So many choices, and they choose the worst
So many choices, and they choose the worst
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If you're gonna support horrible warlike slave-states. At LEAST have the dignity to pick one of the cool ones like Rome.
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tbf that's often where they start. It goes something like: I like Rome-->I want to see that today-->How can someone build an empire in the modern world-->Oh yeah, a few guys did try that...
I think racism is more of an independent correlation than any causative element. The cause seems to be an oversimplification of the world into "natural laws" that are poorly understood, usually surrounding a shallow understanding of survival of the fittest and hierarchical structures in animal behavior. This root branches out into both racism and authoritarianism independently.
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an oversimplification of the world into "natural laws" that are poorly understood, usually surrounding a shallow understanding of survival of the fittest and hierarchical structures in animal behavior.
well put. this is why lobster discourse inexplicably drew national media coverage ~5-6 years ago.
for those dumb enough to fall hook line and sinker for the Naturalistic Fallacy and apply lobster behavior as prescriptions for how to organize human societies, it's an easy jump to look at historical conquests/subjugation and proclaim "it's natural for some groups to dominate others, see, it happened in the past so it must be an innate characteristic!"
for a succinct (and entertaining) analysis along these lines of pseudo-intellectual justifications for fascism, i highly recommend Some More News' takedown of Canada's stupidest pundit
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an oversimplification of the world into “natural laws” that are poorly understood, usually surrounding a shallow understanding of survival of the fittest
It's especially ironic because the only real measure of the "health" of any gene pool is its diversity. Species that lack diversity are doomed to go extinct sooner or later as the environment changes. The eugenics obsession with "racial purity" is the exact opposite of what you would want if you want your group to survive.
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You have to remember that most racists don’t use the (accurate) language you’re using. They don’t think they’re racist. They don’t think about phrases like “racial purity.” They worry about birth rates, immigration, and most important, who is having children/immigrating. They’re coming at it from a more socially acceptable way that gives them plausible deniability not just for us or polite society but for themselves as well. They say things about “being replaced” and “losing our culture” because that’s easier to stomach then “I don’t want undesirables, consisting of x/y/z groups, growing in number.”
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I'm absolutely fascinated with Roman history. But anyone who actually admires the Roman Empire is fucked in the head.
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I admire Rome in the sense of holding it in wonder and esteem, but I don't think it was good, and if you'll indulge me I'd like to explain more.
tl;dr ::: spoiler Spoiler I use the word admire about Rome in a similar way to how you might say a person admires a tornado, or a ship plowing into a bridge, or Orson Welles :::
I'd say I admire Rome for having such a sophisticated apparatus of state that was, at the time, found in only a couple other places in the world; and for having a really fascinating culture and absurdly robust cultural identity. It's almost unique in that period for having its cultural identity repeatedly survive truly horrific amounts of senseless bloodshed and turmoil (though I'd personally argue Rome's real fall began at the end of the Republic). The First Punic War, for example, saw Rome throwing away its entire treasury and 17% of its adult male population in an effort to crush Carthage, and the state didn't collapse. Romans waged endless civil wars and insurrections, and yet Rome remained Rome through centuries of that.
However, as fascinating as that is, I don't understand the mind of any person who can come away from Roman history without being appalled by it. Rome was dissolute, degenerate, and disgusting. Everything it accomplished actually fell far short of what could have been, because Rome was repeatedly mired in prioritizing shameless greed and sadistic cruelty above effective governance—like when the reformer Pertinax was executed by his own men, who then sold the title of Imperator at auction. But even though this obliterated any remaining illusions among the populace about the due processes of the Roman state, Rome still held together for centuries, and its dissolution was stubborn and slow. I think if you were to sum up everything about Rome in one word, it'd have to be Proud. I guess there's just something darkly admirable about that.
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25 comments