Bread and circuses

The decline of the Roman Empire was preceded by and concurrent with the citizens' fixations with diversion, entertainment and government-provided largesse. Gibbon's classic work identified the distractive aire that led to the Roman odyssey toward fun and frolic as opposed to practicing the behaviors of good citizenship. In many respects, the present path of the United States is similar to that of ancient Rome.

Our federal, state and local governments are spending us into oblivion while refusing to accept responsibility for their profligate actions. In their efforts to provide the "bread" of absolute personal security such as housing subsidies, food subsidies, healthcare provisions, the governmental entities have assumed (and ignored) massive financial obligations that are unsustainable and unredeemable. "You get what you pay for" is becoming ever more apparent. Government subsidized housing is generally substandard. Government food subsidies are frequently inadequate or nutritionally suspect. When we examine the present system of government healthcare delivery (VA, Medicare, Medicaid and various state and local programs), we see that the quality is remarkably uneven. So, there are some who wish to expand government's role in each sector.

Let's review the circuses in the present-day United States. "Survivor," "Big Brother," "The Osbornes," American Idol," "So You Think You Can Dance" are just a few of the brain-dead entertainment programming offerings. The proliferation of cable and personal music pakages (iPod, MP3 et al) suggests a populace that runs to the circus to avoid the responsibilities of truly engaged citizenship. We debate who should have won "Dancing with the Stars" while the foundations of our republic erode. We cry "foul" when the flawed BCS ignores a worthy team, and breathe nary a whimper when the Kelo decision is rendered. We have committed to memory all the batting averages of the Lansing Lugnuts, and we are clueless about our Congressperson's voting record. We mourn the loss of the prince of arrested development, Michael Jackson, and we are oblivious to the gradual loss of our freedoms.

We celebrate perversion and dysfunction. At the same time, we demean and deride those who reject the circus. Our citadels of culture on the east and west coasts belittle people of faith, and we are silent. Our courts and our legislators attempt to crush our opposition to aberrant behavior by legitimizing the bizarre and sanctioning those who object. The republic as envisioned by our founders is topsy-turvy. Although there a few voices of discontent, they've not yet reached the point of critical mass where the entire electorate speaks with one voice, "ENOUGH...WE'VE HAD ENOUGH!" If we fail to marshall the majority of citizens to halt the slide into obscurity, then we will get our pockets picked at the circus, and we will choke on the government bread.