I'm not a person with a lot of down time.  Truth be told, that fact is a condition of my disposition rather than one of necessity.  I'm constantly busy - I have intense work things, home things, personal things, band things, volunteer things and political things that command my attention.  I'm not a person who feels at ease sitting still.

With that in mind, I celebrated the 4th by doing absolutely nothing.  I had spent a busy weekend blogging and cleaning and paying bills and found myself magically (if only momentarily) caught up.  It was oppressively hot here on the 4th and violent thunderstorms were threatening all day.  I therefore opted for the Blockbuster route.  I rented several movies (none of them very good) and sat down to watch them in air conditioned comfort.

I'm one of the few people I know who actually watches the "coming attractions" placed at the beginning of DVDs.  I am, today, thankful that I do watch them.  Because it was at the very beginning of the very first preview I watched that I saw the quote that changed my life.  Make the jump.

I consider myself well-read, though not even remotely on par with folks in academia or others who would widely be considered experts in this field or that.  I know most of the famous quotes and persons to which they are attributed.

But I had never heard of Will Durant.  I don't know if I should slap myself for not knowing who he was or pinch myself at the luck that I saw his quote, but I digress.  The quote was this:

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome's decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.

So let's back up a bit.  William James Durant was an American philosopher, historian and writer.  Wikipedia (linked) also notes that:

He [Durant] fought for equal wages, women's suffrage and fairer working conditions for the American labor force. Durant not only wrote on many topics but also put his ideas into effect. Durant, it has been said widely, attempted to bring philosophy to the common man. He authored The Story of Philosophy, The Mansions of Philosophy, and, with the help of his wife, Ariel, wrote The Story of Civilization. He also wrote magazine articles.

Learning all of this after reading that single quote made me think of another often-fogotten American hero, Thomas Paine.  But let me return to Durant's quote and dissect it a bit in an order that makes sense to me.

The essential causes of Rome's decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.

Substitute "America" for "Rome" and tell me we don't have a case study of bearing witness to the decline of America today.

• Her People:  About ten seconds ago I checked CNN's most popular stories.  At the top of the list is this headline: Swank: Husband's addiction hurt marriage.  It's about the breakup of the marriage of actress Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe.  This is the TOP STORY the day after North Korea test-fired seven missiles.
• Her Morals: How can I pick just one example?  Our government has no compunction about torturing other human beings while trumpeting the superiority of a system of government that ensures "freedom".  Our fellow citizens practice moral mind-games in an attempt to justify illegal activities (wiretapping, for example) in the name of safety.  In a predominantly Christian nation, we are remarkably ignorant of the teachings of Jesus (the "Christ" in Christianity).  We have no moral problem with stomping on minority groups for personal gain, with leaving poor people to become poorer, with leaving people to die in pain and without dignity for want of decent healthcare.
• Her Failing Trade: We continually tout the efficacy and efficiency of outsourcing high-skilled jobs to foreign nations where workers can be exploited and paid less.  Our trade imbalance with China is laughable.
• Her Class Struggle: The gap between those who have and those who don't is widening at an alarming pace.  More people have slipped into poverty in the past six years.  Real wages have failed to keep pace with inflation, causing low-income workers to collapse under the weight of their obligations.  Ken Lay dies of a massive heart attack while vacationing at his Aspen summer home while his former employees try to figure out how, when and if they can ever retire.
• Her Bureaucratic Despotism: The war in Iraq.  The illegal spying on American citizens.  The erosion of our fundamental rights.
• Her Stifling Taxes: What stifles about our tax system is the disparity in the way it is administered.  In a time of great national need begotten by a war of choice and a predicted natural disaster, we continue to provide tax breaks to Corporations, businesses, and wealthy individuals.
• Her Consuming Wars: Iraq.  Afghanistan.  The potential of Iran.  A gathering threat from North Korea.

Many of the links above are to diaries posted right here on Daily Kos.  These are the subjects we discuss.  These are the things that frighten us, that outrage us, and oftentimes that motivate us.  Any one of them, taken alone, is devastating.  Taken together, and placed in the context of Will Durant's quote, it seems clear that we are on the brink of one thing:

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within.

Can anyone tell me that they don't think we are standing on the precipice of our own demise, laughing in a cavalier fashion while simultaneously trying to keep our footing as the foundation beneath us weakens and cracks?

Terrorism won't tear our country asunder.  Outside attacks won't do that, either.  Niether of these things will need to happen if we keep tearing ourselves apart from the inside out.

We have long ago passed the point where a change would be "good".  We are fully into the time where it is absolutely required - our suvival and the survival of the principles and values we hold so dear depend on it.  The problem is, though, that only a motivated minority seem to fully grasp the peril in which we exist.  It is incumbent upon us to work hard - harder than we ever thought we could - to strengthen the foundation of our great country and preserve it for the generations to come who have entrusted its care to us.

posted by RenaRF at 4:27 PM 4 comments