Bread and Circuses

What has Trump learned from the Roman Empire?

Roman satirical poet Juvenal saw his term bread and circuses as demonstrating the loss of republican political liberty - that instead of being active in politics and knowing their civic duty, the people selfishly only wanted food and entertainment.

Roman emperors were happy to oblige them, so long as they could hold on to power - even Augustus, who was against giving people freebies on moral grounds. So, they doled out free grain to the people and staged gladiatorial games and other entertainments. And for a long time, it worked.

Climate change, disease and incompetence played their part in the collapse of the Roman Empire, as did the size of the military and the health of the population.

So, have Trump and those in power around him learned from the Roman emperors’ experience?

No.

Their greed has overpowered them. They are cutting, cutting, cutting freebies for the people, starting with food stamps. No bread for the poorly educated, whom Trump says he loves.

Trump is not only not providing free entertainment (though he may think he is, as he is under the delusion that he is far more entertaining than the comedians he has had ousted), he is actively destroying the entertainment that people want, that they pay for - most recently Stephen Colbert (though I suspect we have not seen the last of him). And he intends to oust more entertainers. No circuses for decent Americans.

Instead of professional gladiators, Americans get turned against each other, with people hunted down on the streets. For entertainment, they get Fox ‘News’. And when that palls, new wars. Maybe Trump should ask Putin how war is working out for him. Trump’s policies are strengthening China and global warming, increasing the likelihood that a horde of people will migrate to and overwhelm the United States, just as a large migration of people fleeing from the Huns overwhelmed the Roman Empire beginning in 376. (Tip for Republicans - don’t vote for Trump and his followers if you hate immigration).

Climate change is on steroids now, made worse by Trump and his fossil fuel oligarchs.

Disease is nipping at the shores of America, with its leaders deliberately reducing the country’s ability to combat it. For example, see my recent What next after Ebola? article.

Gross incompetence is on display in the Trump cabinet.

The ability of the military to fight wars has been reduced by the war in Iran and the purchase of large items to the profit of a few large companies rather than adapting to modern warfare.

The health of the population has been allowed to decrease by having a system that focuses on profit rather than health, and on palliation rather than cure or preventative medicine, wasting a great deal of money and ignoring many remedies that that would work well but not make a lot of profit.

While America never had complete control over a vast empire like Rome, it had considerable influence. By pissing off America’s allies and threatening some of them, and by failing to honour some treaties, Trump has caused allies to turn away from America and its influence is falling fast.

Rome’s cultural influence did not fall when its military influence did. America has also had considerable cultural influence on the world, whether American TV programs or fast food. But if Trump keeps messing around with the arts, I doubt if people from other countries will want to watch Trump-preferred programs.

America has also had considerable economic influence (along with Maggie Thatcher), spreading neoliberalism. Many have already come to the conclusion that it does not work well in a democracy. And watching how it has allowed a few to become very rich and powerful who buy elections and think they can run a country, I suspect that many more (those who do not want power themselves) will turn away from the American model.

When the Roman Empire fell, not all was lost. It left a legacy of roads and trade. Similarly, all will not be lost if America continues falling. Already, many of its scientists have moved to other countries to continue their work - and scientists who work abroad tend to do better. Trump’s Iran war has accelerated the move away from fossil fuels. The rise in inflation because of the Iran war may cause Americans to think more carefully about how they spend their money (if they earn enough to have a choice). People, administrations and countries may turn away from the products of Trump’s oligarch friends and develop new, better products of their own.

So, make your own bread and entertainment, or buy them from people you trust.