A recent column by another columnist remarked on the uncanny parallels between the last few chapters of Edward Gibbons' The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the current state of the United States. Hanson comes at the same theme in a little different way. He basically says that Washington and Jefferson are only remembered as the names of a few elementary schools and the American people neither know or care what the Founding Fathers were trying to do. In other words, the U.S. is now on a ballistic trajectory. The boost phase has ended and we are now in unguided flight and will land wherever we were last pointed.
The citizenry seems to be remarkably untroubled - ignorance is bliss. Hanson comments:
"If Rome quieted the people with public spectacles and cheap grain from the provinces, so too Americans of all classes keep glued to favorite video games and reality-TV shows. Fast food is both cheap and tasty. All that for now is preferable to rioting and revolt."
Note the operative words in his last sentence - "for now." But for how long? Perhaps that is why people are purchasing so many firearms and ammunition. They have one eye on DWTS and one watchful eye on the heavily-locked front door. It could be a helluva landing.
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