The Dark Ages . . .

[Brigid]

For a change, the History Channel is showing something besides the UFO crap they usually show on weekend days. It's a show about the Dark Ages. I had seen it before, but once again I was struck by an eerie sense of familiarity.

At the beginning of the show, they talked about how a series of corrupt, inept, and just plain nutty emperors led the once mighty Roman Empire into decay. People -- and capital -- began moving away. Eventually barbarians laid siege to Rome for two years, and the people were starved into submission. The new conquerors, finding not much worth plundering by that time, destroyed the city and moved on. There were no longer any resources to maintain Roman engineering marvels like roads, bridges, and the Colosseum. Life became smaller in scale. People lived in huts rather than grand houses, and got their water from wells, not aqueducts. They eked out a living from the soil as best they could. Benefits of civilization like education and health care were now nonexistent. But all around them the remains of the Roman Empire stood like ghosts, reminding people that their ancestors had once enjoyed a better life.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Yesterday a DUer posted a "good-bye" thread. He and his family are leaving the country for good -- for New Zealand, I think. And I seem to recall others doing the same over the approximately three years I've been posting here. And not long ago one DUer mentioned that his retirement money is in euros and stashed in a European banks. I'm sure he's not alone. In other words, people are preparing for the worst and abandoning what is no longer a prosperous nation to its fate. I'm not judging them. What are they supposed to do -- they have families to support, and this country can no longer offer what they need in order to do that.

What will this country be like in a few generations? Will it be economically destitute, destroyed by debt, inept government, and militarism? Will the people look at the skyscrapers we built and wonder just what on earth happened? Or will we take action before it's too late, demanding leadership that listens to us and develops sound policies to halt the decline we can already see all around us? It is said that the Romans had the games of the Colosseum to distract them, and that television has the same effect today. The difference is, we can use television -- and, and of course, the internet -- to spread information and organize ourselves to do what needs to be done. But it will take all of us working together. Even if we do manage to get Barack Obama elected, he cannot do it alone, as he would be the first to tell you.

I think we can do it. But I also believe that the 2008 election is our last chance. If we can't get our act together now and start electing competent, assertive leaders and work with them to solve the serious problems we face, at some point it's simply going to be too late. I think we've reached that point if McBush gets elected. But I also think we've shown remarkable resilience in the past. That doesn't have to stop now.

[enlightenment]

1. Are they really calling it the "Dark Ages"?

Dang. We stopped calling that period the Dark Ages a long time ago.

Interesting post - though I think we're living through the new Gilded Age, myself.