Bread and Circuses in Rome and America

[Bungalow Bill]

It's always tough running an empire or a semi-empire. At least this is a change
from the old we're becoming as decadent as the old Roman Empire stuff that
has been around forever, or at least it seems that way.

[Dryer Vent]

As for NASCAR...when I think about it, all I see is fat people with bad tattoos and beer cozies.

You obviously haven't seen Danica Patrick.
http://www.mensfitness.com/women/20-hot ... ca-patrick

Discussing the bleachers, not the track!!!

[Cowboy]

You obviously haven't seen Danica Patrick.
http://www.mensfitness.com/women/20-hot ... ca-patrick

Discussing the bleachers, not the track!!!

You look at the bleachers?!?

[neoplacebo]

Good article, CB, but I can't figure out what I agree with. Violence certainly is an issue in this country. It will probably get worse with the growing gap between the haves and have nots...or have somes. As for NASCAR...when I think about it, all I see is fat people with bad tattoos and beer cozies.

I think there's a valid comparison with Roman society and ours; America is a culture of violence, sex, greed, immediate satisfaction, etc. It's pumped out at all of us every day on tv, advertisements, movies, books....you name it. And I agree that it will get "worse" or better, depending on your viewpoint. I venture to say that the ones of us around thirty years from now won't even recognize the place. Oh, and MMA is like gladiators without weapons. If MMA started allowing the use of swords, I'd probably watch it at least once. I hear there's a move afoot to establish a neo Roman state in what is now northern Colorado. There's evidently more than a few Romans out there. And NASCAR would be a lot more exciting if all drivers switched directions on the track on every other lap.

[Cowboy]

And NASCAR would be a lot more exciting if all drivers switched directions on the track on every other lap.

[Stinger]

The point of the article is to bash Obama. A retired lieutenant in the Air Force is not bashing militarism. If he was there are countless examples from his tenure he could have used.

The whole article is bashing America's militarism. Yes, retired officers can bash militarism. Check out Eisenhower's farewell address.

[Stinger]

Good article, CB, but I can't figure out what I agree with. Violence certainly is an issue in this country. It will probably get worse with the growing gap between the haves and have nots...or have somes. As for NASCAR...when I think about it, all I see is fat people with bad tattoos and beer cozies.

I think there's a valid comparison with Roman society and ours; America is a culture of violence, sex, greed, immediate satisfaction, etc. It's pumped out at all of us every day on tv, advertisements, movies, books....you name it. And I agree that it will get "worse" or better, depending on your viewpoint. I venture to say that the ones of us around thirty years from now won't even recognize the place. Oh, and MMA is like gladiators without weapons. If MMA started allowing the use of swords, I'd probably watch it at least once. I hear there's a move afoot to establish a neo Roman state in what is now northern Colorado. There's evidently more than a few Romans out there. And NASCAR would be a lot more exciting if all drivers switched directions on the track on every other lap.

I think part of it's modern culture -- affluence and instant gratification -- but maybe America drives modern culture.

[Stinger]

The teabaggers have figured out that after Obama's success with Bin Laden, the Somali Pirates, etc. that they can no longer claim he's weak on defense. No, they actually still claim -- chronically -- that he's soft on defense, soft on Muslims, soft on terrorists, etc. Just got through dealing with a batch of them. Had to remind them of who actually got bin Laden, who increased the drone strikes, who authorized the troop surge in Afghanistan, etc., as well as reminding them who has promoted increased VA funding and care for the last 8 years or so. It wasn't Bush. So instead they've decided to claim he's as much a warmonger as his predecessor in hopes of dividing his base. I haven't seen many wingers dwell on that one. A few of them toss something every now and then, forgetting that Bush actually started two real wars, but then they run away and start talking about Benghazi or something. They actually like warmongers. The HuffPos and Alternet readers fall right into this little game. Do you really think for a second Cowboy posted this article because he's opposed to military action? He posted it for one reason only. I've know Cowboy a long time. He's a war buff, but he's also pretty much opposed to all current military actions, especially Afghanistan. What reason are you going with?

[Cowboy]

I think part of it's modern culture -- affluence and instant gratification -- but maybe America drives modern culture.

It does.

[Cowboy]

World’s largest simultaneous burnout awaits Guinness verification



I'm so proud of NC and America!

Does bring a patriotic tear to your eye, doesn't it?

USA USA USA
#1
We even have the world's longest line dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSROm-vgVRk

[Wneglia]

Not my style of music, but I like the idea of people dancing together. If it was even a real record it's been surpassed by:

The longest single line of dancers consisted of 2,569 participants performing the "Hokey Pokey" dance and was achieved by Walkway Over The Hudson (USA) in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA, on 9 June 2012.

If I'd known about it I would have volunteered to do 1st aid for:

The most people pole dancing simultaneously in multiple locations was 206 at 26 international venues organised by Katies Coates of Vertical Dance Ltd (UK) on 10 September 2006.

Speaking of dancing, our medical practice is actively recruiting our patients and staff for the 2013 PINK GLOVE DANCE

[Stinger]

World’s largest simultaneous burnout awaits Guinness verification



I'm so proud of NC and America!

Does bring a patriotic tear to your eye, doesn't it?

Inhaling all the particles of burned rubber did that.

[Cowboy]

Does bring a patriotic tear to your eye, doesn't it?

Inhaling all the particles of burned rubber did that.

That's the smell of really hot safe sex.

[Ombudsman]

What reason are you going with?[/color] [/b]

In hindsight I was probably mistaken.

[Stinger]

What reason are you going with?[/color] [/b]

In hindsight I was probably mistaken.

Definitely not a conservative.

[rstrong]

...So instead they've decided to claim he's as much a warmonger as his predecessor in hopes of dividing his base.

Obama did escalate Afghanistan, but Shrub will always have Iraq.

Yup. In the 2008 election the Republicans were endlessly insisting that Obama would "cut and run." By the 2012 election they were endlessly calling it "Obama's war." And clapping and barking like trained seals when Clint Eastwood ranted at fantasy Obama for having invaded in the first place.

BTW, NATO started handing over control of Afghan districts to Afghan forces back in 2011. There was a ceremony today as the last districts were handed over.

While international troops will remain in Afghanistan for another year and a half to provide back-up when needed, it's the first time the whole country has been under Afghan control since 2001.

[Wneglia]

Not my style of music, but I like the idea of people dancing together. If it was even a real record it's been surpassed by:

The longest single line of dancers consisted of 2,569 participants performing the "Hokey Pokey" dance and was achieved by Walkway Over The Hudson (USA) in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA, on 9 June 2012.

If I'd known about it I would have volunteered to do 1st aid for:

The most people pole dancing simultaneously in multiple locations was 206 at 26 international venues organised by Katies Coates of Vertical Dance Ltd (UK) on 10 September 2006.

Speaking of dancing, our medical practice is actively recruiting our patients and staff for the 2013 PINK GLOVE DANCE

Please link the video of you dancing. I'll donate $20 if you do. No, it won't be ones and you don't have to be present for me to "tuck" them.

Rather than a donation, I would appreciate your vote (as well as anyone else). I am actually in the video, but all you can see is the bald spot on the back of my head, as I was not facing the camera. http://www.pinkglovedance.com/videos/20 ... ssociates/

[Cannonpointer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-a ... 14248.html

Bread and Circuses in Rome and America

William Astore
06/10/2013

The expression "bread and circuses" captures a certain cynical political view that the masses can be kept happy with fast food (think Cartman's "Cheesy Poofs" on South Park) and faster entertainment (NASCAR races, NFL games, and the like). In the Roman Empire, it was bread and chariot races and gladiatorial games that filled the belly and distracted the mind, allowing emperors to rule as they saw fit.

There's truth to the view that people can be kept tractable as long as you fill their bellies and give them violent spectacles to fill their free time. Heck, Americans are meekly compliant even when their government invades their privacy and spies upon them. But there's a deeper, more ominous, sense to bread and circuses that is rarely mentioned in American discourse. It was pointed out to me by Amy Scanlon.

In her words:

Basically ancient Rome was a society that completely revolved around war, and where compassion was considered a vice rather than a virtue... [The] Romans saw gladiatorial contests not as a form of decadence but as a cure for decadence. And decadence to the Romans had little to do with sexual behavior or lack of a decent work ethic, but a lack of military-style honor and soldierly virtues. To a Roman compassion was a detestable vice, which was considered both decadent and feminine. Watching people and animals slaughtered brutally [in the arena] was seen as a way to keep the civilian population from this 'weakness' because they didn't see combat...

Scanlon then provocatively asks, "Could our society be sliding towards those Roman attitudes in a bizarre sort of way?"

I often think that America suffers from an empathy gap. We are simply not encouraged to put ourselves in the place of others.

For example, how many Americans fancy the idea of a foreign power operating drones in our sovereign skies, launching missiles at gun-toting Americans suspected by this foreign power of being "militants"? Yet we operate drones in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, killing suspected militants with total impunity. Even when innocent women and children are killed, our emperors and our media don't encourage us to have compassion for them. We are basically told to think of them as collateral damage, regrettable, perhaps, but otherwise inconsequential.

Certainly, our military in the last two decades has put new stress on American troops as "warriors" and "warfighters," a view more consistent with the hardened professionals of the Roman Empire than with the citizen-soldiers of the Roman Republic. Without thinking too much about it, we've come to see our troops as an imperial guard, ever active on the ramparts of our empire.
War, meanwhile, is seen not as a last course of defense but as a first course to preempt the evil designs of the many hidden enemies of America. Our troops, therefore, are our protectors, our heroes, the defenders of America, even though that "defense" treats the entire globe as a potential killing field.

Scanlon's view of the Roman use of bread and circuses -- as a way to kill compassion to ensure the brutalization of Roman civilians and thus their compliance (or at least their complacency) vis-à-vis Imperial expansion and domestic policing -- is powerful and sobering.

At the same time, the Obama administration is increasingly couching violent military intervention in humanitarian terms. Deploying troops and tipping wars in our favor is done in the name of defeating petty tyrants (e.g. Khadafy in Libya; Is Assad of Syria next?). Think of it as our latest expression of "compassion."

All things considered, perhaps our new national motto should be: When in America, do as the Roman Empire would do. Eat to your fill of food and violence, cheer on the warfighters, and dismiss expressions of doubt or dismay about military interventions and drone killings as "feminine" and "weak."

At least we can applaud ourselves that we no longer torture and kill animals in the arena like the Romans did. See how civilized we've become?

Not surprised to see this clarity from a retired military man. General Smedley Butler in his book, War is a Racket showed us that all of these military actions have one end: MARKETS. There is no second reason for these wars - national defense, protecting human rights, bla bla bla.

Wars are fought for markets - full stop.

[bannination]

Rather than a donation, I would appreciate your vote (as well as anyone else). I am actually in the video, but all you can see is the bald spot on the back of my head, as I was not facing the camera. http://www.pinkglovedance.com/videos/20 ... ssociates/

Voted!

[Wneglia]

Very nicely done. I voted ("vote once per day!") and gave it the 'first thumbs' up on YouTube.



What time stamp can I spot your spot at?

All vids.

South Carolina Oncology Associates
Votes | 207

Leader:
Geisinger Health System
Votes | 1504

Ut-oh, better join some more forums. Cheerleaders, you needed cheerleaders . . . or pole dancers with bald spots.

Bump. Looks like you've lost, Wneglia, but 11th place nationally ain't bad and top ten is still a real possibility.

Thanks for voting. I am the bald spot at 1:19 just right of the white hat.