GRECO-ROMAN MAN AND THE WAR ECONOMY

Part XXIII

Rise or Fall of American Empire?

By Doug Krieger

THE WAR, THE BORG AND THE “COLLECTIVE” 

It could be said that the Romans, with all their cravings for Empire and military prowess, were like the Borg of Star Trek—incorporating, through “assimilation-style conquests,” the culture, the strengths, the wealth, etc., of their foes; until Rome’s COLLECTIVE stretched the expanse of the “civilized world.”     

Initially, this ancient Borg did not set out upon empire from their city states—they simply responded to threats from their neighbors; Carthage in the western Mediterranean and Macedonia (Greece) in the east, etc. 

Each time Rome got drawn into a conflict, they then, in order to maintain their control, found themselves trying to keep the peace— this ultimately led to an immense, hegemonic effort entitled PAX ROMANA (“The Roman Peace” or “The Peace of Rome”), which reached its territorial height around 100 A.D.

Rome’s altruistic quest for “Republic” was doomed because its army and generals, and the “military and (if you would) industrial complex” (i.e., an economy based upon expansion and maintained by force) grew so powerful, intruding upon every aspect of Roman life that the inevitability of an imperial government became its only recourse:  IMPERIAL ROME.  This, of course, established the caesarian dictatorship; and, in the course of time the very force which established the empire (i.e., the generals and the army) would cause Rome’s downfall. Indeed, Rome, though she could boast of great commercial conquests, was truly what Paul B. Farrell calls a “War Economy.” Farrell certainly is straightforward in his critique of Americana’s war exploits:

“Seriously, I looked into your eyes, America, saw deep into your soul. So let's get honest and officially call it ‘America's Outrageous War Economy.’ Admit it: we secretly love our war economy. And that's the answer to Jim Grant's thought-provoking question last month in the Wall Street Journal – ‘Why No Outrage?’

“There really is only one answer: Deep inside we love war. We want war. Need it. Relish it. Thrive on war. War is in our genes, deep in our DNA. War excites our economic brain. War drives our entrepreneurial spirit. War thrills the American soul. Oh just admit it, we have a love affair with war. We love ‘America's Outrageous War Economy.’

“Americans passively zone out playing video war games. We nod at 90-second news clips of Afghan war casualties and collateral damage in Georgia. We laugh at Jon Stewart's dark comedic news and Ben Stiller's new war spoof ‘Tropic Thunder’ ... all the while silently, by default, we're cheering on our leaders as they aggressively expand ‘America's Outrageous War Economy,’ a relentless machine that needs a steady diet of war after war, feeding on itself, consuming our values, always on the edge of self-destruction.” (America’s Outrageous War Economy! – Pentagon can’t find $2.3 trillion, wasting trillions on ‘national defense’ – Paul B. Farrell, Market Watch, August 18, 2008)

I’m really not sure that I’d express America’s warmongering proclivities with such bombast; however, at the upper echelons of Americana there truly is an overweening sense of military prowess that reflects the Biblical criteria of that final Antichrist of whom it is said: WHO IS LIKE THE BEAST? WHO IS ABLE TO MAKE WAR WITH HIM? (Revelation 13:4)

THE WAR ECONOMY – THE WAR MACHINE

It is with angst and sadness that we must bear the white man’s burden for the world – and, in so doing, within the American mind, the essence of AMERICAN MAN, has surfaced as Greco-Roman Man, revived and well-rehearsed to carry the full mantel of Western Civilization and spread the onerous PAX AMERICANA to all earthlings near and afar. The facts cry out – any notion that we are less than these war-like attributes is lost in the cacophony of evidence which damns us to the present course of continuous conflict…Farrell inquires:

·      Why else are Americans so eager and willing to surrender 54% of their tax dollars to a war machine, which consumes 47% of the world's total military budgets?

·      Why are there more civilian mercenaries working for no-bid private war contractors than the total number of enlisted military in Iraq (180,000 to 160,000), at an added cost to taxpayers in excess of $200 billion and climbing daily?

·      Why do we shake our collective heads "yes" when our commander-in-chief proudly tells us he is a "war president;" and his party's presidential candidate chants "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran," as if "war" is a celebrity hit song?

·      Why do our spineless Democrats let an incompetent, blundering executive branch hide hundreds of billions of war costs in sneaky "supplemental appropriations" that are more crooked than Enron's off-balance-sheet deals?

·      Why have Washington's 537 elected leaders turned the governance of the American economy over to 42,000 greedy self-interest lobbyists?

·      And why earlier this year did our "support-our-troops" "war president" resist a new GI Bill because, as he said, his military might quit and go to college rather than re-enlist in his war; now we continue paying the Pentagon's warriors huge $100,000-plus bonuses to re-up so they can keep expanding "America's Outrageous War Economy?" Why? Because we secretly love war! (Ibid.)

Why would a “people” secretly love war? Is Farrell being sarcastic to the point of absurdity and in reaching such an extremity attempting to implicate the obvious, stripping any disguise that we are anything but a peaceful, loving populous and, in all likelihood, never were? Therefore, we are so predisposed to conflict that we crave more and more brutal manifestations, more gore in our films, more blood in our games, and certainly more war throughout the planet? Grief, the militarization of our police force is overt – our prisons burst forth with the greatest incarcerated population on earth – what has become of us? Or, were we from our beginnings what Isaiah 18 describes…

“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, to a people TERRIBLE FROM THEIR BEGINNING ONWARD, a nation powerful! And treading down, whose land the rivers divide” . . . indeed is this not the bane of America’s signature upon the world stage wherein all eyes behold, and all ears hear …. “All inhabitants of the world
 and dwellers on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it; and when he blows a trumpet, you hear it” (Isaiah 18:2-3)

While at the same time, are we that very nation, who after the conclusion of the “First Prophetic War” (i.e., The Oracle of Damascus – the final phase 7 of the Arab-Israeli Conflict . . . yet to be – Isaiah 17, Zechariah 9 – the other 2 being “Gog/Magog” and “Armageddon”)…shall sue for lasting peace and conclude the infamous “Treaty with Hell and Death”?…

“Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, which is BEYOND the rivers of Cush, which sends ambassadors by sea, even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, ‘Go, swift messengers’” (Isaiah 18:1-2).

Farrell is relentless – yes, I believe he sees something in the face of this Greco-Roman Man which is frightful – WHAT HAVE WE BEEN AND WHAT HAVE WE BECOME?

“We've lost our moral compass: The contrast between today's leaders and the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 shocks our conscience. Today war greed trumps morals. During the Revolutionary War our leaders risked their lives and fortunes; many lost both.

“Today it's the opposite: Too often our leaders' main goal is not public service but a ticket to building a personal fortune in the new "America's Outrageous War Economy," often by simply becoming a high-priced lobbyist.

“Ultimately, the price of our greed may be the fulfillment of Kevin Phillips' warning in ‘Wealth and Democracy:’ ‘Most great nations, at the peak of their economic power, become arrogant and wage great world wars at great cost, wasting vast resources, taking on huge debt, and ultimately burning themselves out.’” (Ibid.)

I’m troubled brethren – though I possess the unflinching Prince of Peace within my heart – yet, stretching far beyond the rivers of Cush abides a war-like people, terrible from their beginning – who at long last, yet scarcely over 200 years of their brevity, bear something awful within their psyche which utterly disturbs and disquiets the soul…and, it is all the more repugnant when Bible-believing Christians freely drink of this putrid cup of abominations:

“How powerful is the Pentagon's war machine? Trillions in dollars. But worse yet: Their mindset is now locked deep in our DNA, in our collective conscience, in America's soul. Our love of war is enshrined in the writings of neocon war hawks like Norman Podhoretz, who warns the Iraq War was the launching of ‘World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism,’ a reminder that we could be occupying Iraq for a hundred years. His WW IV also reminded us of the coming apocalyptic end-of-days ‘war of civilizations’ predicted by religious leaders in both Christian and Islamic worlds two years ago.

“In contrast, this ideology has been challenged in works like Craig Unger's ‘American Armageddon: How the Delusions of the Neoconservatives and the Christian Right Triggered the Descent of America -- and Still Imperil Our Future.’

“Unfortunately, neither threat can be dismissed as ‘all in our minds’ nor as merely ideological rhetoric. Trillions of tax dollars are in fact being spent to keep the Pentagon war machine aggressively planning and expanding wars decades in advance, including spending billions on propaganda brainwashing naïve Americans into co-signing ‘America's Outrageous War Economy.’ Yes, they really love war, but that ‘love’ is toxic for America’s soul.” (Ibid.)

It is one thing to know the predictive outcome of the struggle between good and evil—it is quite another thing to behold the terrible alliance hell-bent on the elimination of their definition of “evil” – in this case “Islamofascism” and the “triumph” of Christianity over radical Islam. The price to pay for this Weltanschauung shall have his final manifestation as the Woman – the Apostate Church – who mounts the Beast in Revelation 17—Farrell sees it, do we?—if so, when and how do we get off this horrid creature?

What is the price of the War on Terror?

“Read Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda Bilmes’ ‘$3 Trillion War.’ They show how our government’s deceitful leaders are secretly hiding the real long-term costs of the Iraq War, which was originally sold to the American taxpayer with a $50 billion price tag and funded out of oil revenues.

“But add in all the lifetime veterans’ health benefits, equipment placement costs, increased homeland security and interest on new federal debt, and suddenly taxpayers got a $3 trillion war tab!

“Read Portfolio magazine’s special report ‘The Pentagon's $1 Trillion Problem.’ The Pentagon's 2007 budget of $440 billion included $16 billion to operate and upgrade its financial system. Unfortunately ‘the defense department has spent billions to fix its antiquated financial systems [but] still has no idea where its money goes.’

“And it gets worse: Back ‘in 2000, Defense's inspector general told Congress that his auditors stopped counting after finding $2.3 trillion in unsupported entries.’ Yikes, our war machine has no records for $2.3 trillion! How can we trust anything they say?” (Ibid.)

Farrell ends his diatribe against America’s War Economy and virtually demands that our anger of this waste will one day pop the WAR BUBBLE…but alas! We’re all riding in the train…going ever faster and faster…the wreck awaits…to jump off is certain death…it’s too late…the Farrells cry out…but who’s listening, who cares…work harder, faster…there’s no time…

“For decades Washington has been waving that ‘national defense’ flag, to force the public into supporting ‘America's Outrageous War Economy.’ Read John Alic's ‘Trillions for Military Technology: How the Pentagon Innovates and Why It Costs So Much.’

“A former Congressional Office of Technology Assessment staffer, he explains why weapon systems cost the Pentagon so much, ‘why it takes decades to get them into production even as innovation in the civilian economy becomes ever more frenetic and why some of those weapons don't work very well despite expenditures of many billions of dollars,’ and how "the internal politics of the armed services make weapons acquisition almost unmanageable.’ Yes, the Pentagon wastes trillions planning its wars well in advance.” (Ibid.)

The levels of frustration come through – but who’s listening? Who cares? The train moves on, faster and faster….

“Comments? Tell us: What will it take to wake up America, get citizens, investors, anybody mad at ‘America's Outrageous War Economy?’

“Why don't you rebel? Will the outrage come too late ... after this massive war bubble explodes in our faces?” (Ibid.)

ROME LIVES!

Now . . . continue to bear with me . . . I’m leading up to something in our dark past that we must come to terms with in order to fathom the present epitome of the West.

The legendary legions of Rome were matched by her bombastic expressions of all things Roman.  Everything was super sized, including her entertainment venues, roads, aqueducts, shrines, and the pomp and splendor of her elaborate celebrations; especially, military.  Nothing could match the “glory that was Rome!”  Every copycat European King, Emperor, or Dictator has known this—be he Charlemagne, Napoleon, or Hitler. Sound familiar? If it doesn’t you’ve got your head in the sands of time from which you’ve learned nothing; sorry, that’s the cruel reality of the matter—history repeats itself, because we have no intention of ever learning from our past, NEVER!

THE EFFIMINATE GREEKS 

The Greeks, through the uniting of their city-states by Phillip II, the Macedonian, initially bore some resemblance to the militarism of their western counterparts—especially, after Phillip’s son, Alexander the Great, conquered the vast regions of the east.  However, from Greece’s commencement, she was enthralled with her own cultural sophistication:  Learning, philosophy, science, the arts, etc.   Now, here were a people with some class!  

Ancient Rome, very early (cir. 800 BC), came under Greek influence—especially, when Greek colonies were set up in southern Italy and Sicily; likewise, the Hellenized Etruscans in the north, and in Naples and Sicily in the south, virtually surrounding Rome with the culture of the Greeks.  A somewhat strange ambivalence of all things Greek initiated the engagement—yet, once the Romans got used to it, they became utterly enamored with this “superior civilization” with its literature, arts, sophistication, entertainment, gods and her general pleasures of life. 

Notwithstanding “who was Borging whom” here (for you see, the Greeks “think” they got the last laugh when Rome’s eastern Empire, Byzantium, in the “Grecian Portion” of the Roman Empire, ascended and Rome itself fell in 476 AD), the Romans still had an inherent distain for the “wimpish Greeks” with all their “thoughts and letters” and “effeminate ways.”    

A sort of “heartland mentality” possessed these hard-working, boorish farmers with superstition ruling their lives and very often harsh words for the “decadent Greeks” peppered the expressions of the ancient Romans.  Yet, just as Greece reached the zenith of her culture, along with her political, military, and artistic development—these Roman farmers began to realize that a lot of what the Greeks had to offer could be incorporated into a “new civilization” as long as Rome would “rule over it.”   

Thus, both the Latin and Greek branches of Hellenism came under the political domain of the Roman Empire; and, thusly was Hellenism (i.e., “Greek Culture”) gradually transformed from the original Greek influence to the Roman state and finally to the society of Europe—now, that’s a sweeping picture of what happened, and where we are today. 

So who got Borged?   Cato, the famed Roman Senator (234-149 BC) launched an “anti-Hellenic movement,” but it failed—eventually, every branch of Roman learning; philosophy, oratory, science, art, religion, morals, manners, and dress succumbed to Greek manners and customs.  By the end of the second century, the old “heartland ways” of the Romans were transformed into Greco-Roman culture that has SURVIVED UNTIL TODAY—you may have heard of it:  Western Civilization! 

Nevertheless, these “sophisticated farmers”—though they ingested all things Greek—were prone to hearken back to their agrarian origins.  They never forgot “how the West was won” and they certainly knew that these erstwhile “effete sophisticates” (i.e., Greeks) couldn’t hold a candle to IMPERIAL ROME!  And, let’s get one thing clear (and this is precisely how the Romans felt about the Greeks)—these Greeks are wimps, effeminate, and—when it comes right down to it—couldn’t govern an Empire if it were given to them! (which in point of fact it was and which split up into numerous independently governed regions).

ADDING A TOUCH OF “RELIGION” – THAT’S ROME! 

You see, the Romans “tried” the “Greek thing” called the Republic—and it didn’t work!  Greece, with all its philosophy and inquiry, contemplation and ultimate denial of all things divine (even though they “mouthed the talk of the gods”) were weakened by all their learning and intellectual posturing.  Words like atheism and agnosticism didn’t come from the Latin—but from the Greek! Furthermore the Greeks viewed dictatorship—especially, Rome’s version of it—as the worst possible form of government. 

Imagine, a bunch of Romans sitting around Mars Hill listening to the likes of the Apostle Paul?  Sure—like we Romans have time for this?  How can I put this so you can grasp the difference between Rome and Greece?  How about this story . . .  

The famed Greek mathematician, Archimedes, just about drove the Romans nuts with his military inventions, circles and methods of defense protecting the besieged Greek colony of Syracuse in Sicily.  The Romans tried to “Borg” him by capturing the colony.  Alas!  Their efforts were foiled when they finally breached the walls of Syracuse’s defenses.  A Roman soldier simply walked into a house with an old man hunched over his papers.  The soldier demanded the old man identify himself; instead, Archimedes brushed the demand aside and told the soldier not to bother him while he was working on his circles!  So, as all good Romans were inclined to do:  He killed the old man and the rest is history! 

The “effete liberal Greeks” really, as far as the Romans were concerned, didn’t take religion seriously.  Sure, Alexander the Great thought he was a demigod (Zeus his father and all), but eventually, “all their learning” watered down the glue needed to rule the people.  The Romans figured it out—you can only maintain control through “divine decree!”  All this “questioning” of ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY is counterproductive and nonsensical—the bottom line is:  It doesn’t work! 

In point of fact, the Romans, in today’s vernacular, realized the Greek culture was so “secularized” and, ipso facto, inherently ungovernable, that it was useless when it came to the “real world of Rome.”   Indeed, the Greeks embodied today’s “relativism” to the uttermost; and, worse yet, their history and culture—as a result of their secularism and relativism—was wrought with what the Romans perceived to be an “immoral life-style” that was irreligious and even counter to “family values!”  (Homosexuality among the Greeks was inwrought into their cultural fabric—and the Romans knew that)—notwithstanding some Greek Americans attempt at depicting ancient Greece to the contrary. 

The point of the matter is this:  Ruling an Empire demands absolutes like “good and evil” – “for us or against us” – the power to govern cannot (as the Romans discovered) be sustained for long without an IMPERIAL DICTATORSHIP—the people demand it, and the people get what they demand!  Without a serious RELIGIOUS COMPONENT in the governance of the people—then the incursions of secularism, relativism, aberrant life-styles, etc., will weaken the fabric of governance and, worse yet, cause the Empire to become militarily vulnerable to “barbaric forces” or “intolerant religionists” bent on destroying us—and that could happen if we are not as absolute as they are!  Sure, the “appearance” of the Roman Senate abides—but when “push comes to shove” THE EMPEROR TRUMPS ALL! That’s it in a nutshell – wow, you just got a full two semesters of Greco-Roman Man and survived; well, sort of.

PAX AMERICANA 

Ah, so you found where I’m going with this little lesson in ancient history.  Did someone see some parallels?  Just where on earth did these Romans go?  Sure, we’ve always had a “mixture” – I mean, after all, we’re the “Greco-Roman” world.  But, we can’t let our “lesser demons” get the upper hand.  They need to be kept in toe—especially, when it comes to governing and, in particular, when we peer into the “face of Satan” and realize that only EVIL can be countered with the absolute determination of divine edict! 

My dear friends—in case you’re wondering what the “driving force” behind today’s Rome is all about—and just who are today’s “effete-effeminate-cultured-secularized-relativists” – then, think no further!  The agrarians in the heartland of Americana have spoken—ROME HAS RISEN—and if you don’t think so, you’ve probably got your head buried in your circles! 

Is PAX AMERICANA making the same mistakes as PAX ROMANA?  Does history repeat itself?  Will the Republic—or has it already—embraced what Charles Krauthammer calls the world’s first-ever COMMERCIAL REPUBLIC and, de facto is already IMPERIAL?  How can you be a “Commercial Republic” without being an EMPIRE?  Neo-conservatives have a field day in diminishing the reality of what’s politically taken place! 

The truth be known—Obama, and his Thebian Greek brigades—are losing the “cultural wars.” As long as the security and commercial aspirations of the EMPIRE continue to trump all else—and as long as the “agrarian, religious heartlanders” can be mobilized to defeat these insidious, effete, effeminate Greek attempts to undermine the COMMERCIAL REPUBLIC (a.k.a., The Empire)—then PAX AMERICANA will not only hold, she’ll expand! What better choice than to pick a Pentecostal background for Vice-President of the USA as your running mate. What’s so bold about the obvious—she’s a huntress and heads up the Alaskan National Guard. The O-B better watch out for the M-P (Obama-Biden vs. McCain-Palin) – Greeks are no match for Romans, especially in time of endless wars and rumors of wars.

The “cultural elites” just don’t get it—and even if they did, do you think that the NASCAR-gun-toting-Country Music crowd cares?  Maintaining control and thwarting the efforts of today’s secular and religious barbarians is not the job for wimps (e.g., the French, the Spanish—old secularized Europe, and their Obama-style buddies on the Left and East Coasts)—it’s the challenge AND responsibility of the New Rome, with her Moral Majority, Military Might and Multi-Nationals, united in the cause for “peace” – viz., PAX AMERICANA!

What amazed me was the “show and tell” put on that final day of Obama’s coronation in Denver before 85,000 partisans. Every retired general and admiral were paraded out in front of the audience to prove that the Dems. were as militant as the Reps. It was a spectacle to behold—there were so many of them—and the crowd went wild with glee. Listen, these two political parties – notwithstanding the Dems. to the contrary – are wholly absorbed in the War Economy – and, when push comes to shove, the whole lot of them will pull the trigger whether it’s necessary or not! The Dems. just have a little more Greek in them, that’s all.

No, led by “Terrible from the Beginning” – the world’s armies will one day descend upon the hills of Judea – this sad commentary of man’s inhumanity to man will yet, on that day see that “The LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem!” (Zechariah 12:8) AND “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness…AND in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east…AND in that day living waters shall flow from Jerusalem…AND the LORD shall be King over all the earth…in that day it shall be—‘The LORD is one,’ and His name one.’ (Excerpts from Zechariah 14)

The view from Farrell shatters the illusion that America is a peace-loving, God-fearing, moral majority of eager freedom fighters who desire only peace, no matter what the cost to them as a people or the price that must be paid to suffice a world plunging into the abyss of greater and more devastating wars. All the protests to the contrary cannot affect the contagion witnessed by this honest man…the Great Train Wreck is about its business as usual, no matter which party wins, no matter what protests endure…it’s only a matter of time…and time has run out!