The Fall of Rome: Back to the Drawing Board

Rome: Christianity

I'm often asked what my vision for a better government is. My answer, though not definitive, acknowledges in the least, the gross deficiencies of our grand government and the appropriate remedies. It is a question of design, nothing more.

If your to redesign something, you look for problems and change the design to eliminate them. Anything less is 'mitigation' and in no way will solve a problem but simply prolong the inevitable.

What went wrong with the roman empire? I don't know, but if I look at whats going wrong with the empire that came next I think we could figure it out. If society is a natural thing, it can, like a dog, be trained to behave in predictable ways. I won't say controlled cause a dog still chases birds, barks at other dogs, etc. Even a trained dog wears a collar and leash, just in case.

When the many Gods of the roman empire could not keep the people in line, they were replaced with the one god of the Christian Empire. As usual, wars were fought for the new God and wealth was acquired. There was a refinement in the social 'collar', the end of days was written, or "the Revelation". This would serve to further galvinize the ruling classes control over the masses as things fall apart, which they naturally will always do under systems that serve to keep the rich rich and poor poor, or, avoid change.

When Rome fell, who fell? Was it the ruling class or simply the social structure? A time of disarray and confusion, as any magician will tell you, is a time when you can disappear or do any number of mind boggling things to the unsuspecting masses. A card trick is a practice of the minipulation of distraction; the goal is to control perception. A good trick defies the physical laws of our planet, so it would seem. A good ruling class would do the same, hence, God.

I don't mean to hurt feelings, but Rome falls, Christianity rises, and what changes? There is still the same conquering mentality and the previous progression of atrocity continued unchanged, they just cited a different Deity. The masses went from fearing many gods to fearing just one who was more powerful. Rome was the first mega society that reached such a height in intellect that it would be very foolish to think that, in falling, it caught the elite with their pants down. A wise man knows which way, and more importantly, when to get out of harms way.

I always though a government truly interested in serving its people would go to great lengths to educate and empower them. A wise system would in the least, understand that even the best ideas will soon become antiquated and incapable of serving. Naturally I would think a good government would humbly yield to new ideals. To base a system of governance on the model of bureaucracy is a good way to ensure its demise for adaptability and a dynamic nature are the mark of endurance.

The problem with Rome is they though it would last for ever, and just as Hitler, they went about taking the world under that idea. Hitler was red-neck, and the "Romans" eventually put together a system that had its demise engineered into it: Christianity. The only way you can truly maintain control of a thing is to deprive it of freedom and destroy it if it revolts. Slaves maybe, but we are not dogs. Rovolution is the result of stifeled evolution and it is not the answer to opression, freedom is.

I can not keep my thoughts to a constant theme as you will never understand what is going on if you root yourself in any one discipline. This is the great failing of college for to focus your studies on a single discipline is to limit you ability to understand the world. I don't kid myself, I understand very little, but I am not blind in my idealisim to the flag waving full mast, shamlessly amid a war claiming our sons and daughters in the name of....... what was it?

Sorry Jesus, you did a good thing but your heritage is that of Herrod, or wonder woman for that matter. Myths never change, they are just adapted to the culture. And the story of today is the same as yesterday.

The truth will set you free, but first it makes you miserable. Happiness is a thing for slaves and is different from contentment. New shoes make you happy, so do car crashes or sports injuries. Contentment comes from within; it is as all things true, already present. You need only look through the myriad distraction to see.

Peace and Love are actions

The fall of Queens

The notion that we have an opportunity under the current system of government, to effect change is void of objective observation. The only commonality in the history of government, is every one of them has always done absolutely anything they want regardless of the needs of the masses. We must relinquish our grasp on the illusion that we have a say in our government.

We are all 'idealists' based on the definition of the word. Some however base the idealism on subjectivity, or, prejudice. One who feels objective is an impossibility says so from a closed-mind for, just as learning itself, to be objective requires an honest effort by the preciever. If objectivity was not possible there would be no diversity in the body of philosophy, it would all be based on literal; personal experience.

The bottom line is we must understand our limitations, or, socialized blinders, and open our eyes to this setting sun, for when it rises we will have yet again, missed an opportunity for real change.

What needs to change? Apathy for one. To be against a war that carries no official reason (WMD's were never found and the tip that started the war was later revealed to be a lie), you must look at the ways in which YOU contribute to the war effort: funding (taxes) demand (oil) and ideology.

Struggle is the mark of birth. Ours and every other Affluent nation struggled against an oppressive government, and they did so alone. This is the concept of sovereignty and If we think we're helping anyone in the middle east by bombing their cities, occasionally murdering swaths of civilians: men women and children; if we think we can instill a good government from a historically corrupt and divisive government such as our own, your not idealistic, your a fool.

The best we can do for the middle east is refrain from infecting them with our brand of governance. Democracy? Wrong. It was called a Republic up until a few years ago. Semantics is beneath a government, at least it should be when we can't get a handle on homelessness, or education. They call it a "Representative Democracy" now and very clearly propagates the lie of democracy. What is more important, the name of a thing, or the meaning of a thing?

How can we, a republic, bring democracy to the world, especially when we utilize the more brutal and selfish method of conflict resolution to carry it out. Communism was not the problem in the USSR, and capitalism is not the problem in the US, it is leadership for a system is merely a tool to accomplish society, and you must appraise the system not by its paper appearance, but by the streets on which we slave away endlessly awaiting a place at the table with Monsanto, Exxon, the Corn Industry, etc.

Wait for tomorrow; good slave. But We own today and this is what WE must do:

a) organize locally: Look for radical organizations in your city, learn what their doing, respectfully challenge them with questions and learn if they are truely a movement of peace and change.

or)

b) leave urban centers; alleviate the burden on the system, grow your own food in a small community that understands sustainability as a concept and practice, not a commercial.

or)

c) wait, and take what comes.

I don't know if I am right, I can't find anyone that can offer anything other than opinion to dispute my observations. I believe in truth and if you open your mind, travel and help others you will see one truth: our similarities are far more important than our differences, this is what makes a communtiy work.

a warm greeting,

If distraction is the problem, that is, things getting worse and we have yet to make an impact, like garbage for instance, then what is the on-going impact of the media?

We have gone to the point where we are going to run out of room; its too late to stop; its over.Landfills as a concept, were known to be terminal, and the best we could do is "recycle some of it". The real pitty, education got cut before garbage.

How does one impress upon another, that beyond there perception, there is a "rock in the water"?

I feel in one important sence it is the responsibility of people with an education to apply the level of understanding they are capable of to issue we face. It is not the world out there, but our addiction to its perminance. This means if you understand recycling for instance, you should go on to understand, it is not the answer to the problem of irresponsible consumption in the same way more war is not the solution to the edication crisis. And just as some go to college and some don't, there are those who go to college with a diversity of intentions; purposes. Furthermore, are there not some who aviod the opression of university/college educational system and travel and grow all the same, if not stronger as complete beings? IT is this person who must look beyond perception to see the rock in the water. Before Hardings lifeboat ethics, it is important that at this moment we realize Lady America is still afloat.

All hands on deck/dirt. All hands are needed to their fullest capacity.

I present two news articles for you to read and think about from a sociological stand point. I know better than most, how little scrutiny due an internet media source, or a front page Washington Post article for that matter; they are 'spin until dizzy' stories providing mere sketches at best, much less how an issue effects you, for real. But we still confront opinions void of even a three-decade-long encourgment to learn the importance of "car pooling" or "recycling" so we should still consider the posibility that the garabage that gets reported is actually effecting peoples perception.

I see plastic grocery bags in trees more common that I see cars yeilding to human beings. Land fills: Full. Recycling: Carpooling for garbage?

Yahoo Main Page: "Conversations to avoid in a recessions"

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106850/Avoiding-Recession-Era-Faux-Pas

Washington post Front Page Monday: A Quiet Resolut March agains fear
(this is the same story, author, etc. I read on the front page of the Wash. Post)

http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/news/2009/mar/29/hundreds-attend-landsdowne-march/?local

Opression

I think perhaps it is more a hinderance, opression, than a thing that can touch the soul. Opression is about denying the subject the things they are entitlede to, truth namely. Your soul owns you and therefore it isn't affected by worldly affairs to any extent beyond your power; you are your soul's like calous is your foot's. Opression is the tool to prevent you from reaching your soul. There is the power of creation, or, the sum. As a river, to move with the flow provides one with the power of that river. To express as life expresses, onto everything, endlessly is to exist with that power of life.

Apathy would be the effect of disconnection to the soul within, or, entirely throughout. Connection to nature would in turn be crucial to realization for the river as it were is bigger than the log it swiftly carries down stream; there is a stream of flow that can "carry away" the individual conscience. Enlightenment; Exercise, Meditation, Fasting.

As wind

Through a mindful moment can another be achieved