Aging Capriciously

I happened to come across this short blog post that I wrote in July of 2010. A few of the comments seemed to be very prophetic. Of course, I was not much of a prophet since this trend towards fascism and authoritarianism has been happening much longer than most people realize in the USA. The comment by Santayana is as ever very relevant. It is also clear that it is seldom heeded. We keep doing the same thing. We keep fighting wars. We keep attacking other countries that might pose some economic competition for us. I was recently researching the first and second Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. Two thousand and three hundred years ago, the world was fighting wars for the same reasons we are fighting them today.

Strategic Rivalry in the Mediterranean

• Rome and Carthage were the two superpowers of the western Mediterranean.
• Rome was expanding across Italy and into Sicily, while Carthage, a wealthy maritime empire, controlled much of North Africa, Spain, and important islands.
• Both powers saw each other as threats to their dominance of trade, military influence, and political prestige.

Today, we can substitute China for Carthage and the USA for Rome. Our story for future generations might read:

Strategic Rivalry in the East

• The USA and China were the two superpowers of the World.
• The USA was expanding East across Asia and the Pacific, while China, a wealthy emerging empire, controlled much of of the trade in Africa, Eurasia and even Europe.
• Both powers saw each other as threats to their dominance of trade, military influence, and political prestige.

Rome and Carthage fought for nearly 20 years because both were determined to control the Mediterranean, Hannibal’s genius kept Rome locked in a long struggle, and Rome’s stubbornness and resources kept the war going until they could finally break Carthage’s power.

Our leaders keep making the same mistake. We keep repeating the past and it is “We the People” who suffer for it. Is there no other solutions except to destroy the other country? Is there no way to use diplomacy to find a win-win solution? Is the only way to destroy the other country as Rome destroyed Carthage?

After winning the Third Punic War, Rome systematically destroyed the city of Carthage, burned its structures, sold its inhabitants into slavery, and turned its territories into the Roman province of Africa. Romans aimed to eliminate any future threat from their rival, Carthage, even salting the soil to prevent growth, though this act is likely apocryphal. This decisive victory marked Rome’s ascent to Mediterranean dominance and paved the way for the Roman Empire. 

Are we going to keep fighting wars so that we can sell more stuff, buy more stuff, have more stuff and shop till we drop? Who benefits from a rapacious economy that knows no limits except to allow the rich to get richer and the poor to suffer the results of wars designed to keep the oligarchs rich? How many people really believe in the Trickle Down theory?

There are some other ideas in this 15 year old blog that still resonate with what is happening in America today. Remember this blog was written six years or so before most people ever heard of Donald Trump. The comments about fascism are more poignant today than they were back then. Could no one see what was coming? Leave your thoughts and comments please. What can we do to stop going down the path of war and more war?

Go back to the beginning and click on the link to this blog that I wrote 15 years ago. Seems like only yesterday. https://agingcapriciously.com/2010/07/23/have-you-forgotten-the-past/