Are We Rome?

There is a new book out called "Are We Rome?", which I just reserved at my library. There have been analogies before, but apparently Cullen Murphy's is the best one yet. America is now an empire, like Rome was, and has a strong sense that it's impervious to failure or setbacks, like Rome also did. Other similarities come in our less-egalitirian societies and our disparities of wealth.

One particular thing that I've been uncomfortable with for a long time has been our politicians. America was born with a sense that each man had more or less the same kind of rough lifestyle. Of course, this wasn't always true, but just reading of our Founding Fathers and some later guys like Andrew Jackson shows that these men really had to fight to get to where they ended up, and these struggles imbued them with a sense of humility and strong ties to the people they served. Today's politicians, from the president on down, are more like kings (or sultans if we're talking about say, congressmen or even local politicians). They feel they are entitled to the trappings of their offices, and that they aren't there to serve anybody other than themselves or their campaign contributors.

There is a scene from a documentary that I'll never forget. It was filmed in the early 90s when Bush's father was President. A class of black children were standing outside the White House, and one kid asked, "why won't Bush come out and talk to us?" Such a simple question, that most adults wouldn't even think to ask (and haven't) when they're standing outside those black gates. Why won't the president (or any politician for that matter) come out and talk to us? Why does any president need the trappings of 1600, with its ominous security and fences to keep people (the taxpayers who actually own that property) out? Why does a president need an agency like the Secret Service to keep people (his constituents) away from him when he's outside?

Here is a good article about the book here: http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/231761