“The
Fine Print”, by Michael Schrader
George, You Are No Marcus (Aurelius)
(Written and
posted 22 February 2003)
It’s the greatest nation the world has
ever known. Hard to believe, given it’s
humble beginnings.
In the beginning, it was the frontier,
nothing more than a loose collection of settlements under the control of a
foreign king. It’s people were savages
when compared to the culture of the motherland. Under the guiding hand of the foreign kings, the ragtag
collection of frontier outposts morphed into a highly advanced societal and
political culture, one which was bound for greatness.
When this people became the equal of
their foreign rulers, they threw off the shackles of subjugation. When establishing its political structure,
this young state looked to the ancient Greeks for guidance and
inspiration. Unlike most other states
in existence at the time of its formation, this young state opted against
monarchy as being counter to the ancient Athenian principles of democracy. No, the founders of this future great nation
believed that the governed should have a say in how they are governed; in other
words, self-government and created a republic.
At first, this new republic was far
from democratic, as only certain landowners could participate in the political
process. In addition, much of the land
was held in large estates worked by slaves, creating an underclass of the poor
and landless. After some social unrest,
the political system was adapted to include those who were landless and the
give land to those who did not have any on the ever expanding frontiers. New lands were not merely conquered and
subjugated, but were incorporated into the national fabric and given equal
status to the older territories. People
living in the new lands enjoyed the same rights and privileges as those living
in the original territory. In fact,
many national leaders were to hail from these new territories.
The military of this young state
consisted of citizen-soldiers. It was a
mobile military whose primary purpose was to vanquish or be vanquished. Citizen-soldiers were citizens first, be
they farmers or craftsman, and soldiers second. They were only soldiers when they had to be. Because the army was not really a standing
army, there really were not permanent forts and military installations; these
were creatures of necessity only.
At first, this young republic was
nestled between the sea and the mountains, but it would be its destiny to cross
those mountains and reach the other sea.
Interestingly, this young nation, despite being on the seashore, had no
navy. Over time, the leaders realized
that, like it or not, a navy was a necessity, and proceeded to build the finest
navy that the world had ever seen.
Thanks to its military might, the nation quickly became one of the two
great world superpowers. Eventually, it
saw the elimination of its nemesis, and stood alone as the world’s only
superpower. That is when the troubles
started for the Roman Republic.
Without its bitter nemesis Carthage,
the Romans had nothing for its sizable military to do. So, its military turned its attention
inward. When the military stopped
serving the civil government and tried to control it, the Republic gave way to
the empire. How was Caesar able to
become the Roman dictator? Simple. He commanded the largest Roman army, and was
able to coerce the civil government and the populace into ceding its authority
to him. Throughout the history of the
Roman Empire, the emperors served at the will of the military. Good emperors served many terms; bad ones
were promptly disposed of by the palace guard.
After Rome became an imperial state,
the role of the Roman military changed.
It was no longer a mobile military force comprised of
citizen-soldiers. Instead, it became a
permanent and professional force.
Instead being warriors, Roman soldiers became ambassadors of Roman
civilization. The military established
permanent forts and outposts, and civilized the barbarians. The purpose of the Roman legions in later
years was to spread Roman hegemony throughout the world, whether the barbarians
wanted to or not.
Interestingly, as the reach of
Romanization spread further throughout the world, Rome became much more
vulnerable to attacks from barbarians.
The more attention the Roman military spent to building walls and forts
and cities, civilizing barbarians, and internal politics the less time the
military could be warriors, which is the primary purpose of the military,
anyway. The less time the military
could focus on what a military is supposed to do, that is, be warriors, the
more complacent and self-absorbed Rome became, and with complacency and
self-absorption came vulnerability.
When Carthage was still a threat to
Roman viability, diplomacy was of vital importance for the long-term security
of the Republic. When dealing with
other states, Rome could not demand cooperation or else, or the bullied state
might ally itself with the Carthaginians against the Romans. Rather, when courting allies, tact and
diplomacy were key in gaining assistance against the hated Carthage. The way to win over allies was to convince
them that it was better to be with Rome than with Carthage. However, when Carthage was out of the
picture, there was no longer a need for diplomacy. Rome could bully and threaten other states as much as they wanted
to; after all, where else would the bullied states run? There was no one else. Being the world’s only superpower allowed
Rome to extort “protection” out of weaker neighbors. Of course, over time this is counterproductive, as those
neighbors being strong-armed will turn a deaf ear and a blind eye when you need
the help the most. After all, why would
you want to help someone who is bullying you?
You wouldn’t.
This is what happened to the
Romans. The Romans tried to bully the
Germans into submission. When the
opportunity arose, however, the Germans living inside the empire did not help
to defend it; rather they participated in its conquest. Compounding the problem was the fact the
Roman military was so caught up in doing everything but being the best warriors
they could be that they was nobody left to stop the Germans. Thus, Rome fell, and the West was plunged
into a thousand years of intellectual darkness (except Spain, which became a
center of culture and higher learning under Islamic rule).
Why the lengthy discourse about the
Romans? Call it déjà vu. The United States is reliving the Roman
experience, although at a much more abbreviated pace. The United States’ Carthage, the U.S.S.R., has ceased to
exist. We no longer need to be
diplomatic to our old European allies; after all, it’s not like they have any
alternative but to go along with our will, do they? Over the centuries, Rome increasing found itself to be the
primary target of others; after all, everyone wants to knock off the Big
Guy. So too, the U.S. is finding that
it, too, is a target. What better way
to impress your friends than to knock off Goliath?
The United States finds itself today at
the same point that the Romans did at the end of the Republic. In order to achieve our imperial goals, an
ever-larger military will be necessary.
Our military is no longer comprised of “citizen-soldiers”, but rather
trained professionals. The purpose of
our military has changed from fighting battles to spreading American culture
throughout the globe. Our military
force is no longer mobile, but has built an elaborate system of permanent
encampments. The problem with this, as
the Romans found out, is that if you know where the military is, you also know
where the military isn’t, thus making it much easier to penetrate defenses.
Our illegal immigration problem is a
great manifestation of this phenomenon.
If I want to cross the border illegally, I will cross in the areas where
there are no Border Patrol stations.
Here’s another example-- weigh stations. If I have an illegal load, and I know where the weigh stations
are, I will follow the roads where they are not.
We have become so complacent and
arrogant that we telegraph to the world where we will be under the assumption
that the rest of the world is so stupid that it will try to meet us
head-on. However, the reality is that
the rest of the world is not that stupid.
Take for example the Murrah Building in
Oklahoma City. Did anyone think that a
disgruntled vet would load a U-Haul full of fertilizer and blow up a federal
building? I know I didn’t; after all,
we are all Americans, and we are all civilized, right? What was the result of all of that? We armored the federal buildings to make
sure that it won’t happen again. Of
course, this makes the assumption that madmen all use the same playbook and will
do the exact same thing in every circumstance.
But, they don’t. After Murrah,
it had already been done, so it would be expected. If I were intent on hurting the government after Murrah, I would
try something else, something unexpected.
Jump to September 11. Did anyone expect madmen to hijack planes
and use them as missiles to bring down the World Trade Center? Hardly.
We had spent our efforts armoring the buildings in case of another
parking garage bomb. The tragedy is
that the bad guys knew that, so they tried something else.
Why did the Rams lose to the Patriots
in the Super Bowl? I think because the
Rams had become predictable. It seemed
to me that whatever offensive play the Rams tried, the Patriots were always one
step ahead.
So what does all of this have to do
with Rome? The similarities between the
history of the Republic of the United States and the Republic of Rome are
uncanny. We are travelling the exact
same path the Romans did two thousand years before us. Rome eventually became an autocracy of the
military, with the military able to make or break the government. When the military became too restless and
too involved and too entrenched, Rome was destroyed.
Remember, in the 2000 election it was
the strength of the military vote that propelled George W. Bush in office. The primary focus of this administration is
the military. The Secretary of State is
not a diplomat but rather a retired professional military officer.
It took two hundred years for the
Germans to vanquish Rome. Given the
fact that the Germans were not unified, had no means of mass communication, had
to travel on foot, and had no weapons of mass destruction, that is actually
pretty quick. If we are vanquished like
our Roman predecessors, it will be much more rapidly, thanks to the technology
available to those who want to do us in.
I don’t know about you, but I think we
need to take a couple of steps back and take a thorough look at history. The United States does not have to follow
the Roman playbook. I don’t know about
you, but I don’t really want to see an American empire; you don’t need an
empire to be great. I don’t want the
military permeating the government. I
don’t want an emperor, even though there are some in our government who think
along imperial lines. Granted Rome had
some remarkable emperors; it also had some really bad ones, too. For every Marcus Aurelius, there is a
Caligula.
It is our country; it is time for us to
stand up and be counted. History does
not have to repeat itself. We still
have time.