If you spend a decent amount of time on the internet, you might have seen a trend where women approach their men and ask if they spend any time thinking about the Roman Empire. Women are often surprised to hear most men say they absolutely do and for various reasons.
There's a lot to admire and learn from the Roman Empire from its inventions to its philosophies. The Founding Fathers certainly paid a good deal of attention to the Roman Empire. In fact, you could say that the United States is the Roman Empire 2.0.
But it's because the U.S. has such a close relationship with ancient Rome that we should be paying attention to its history, how it rose, how it prospered, and how it fell.
Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius is often credited with quotes that the wise take to heart. There is a quote that's credited to him (though there's some disagreement) that goes:
"In times of great societal distraction, the decline of a civilization becomes imminent. It is when a society prioritizes trivial pursuits over matters of true importance that it faces its gravest danger."
Sound familiar?
Take a look at the front page of RedState right now in a new tab and you'll find that the United States is facing some very, very serious problems.
We have a wide-open border that our leaders are only making wider. Our media is so in the pocket of the authoritarian left that they will tell bold-faced and demonstrable lies right to the public. Our nation is in the grip of a rejection of reality, including a denial about basic biology with our own medical system and schools pushing this incredibly dangerous nonsense on children. Our taxpayer dollars are being used to fund various efforts in other countries while people on our own are being abandoned.
Meanwhile, there is corruption at the very top of our system and it leaks all the way down.
The United States of America is a nation in decline, and what seems to be the mainstream reaction?
Bread and circuses.
One man was asked the Roman Empire question by his wife and he responded, as most men do, with a "yes," and then went into why he thinks about it, at least lately. He touches on the problem of how America's decline looks a lot like the Roman Empire's decline and makes some very scary comparisons.
Do you ever think of the Roman Empire?
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) September 25, 2023
🔊 pic.twitter.com/GUu2lDTo5T
For those who couldn't watch the video, the man touches on how during the Roman Empire's decline, the government would do all it could to distract the people from all that was happening to them with bread and circuses. They would put on grand shows, give out food and wine, and keep the populace as distracted and placated as possible.
They knew that if the people weren't preoccupied with all the games, shows, and fun, then they would riot. There would probably have been a revolution and the people might have toppled the government and implemented their own.
While I deal in politics, I'm primarily a cultural/socio-political writer. I often talk about the importance of cultural affairs because they often influence people's politics way more effectively than any politician ever could.
But as much as I love escapism, I can tell you when escapism is being used to influence people politically, or at the very least, being used to distract people from real problems. I can tell you with confidence that there is a lot of that happening now.
For instance, I don't think it's a mere coincidence that Taylor Swift is being talked about nonstop in conjunction with the Chief's Travis Kelce. Especially when you have Kelce appearing in ads for Pfizer and its COVID-19 vaccines on Instagram, and Swift appearing at games to cheer him on.
I don't think it's an accident that BlackRock and Vanguard are using their majority shares in companies like Disney to push left-wing politics.
I don't think that it's just chance that scandals are cropping up that point to everyone but the people who need to be focused on like the Bidens. This includes Russell Brand and Bob Menendez.
(READ: The Attack on Russell Brand Isn't About Him, It's About 2024 and Leftist Narratives)
As 2024 rolls around, the bread and circuses are only going to become more intense, and it's all in an effort to mask the fact that the U.S. is falling. If they can keep you distracted, then maybe you won't rise up and create a scene. Maybe they can even fool you into letting them continue.
There's nothing new under the sun. What's happening to us happened before.
