Are We Doomed?

California

It must seem that way if you live in Selma, California like the Road Warrior Victor Davis Hanson although I have difficulty imagining that it is as bad there as it is today in Selma, Alabama:

“Sometimes societies find themselves in pernicious cycles in which the perceived medicine seems worse than the known disease. The Roman satirist Juvenal lamented the ill effects of free food and free entertainment for the masses (“bread and circuses”) in part because he knew there was no remedy for the pathology in sight — and thus only a slow decline toward fiscal insolvency or riots were on the horizon. Any Roman emperor bold enough to rein in the Praetorian Guard, charge the mob for grain, and curb gladiatorial shows would earn a usurper marching on Rome from the provinces. So most did not.”

Note: The Roman Juvenal shouldn’t be confused with the Louisiana rap artist Juvenile if you are joining us off Twitter.

About Hunter Wallace 12390 Articles
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41 Comments

  1. I don’t really understand this fascination with ‘the end.’ Everyone predicts it. Some people long for it. Others dread it. Perhaps this is because the US is right now the world’s dominant power but it seems to be losing power. Perhaps it’s because only a few decades ago we had a more more healthy society and today we have a chaotic, deteriorating mess. Perhaps it’s the Protestant influence of the End Times theology. Maybe it’s a bit of all of this. But I don’t think other cultures have this – at least not in the same way. The Kurds have lived as a minority nation in various empires for many hundreds of years and survived. They are killed by Turks (with US help). They were gas by Saddam. They are regularly mistreated by all the states in the region. And today they are getting close to their dream of an independent Kurdish state (they already have autonomy in northern Iraq and western Syria). I don’t know any Kurds but they don’t strike me as a people who sit around worrying if they are doomed or dreaming about what the End Times will look like. They are survivors.

  2. The Roman aristocrats took the farms from the soldiers and given them bread and circuses in its place and the same can be said of America and the West, where the elites shipped our manufacturing overseas and are doing the same with agriculture.

    What good is a country that can’t make or grow anything?

    Are we doomed? If by “we”, they mean the social construct, known as the USA? Yes. Obviously.

  3. Apparently the Sikhs in Canada blew up an Air India plane in 1985. Killing 280 Canadians I didn’t know about this until today. knew about a shooting at the Canadian parliament too. They also assassinated Indira Gandhi, which I also knew about.

    I suppose Page had his reasons. They are not much better than Al Qaeda.

    How does this relate? The press didn’t go into any Sikh history in North America or
    India. They didn’t raise a single point of controversy. It’s clear that none of do stand a chance in the face of the steady iron hard jet of propaganda we are subjected to.

  4. Who shall lead us home? A black Marxist or a White Zionist.

    Not a true Occidental leader to be seen.

    Look out below!

  5. I’m surprised that VDH didn’t mention Coriolanus in connection with these events. California is ripe for violent breakdown.

  6. Why do people insist on using the phrase “rap artist”, without either laughing or puking? Gives artistry a bad name.

  7. having lived within twenty minutes of selma california and also in several east coast metro areas, there is no question that I would rather live near poverty stricken illegals than urban youths

  8. Sorry Jimmy but you’re wrong about ancient Rome.
    The general wealthy class of landowners was broken early on to expand the military, as only Roman landowners could serve. This also prompted future controlled territories to become “Roman” growing the military while seeding the new lands with true Roman servicemen. Yes there were still aristocrats who held vast swaths of land but it was nothing like the sharp contrast between Greeks of prior centuries. The bread and circuses plays into the mix when Emperors needed to win favor and curb tensions among the urban population. The folks who were neither soldiers–and by extension farmers when not in conflict abroad–or of the upper crust found their city-trades/services diminished as more slaves were imported. Coupled with this were the Greek slaves who the Romans highly respected for their talents, skills, and education. Many Roman households utilized Greek slaves to take care of tasks at little cost leaving former Romans working the same field unemployed, hence giving the opportunity for strife and tensions to rise if not quelled by free eats and entertainment.

    The article linked by Hunter states incorrectly that the Nika revolt was caused by bloating Byzantium entitlements being trimmed by Justinian. Nothing could be further from the truth, but Ill let you research that on your own. A better example would’ve been the downfall of the Spanish monarchy after the 16th century as it relied solely on precious metals being shipped in by its empire in the new world to fund every facet of daily life, as a result when more metals flooded the market it devalued the current currency rates quickly crippling the civilization…

    Ain’t history great?

  9. @Maxx
    The info on the land grab, comes from a relative of mine that reads ancient Greek, she uses primary sources and is doing honors with a goal of doing a doctorate.

    Here’s another one saying the same thing:

    http://spqrlive.com/republic-fall/4537119482

    “Rome itself had also swelled to bursting point, filled with
    indolent citizens, most pushed off their farms by land-grabbing artistocrats. The mob, which paid no taxes, thanks to recent conquests, constantly demanded free food and public entertainment.”

    Rome failed when the elite got greedy and were not loyal to their own. History is repeating.

  10. The Victory Riots! I recall them from Count Belisarius. Something about green and blue factions at the hippodrome. 10,000+ rioters killed in the bleachers. They had a rival Emperor.

  11. They also talk about the old families and the “new men”, in conflict while the empire fell apart. No one is more disloyal, than the classist and the neuvou riche. I haven’t studied Roman history myself, but that is what I see in the here and now.

  12. “On traveling to Spain he had observed the decline of farming in Etruria, seeing how the Italian smallholders, whom Rome depended on for her soldiery, were declining in numbers as they succumbed to the competition by the massive farms (latifundiae) of the wealthy, worked by armies of slaves.
    Many of these vast farms of the rich were actually situated on public land (ager publicus), which they rented for pitifully small leases from the state, if they paid for it at all.

    It was no doubt a good idea at the time and Gracchus’ proposal seems indeed to have been heartfelt and sincere. But with hindsight it is unclear how these smallholders could have competed for any length of time with the slave run latifundiae of the rich – especially, if they were to be regularly called away on military service.

    http://www.roman-empire.net/republic/laterep-index.html

    So it is exactly the same as modern times. They tell whites to compete with people being paid less than a dollar a day and all our manufacturing is destroyed.

    Rome fell for the same reasons, the West will fall. Greed, disloyalty, etc.

  13. Are you talking about the Republic becoming the Principate or the Empire falling? Or the Western Empire or the Eastern Empire?

  14. We wouldn’t care one jot about Rome had they not transformed themselves from a Republic into an Empire. Anymore than we now care about Carthage’s political constitution or that of Gallic social history. What phase of Roman history are you refering too?

  15. They’re not going to just “let us go.” No way. They will fight to retain control. The surveillance state and mass media don’t make it difficult.

    We who would like to see partition are probably 1/100th of 1 percent.

  16. “We who would like to see partition are probably 1/100th of 1 percent.”

    That’d be about right. The resolution of this situation is going to be a matter of all or nothing, not bargaining for a scrap of the whole of what is rightfully ours. America is a legitimate nation, and it’s not going anywhere.

  17. Half the country, many of them probably your friends and family, have an entirely different notion of the country that is “rightfully theirs” than you do. There will be no putting this back together. No way.

    We will attack Iran, WW3 will start, and when it’s over we will be folded into a world government with the same rights as any third world shithole. And half of our white neighbors will proclaim victory.

  18. And what would that notion be?

    Christ, with an attitude like that, why not just lay down in traffic? If you’re so convinced of our inevitable enslavement and destruction, why bother sticking around to experience it?

  19. That’s what partition prevents. It’s probably the only sure way to avoid the brown tide. Muslims in France already hold the balance of power there in Presidential elections. Fortunately the UK has a parliamentary FPTP system so the brown horde can be gerrimandered into insignificance.

    Not so here. The browns can now flip a few states and decide events for the rest.

  20. Chris — what, you think if you’re not optimistic about the USA (f&^ck yeah!), there is nothing worth living for? Ridiculous. Life is its own reward, regardless of meta-trends.

    The notion of America that your neighbors and relatives might have that differs from yours is the one fueled by the most powerful White drug in existence — white guilt. And Obama is its President.

  21. Christ, with an attitude like that, why not just lay down in traffic? If you’re so convinced of our inevitable enslavement and destruction, why bother sticking around to experience it?

    Yeah, Chris, I understand your patriotism. I really do. Understand you Government is your worst enemy now. This is not the US you may seem to think it is. This government is primarily run by jews and just to rub your nose in shit they placed an illegal alien nigger to be their front man.

    Not my America, I don’t recognize this illegitimate govenment as my own, it means nothing to me.

    I long for the day it is destroyed.

  22. @Landshark

    “What, you think if you’re not optimistic about the USA, there is nothing worth living for?

    – You’re putting words in my mouth. What I was remarking about, is your utterly defeatist mentality. You have America’s, as well as the white race’s, degradation and destruction all plotted out, as if it’s your unconscious wish. Is there no fight in you?

    “Life is it’s own reward — regardless of meta-trends.”

    – For you maybe. For me it’s a life of freedom and dignity by my own will and on my own terms, or nothing at all.

    “The notion of America that your neighbors and relatives might have that differs from yours is the one fueled by the most powerful White drug in existence — white guilt.”

    – I assure you that no one in my family, and none of those I hold as friends or evwn acquaintances, entertain anything even approaching “white guilt”. I mean, we Northerners fought the Civil War to free the poor oppressed negroes and then created ‘BRA’ to elevate them into a protected class, to be worshipped and celebrated. Remember?

    “And Obama is it’s president.”

    – Not for much longer.

  23. Chris,

    you are supporting, de facto, Claire McCaskill by critiquing Akin. You are not the good party man you claim. It’s not like the GOP have another option and even they can’t support their own pick.

  24. The Roman Republic had just conquered Gaul when its great general crossed the Rubicon. If it had never made that transition, it would still be remembered as a vast empire with impressive public works. Only we would have a different word for empire.

  25. Augustus founded the Principate. And only after ridding himself of Brutus, Cassius, and Marcus Antonius + Cleopatra. Augustus centralized power for the first time.

  26. Chris (aka Major T.J. “King” Kong),

    Here’s the thing, Chris. You may be one of the few people in the country who doesn’t have a liberal friend or family member. But then again, to my mind you’re a liberal yourself, being pro-abortion. I don’t know what else you favor. Do you like the the big gay army, or celebrate that women are now allowed in Augusta? Are you happy Pat Buchanan got kicked off the air since he was a kooky cultural conservative? Do you think monogamy is crazy talk?

    Well, those are the kinds of issues people who care about culture discuss. And people who care about culture create culture. And that culture protects itself and its borders and its people. I have no clue what you are trying to save. Your right to live in your neighborhood in Detroit? Well hell, more power to you. I hope it works out. But in the America I’m trying to save, you’re part of the problem. So it’s no wonder you’re optimistic and I’d like to throw the whole shiteree in the trash and start fresh.

    Major T.J. (313) Kong riding the bomb over Iran:

  27. Palmetto P, the idea that american protestants created the world’s only end-time thinkers is nuts, and that some in the “south” movement have such a deep commitment to that narrative, somewhat curious.

  28. @ Pat Buchanan got kicked off the air since he was a kooky cultural conservative?….

    Completely OT, but Suicide of a Superpower is a great book. He should have been president. And his interview with James Edwards, not that long ago, is worth finding.

  29. Chris said, “….That’d be about right. The resolution of this situation is going to be a matter of all or nothing, not bargaining for a scrap of the whole of what is rightfully ours. America is a legitimate nation, and it’s not going anywhere….”

    Is it just me? How could anyone look at “america” and see anything vaguely “unified” as a “country?” If you see a “nation” as “A People,” then it’s not unified. And if you are crazy enough to have bought into the Trotskyite redefining of “nation” as an idea, or ideological construct— well, then it’s not “a nation” either.

    The only thing holding it together is “rule of law” (the law can smash you if you don’t pay lip service to it’s self-described “elite”)—- and well, isn’t that a dictatorship?

    Which was why “nation” —with its real roots in natal, native, nativity, i.e. BIRTH, doesn’t wind up where the new Idea-Nations do, eradicating and jailing people for THOUGHTS, for having a wrong Idea, for having thoughts or feelings at all, really.

    Which explains why the Idea-Nation types usually have no personal thoughts or feelings , or stories to tell, and are usually unbelievably boring people.

    Their only thoughts are whether they are “right” or “wrong” according to the IDEA they organize their mental life around. Like The PC Religionists: i.e. Paul Ryan, with his black sister-in-law and gf from bygone days. Quick to tell you about mexicans they hired and taking the kids to the Winter Lights festivals.

    All their conversations exist around this IDEA of the “correct.”

    The holy Roman empire must have been exactly this way. Better not have a stray THOUGHT, i.e. “heresy.”

  30. Suicide of a Superpower is…. a book. Buchanan makes some solid points but he ends the book sucking up to mlk and lincoln. Which in a way is the perfect metaphor for the GOP

    The only thing that holds the usa together these days is economic prosperity. Once that’s gone the usa will be gone.

    Read bowling alone from a race realists real human/ kin/ family community standpoint. The author is pretty rosy with the world but he’s a DWL too

  31. I’ve never read a Buchanan book, but I can tell where a guy is coming from when he talks, and I’ve never been disappointed in listening to Buchanan expound on issues.

    Interesting how humans, no matter where or who, organize cultures around what is heresy and what is not. It’s arguably the very definition of culture. Certainly even the vaunted South had punishable heresies. Or was it a free thought nation from the start?

    The question is not whether their will be heresies or not, the question is who will decide what they are. Clearly at this point there is no such thing as Christian heresy in the West. The only punishable heresies are crimes against Jews, minorities, sexual deviants or women (ask Aiken).

    When you decide to run off in your own little corner and decide who God is all by your lonesome, the void left in the spaces between people doesn’t disappear. It gets filled in by the stuff you don’t like.

    That’s why the problem we face is so daunting. It’s not necessarily government itself, it’s the all the spaces between people. The multicult. Something for everyone and nothing for anyone. If we closed those gaps everything would take care of itself. A decent leader could do a good job of it. The only reason I can think of one doesn’t arise is because we don’t deserve it and wouldn’t recognize it even if he did.

  32. “The only thing that holds the usa together these days is economic prosperity. “

    The only thing that ever held the USA together was economic prosperity.

  33. “The only thing that holds the usa together these days is economic prosperity. “

    The only thing that ever held the USA together was economic prosperity.

    Did we just find a statement that we can all agree on?

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