Samo, Samo: Civilization (vs.) the Barbarians

[wcepler]

We've been down this road many times before my friends, my
"civilized" friends, so we shouldn't be surprised
that early 3rd millennia barbarians are raping Mother Nature,
babbling about Armageddon, trashing national/international
laws, and trying to plunder what's left of the wealth of the
planet. 

 

Before they wore two horned helmets and animal furs; later
they slapped riding crops against black booted Nazi and
Stalinist legs. Now they make fools out of religious
extremists (that's called shooting fish in a barrel) and
engineer the American military into oil wars for corporate
billionaires, e.g., Texas energy companies and
Cheney/Halliburton.

 

The Fall of Rome has many lessons for us, such as the
civilization-killing consequences of boundless greed.  Rome
too had its greed vampires and they bled the Empire into
defenselessness.  Have you checked our national defenses
lately, particularly our ports and atomic facilities? It's
beyond laughable. A cross eyed dog could walk through these
"defenses".  But why?  Didn't we legislate
commissions to tell us how to protect ourselves? Of course,
but that life and death funding has been doled out to
corporate friends of the Bush Royal Family (also known as the
Saudi Royal family).

 

In short, 3rd millennia barbarians are that two sided coin of
Bush/Republicans and international terrorists.

 

Said, differently, we're back to the conflict between Good and
Evil.  It seems like every generation has to deal with this
challenge.  In the middle 20th Century it was the WW2
"Axis Powers", i.e., Germany, Italy, and Japan. 
Western Civilization itself nearly died during the Dark Ages,
but that sacred flame of worldly/social honor and rationality
came back from the coals and from the 12th Century on, it has
been a conflagration.  

 

Nevertheless, the barbarians, the greed and power luster’s,
the spiritual refuse of the plant, kept coming back.  

 

And here they are again.  Daddy Bush -- just putrid old wine
in a new bottle.  

 

It helps somehow to keep this historical perspective.  We
aren't after all victims of something “unusually” barbarous. 
Hey, this is just how it is.  This is Civilization fighting
for its life as per usual. 

 

Now it's our turn.  The Republican Party has morphed into this
century's Heart of Darkness and religious fundamentalists of
ALL Middle Eastern religions (e.g., a plague on both houses of
the Israeli/Palestinian metastasized cancer) are barely
spiritually toilet trained.  

 

So once again it all circles back to keeping the faith and
fighting the good fight. 

 

Are we really going to let creatures like Jeb Bush and Dick
Cheney define who we are as human beings?  

 

We got our second wind, a little bit, during the 2006 midterm
elections, but the beast of abyssal ignorance, vampire greed,
and the righteous hatreds of religious fanaticism never
sleeps.  

 

Nor can we.

**********************************************************************

wcproteus

[Chulanowa]

1. Way off-base

Do not compare the "Barbarians" to the current regime. Take a look at Fascist regimes through history. Who do they hold as their icons? Boudicca? Vercingetorix? Gunderic? Hell no. Caesar, Cato, Pompey, and increasingly, Caligula.

Don't lump the "barbaric" heroes of history together with either the Romans, or their fascist followups.

[xchrom]

2. that was good.

and the point that the author makes about american corporations rapaciously absorbing wealth at the ''expense'' of the country is so well taken.