.