Romulus Augustus Last Emperor of Western Roman Empire
John R. Houk
© May 12, 2013
Danny correctly observes the uncanny parallels between the Roman Empire and the United States of America. The only criticism I have and it is a bit silly is that the Roman Republic made Rome an empire. Rome’s decline began when the republican form of government was replaced by the rule of law of one man that utilized republic’s infrastructure to enforce the rule of one man. Rome exchanged the rule of law for the rule of man. When Octavius secured Roman government under his “enlightened” leaders he became Emperor. Octavius of the Republic was no more for he transformed into Augustus and essentially took his Uncle Julius’ family name as “Caesar” instead of the obvious “Emperor”.
Augustus’ Roman Empire was strong and succeeded hundreds of years after his death. Rome’s decline was the deficiency of one man rule of succeeding emperors that led quite immoral lives. Even though the Western half of the Roman Empire ended circa 475 AD according to famed historian Edward Gibbons, Western Roman already nearly non-existent by the time the last Emperor was defeated and deposed.
My point about the decline of Rome is if the USA has a parallel a one man rule will probably take place. Just as Augustus was perceived to be the savior from the chaos of Rome Republic rivals for power, then a similar parallel would occur in the USA.
Is America to the point that politically powerful people will divide the sympathies of Americans to the point that the U.S. Constitution is irrelevant? It could happen that factions tear Constitutional rule of law to pieces because of the feeling of desperation.
America’s only hope is for a consensus of voters become strong enough to elect Constitutional Originalists into Office and Constitutional Originalists are selected for the Federal Judiciary especially the Supreme Court.
Otherwise … Factions of the political spectrum will war for power with the winner taking all rendering the Constitution as a glorious document in the history of humankind.
Well those are my thoughts on Danny Jeffrey’s essay “The Decline and Fall of America”.
JRH 5/12/13
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THE DECLINE AND FALL OF AMERICA
By Danny Jeffrey
May 8, 2013
I read Edward Gibbon's "Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire" in my early twenties. That was many moons ago and needless to say I have forgotten most of it. However, I remember enough of it that I am constantly comparing events that took place then with what is transpiring today. The similarities are staggering, and so it is time to refresh my memory somewhat. I lack the time to read the entire six volumes again but thanks to the internet, finding specific points I seek is a breeze. The thing that impressed me most about Mister Gibbon's efforts was not so much his description of the historical events that occurred but his observations concerning the people of Rome, and their changing attitudes, his point being that those attitudes were why Rome declined in the first place.
Before I begin relating Mister Gibbon's history of Rome's past and the folly of our present, I would like for you to watch a brief video of some modern day Americans 'worshiping' a golden calf in the streets of Portland Oregon. Nothing could better indicate the levels of depravity to which our people have sunk. It was this video that brought to mind The Decline and Fall of Rome and Edward Gibbon who spent so much time understanding it.
First off, were this a case of genuine worship then I would be the first to defend their right to worship as they please. Paganism has been on the Earth far longer than the Judeo/Christian belief, and if a person or a group of people choose to pay homage to a golden calf, the Sun, the Moon, the grains of sand on a beach or a rotting tree stump, they have the right to do so as free Americans.
But ... The video is not what it first appears to be. I have watched this lunacy several times and my first feelings of revulsion was not in regard to the dancing idiots but the passive bystanders who should have taken offense yet said and did nothing.
The actual meaning of their street demonstration is somewhat less than obvious. That crude sound of rap music in the background is totally indiscernible to me but would not have been so to the bystanders. On my second viewing I noticed about half way through when the video cam zoomed in that there are images on the cart of Shell, Chevron, Merrill Lynch, Fox News and others; corporations and news that is part and parcel of the American way of life.
Now that got my attention, as I knew that some strange concept was being put forth. Being the researcher that I am, digging for that rap song seemed logical and I found it. It is a tune entitled "Comfort Eagle" by a group calling themselves Cake. The first line and the repeating theme was "We are building a religion." With that, the pieces and a realization fell into place. This is Occupy, i.e.: communists, who have no religion. The idea that they are trying to put across is that we, the conservatives of America, are the ones worshiping the golden calf ... the golden calf of free enterprise.
And so this disgusting video is not of street idiots worshiping an idol. They are street idiots ridiculing conservative America and saying that it is we who worship a false god. The realization that I had is that these people are the ones that we have been trying to wake up, and we have been totally wasting our time in a futile effort.
Click the link at the end of this paragraph to watch the video in question ... Note the day it was made: May 1 ... Communist Holiday. Note also the line at the beginning of the video "To resist it is useless". These people intend to conquer us, and ridicule is but one of their many weapons. Now back to the bystanders. It took me a little time and research to unravel the meaning of this vile video but the meaning was quite apparent to those "Americans" who found the whole thing entertaining and unoffensive. The Video
Before I begin relating Mister Gibbon's history of Rome's past and the folly of our present, I would like for you to watch a brief video of some modern day Americans 'worshiping' a golden calf in the streets of Portland Oregon. Nothing could better indicate the levels of depravity to which our people have sunk. It was this video that brought to mind The Decline and Fall of Rome and Edward Gibbon who spent so much time understanding it.
First off, were this a case of genuine worship then I would be the first to defend their right to worship as they please. Paganism has been on the Earth far longer than the Judeo/Christian belief, and if a person or a group of people choose to pay homage to a golden calf, the Sun, the Moon, the grains of sand on a beach or a rotting tree stump, they have the right to do so as free Americans.
But ... The video is not what it first appears to be. I have watched this lunacy several times and my first feelings of revulsion was not in regard to the dancing idiots but the passive bystanders who should have taken offense yet said and did nothing.
The actual meaning of their street demonstration is somewhat less than obvious. That crude sound of rap music in the background is totally indiscernible to me but would not have been so to the bystanders. On my second viewing I noticed about half way through when the video cam zoomed in that there are images on the cart of Shell, Chevron, Merrill Lynch, Fox News and others; corporations and news that is part and parcel of the American way of life.
Now that got my attention, as I knew that some strange concept was being put forth. Being the researcher that I am, digging for that rap song seemed logical and I found it. It is a tune entitled "Comfort Eagle" by a group calling themselves Cake. The first line and the repeating theme was "We are building a religion." With that, the pieces and a realization fell into place. This is Occupy, i.e.: communists, who have no religion. The idea that they are trying to put across is that we, the conservatives of America, are the ones worshiping the golden calf ... the golden calf of free enterprise.
And so this disgusting video is not of street idiots worshiping an idol. They are street idiots ridiculing conservative America and saying that it is we who worship a false god. The realization that I had is that these people are the ones that we have been trying to wake up, and we have been totally wasting our time in a futile effort.
Click the link at the end of this paragraph to watch the video in question ... Note the day it was made: May 1 ... Communist Holiday. Note also the line at the beginning of the video "To resist it is useless". These people intend to conquer us, and ridicule is but one of their many weapons. Now back to the bystanders. It took me a little time and research to unravel the meaning of this vile video but the meaning was quite apparent to those "Americans" who found the whole thing entertaining and unoffensive. The Video
It may seem a stretch of the imagination to relate Occupy Portland to the decline of the Roman empire but there is a common denominator, and that is depravity. Depravity! Such an all encompassing term, but it is not, in and of itself, a fundamental trait of the human race, rather it is the offspring of a society that nurtures greed, sloth, and irresponsible behavior among its people. Rome cultivated those traits among its citizens in a policy we refer to as Bread and Circus and there is no better way to disable a proud people than to cater to the least among them, thus removing their incentive to be self sufficient.
We see this taking place today as those who still honor the traditions of America bemoan the encroaching loss of liberty that our lawmakers impose upon us. This also took place in Rome as Edward Gibbon noted, "Human freedom is the first wish of our heart; freedom is the first blessing of our nature. Yet when people shirk individual responsibility and expect more from government, they fall prey to tyranny." Any who choose to look past the smoke screen generated by our liberal media are well aware that we are in the process of becoming prey.
Mister Gibbon in further defining the moral turpitude of the Romans tells us "They no longer possessed that public courage which is nourished by the love of independence, the sense of national honor, the presence of danger, and the habit of command." Is that not what we see growing about us? The sense of national honor is in an advanced state of decay. Our people have put a man into the White House with a terrorist friend who treads on the very symbol of what some of us still treasure.
Were the adjoining photo to be hung as a piece of contemporary art and given a title, I am uncertain if I would choose "Contempt" or Contemptible"; "Contempt" for his opinion of our national flag, or "Contemptible" for the lousy swine that is standing on it.
As to the ways of Rome we have witnessed much the same behavior here with some alterations, primarily that the leaders of Rome were smarter than ours. Both ancient Rome and the U.S.A. share the trait of exporting their cultures, but Rome taxed the inhabitants of those foreign nations to support Rome. We tax our citizens to support those foreign nations, and there is no way that we can realistically collect that much in taxes, and so a growing debt and a spiraling inflation is being imposed upon a people who have forgotten how to resist tyranny.
Our language is continually changing, dropping words and phrases no longer relevant as society evolves. Those deleted words are in turn replaced by others that better fit our current lifestyle. "Dumbing down" is an expression that I never heard until a few years ago, but I would venture to say that the more intelligent and concerned citizens of Rome also expressed a similar concept. Gibbon continues to inform us, going on to say that the push for intellectual mediocrity further hastened Rome's collapse. "The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished."Any rational person would be puzzled by a push for intellectual mediocrity. The person seeking power would find no puzzle there, but another weapon to use in the quest for power. "Equality" ... The concept is the bane of all mankind. We are not equal and that is a fact of life. Some among us have greater physical attributes than others, some are more intelligent, and some are born to lead while others can do naught but follow. Societies advance when the intelligent and the leaders are also men of moral character, i.e.: our Founding Fathers. Those same societies falter when morality degrades and it citizens lose interest in the well being of the nation that gave them birth.
Unfortunately all cultures produce their fair share of parasites and the power hungry. Those parasites live only in the present, never concerning themselves with tomorrow or the outcome of actions taken today. Those seeking power, however, do look to tomorrow, with but one thing in mind. They want to rule it, and the way to do that is to recruit a following of the parasites through populism, which we call democracy.
The Founders were well aware of the pitfalls of a total democracy and so they formed a Republic governed by a limited democracy, a meritocracy of sorts, the best form of government ever to grace the planet Earth. Over time, in the quest for "Equality", the Republic was overwhelmed and reason abandoned, and so we find ourselves crossing the Rubicon into Rome.
As Orwell pointed out in "Animal Farm": "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." The more equal ones being the political leaders of course. In order to remain more equal their power must grow, and so their mindless following must increase, consequently for this to take place there must be a "dumbing down" of the citizenry. The producers among us are systematically taxed, looted, and punished for their efforts, redistributing the wealth to the ever growing host of parasites, forever groping for that which they have not earned.
It is a vicious, destructive, self defeating quest for power that always ends in ruin. It happened in Rome and it is happening here. This is a cycle that cannot be stopped without bloodshed, and perhaps cannot be stopped at all. Those among us who are aware of the danger have been hoping to avoid the calamity of civil war and they have advocated calls to your representatives in Washington. Emails, peaceful protest, and faxes to those in power have been but a waste of time. To all but the seriously mentally impaired it is obvious that communism now has a clear following in America, and communism ignores peaceful protest, knowing only dictatorial policies.
Look to the past and see the future. Rome, whether for good or bad, was the leader of the world. Its fall was followed by a thousand years of decline for the human race. Since the end of World War II the United States has been the unquestioned leader of the free world. Obama, with the support of an ever growing population of parasites has now abdicated that responsibility and as a result, chaos is growing world wide by leaps and bounds.
One of the oldest rules of the human race is that if there is no leader, anarchy soon follows, and in a world where anarchy reigns, darkness will soon follow it. In his greatest speech Ronald Reagan warned us of the consequences of making the wrong choices. Our people, our parasites, and our power hungry, have made their choices, and in so doing have chosen our future. We, the sane, the rational, the productive, and the loyal of this nation must oppose them at all costs, even unto death.
Fifty two years ago when I was sixteen I wrote a term paper about the Constitution for a girl in college. Yes, I know that was cheating but I took is (sic - it) as a challenge, and besides, she was so pretty. At the ripe old age of sixteen I was already able to envision the possible demise of this nation due to corruption but closed the paper on the upbeat thought that even should this disaster occur, the concept of liberty would live on and men and women would rebuild based on the thinking of what our founders left to us in the form of the Constitution.
I believe that to this day. Our nation may very well crumble, but liberty once born must not be forsaken. Archaeologists dig down finding one civilization after another that has been built on the ashes of those that came before. So too it may happen here, but if the basic concept of freedom spelled out in our Constitution lives on, mankind shall one day gaze upon that shining city on the hill that Ronald Reagan wanted for us.
I must believe in that city.Suggested Reading...
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One Man Rule will END the Constitution
John R. Houk
© May 12, 2013
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THE DECLINE AND FALL OF AMERICA
I'm sixty eight and since Ronald Reagan left office I have watched my country slowly deteriorate as freedoms are lost and the value of our currency dwindles. This has been a slow but steady decline until Barrack Obama entered the White House. I will not refer to this man as President. That is a job that deserves respect and he has earned none at all. I am convinced that were it not for the Tea Party stirring up the public we would now be living under a total dictatorship. He seeks only power and has no loyalty at all to the United States, and as long as he is in office I shall write to any who will read and speak of what he is and what he is doing to this country.
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