I’ve grown quite accustomed to first addressing my audience before I begin a new essay. I find that it’s easier to write about an unknown topic when I’m not starting with a blank page. This winter I took a creative writing course, which is part of the reason as to why I haven’t had the chance to post anything recently. If you’re interested in reading the stories I wrote for the course you can visit: http://life-beautiful-dream.deviantart.com/
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Have you ever had a thought that seems at first to be out of place, but isn’t given any attention? Whenever that happens, it immediately sets into motion a brewing of exploratory speculation. This always results in what other people may call a burst of spontaneous creativity, but my thought process isn’t so easily defined. Today I would like to discuss a rather controversial matter, without bias or favouritism towards one side over the other. Unfortunately, writing as a Caucasian male destroys most of my credibility; it’s all Oprah’s fault.
People are very quick to say things like “I wish that everyone in the world had food to eat each day.” There is nothing wrong with feeling compassionate towards those who are less fortunate, but at the same time if the wish were to come true, chaos would very quickly ensue. The cost of food would go through the roof and an increased population would very rapidly deplete the world food supply. I’m not trying to sound cruel, nor argue that death by starvation is pleasant or right. The truth is that it’s often very difficult to determine the best solution for a particular problem without amassing casualties.
I will follow that same logic, but now apply it in relation to gender stereotypes and equality. Society tends to be clueless as to the sex based roles that must be in place in order to maintain a healthy community. There is nothing about marginalizing the rights of women that is worthy of accolade. Women haven’t always received the compensation they deserve in the workplace, and there is no excuse for that. However, there are an increasing number of single parent families or even married couples who don’t spend time teaching their kids life skills. You can’t tell me that taking a mother away from her kids will make life better for them. These kids have become virtual Crown Wards and the subjects of unwarranted social experimentation.
We can look at society and say that it is more advanced than it’s ever been,but it would also be very foolish to ignore the signs of decay. Every great civilization that has been brought to ruin made several fatal decisions. If we are wise, we will measure our current state of affairs by comparing ourselves with them. History isn’t an idealist; it’s just the most commonly agreed upon interpretation of reality. Edward Gibbon’s wrote a book titled The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” He placed the blame squarely on the loss of civic virtue. Similar conclusions were made by Jim N. Black in his book “When Nations Die.”
o Economic reasons
- Loss of economic discipline
- Riches brought an insatiable desire for luxury and carnal indulgences.
- Widespread gambling on the chariot races and gladiatorial combats.
o Social reasons
- Homosexuality and bestiality were openly practiced.
- Children were seen as a needless burden and abortion
and infanticide became commonplace
- It was convenient and cost effective to hire or buy a slave tutor
- Increase in materialism.
o Political reasons
- Division between the Senate and Emperor
- Rhetoric became combative and intolerant
- New thinkers argued for “fundamental change”
- Over a span of 100 years, Rome had 37 different emperors - 25 of whom were
removed from office by assassination.
o Military reasons
- Thirst of fame and military glory
- Law and order were destroyed from within.
- Rich young men no longer wanted to serve in the military so they hired
mercenaries to do their fighting.
- Men from conquered nations were allowed to join the Roman army
o Summary
- Life became cheap - bloodshed led to more bloodshed and extreme cruelty. The values, the ideals, customs, traditions and institutions, of the Romans declined. The basic principles, standards and judgments about what was valuable or important in life also declined. The total disregard for human and animal life resulted in a lack of ethics - a perverted view of what was right and wrong, good and bad, desirable and undesirable. There was no conformity to acceptable rules or standards of human behaviour.
The parallels are striking, and I’m sobered by the ignorant majority who would say that everything is ok. That is the equivalent of saying that rust will go away by itself, or that there is just a little bit of cancer. Sometimes it’s easy to think that progress always bends in positive direction. We are so often blinded by indifference, and would be shocked if we could see just how fragmented and fragile everything really is.
I’m not generally a gloom and doom type of person; my hope is that we are stirred to do things that strengthen our communities and ultimately the nation. I would simply suggest that you take time to evaluate life… and be reminded that every decision you make, directly or indirectly, affects the life of somebody else.
