For a good morphology of our societal ailments, read (or re-read for some of
you) Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" published in the late
18th century. The parallels to today's America are unmistakable now.
Actually, they were pretty obvious when I first read this book in 1959.
Next you should read Benjamin Franklin's letters to the First Continental
Congress - especially the ones he sent to the meetings (he being too ill to
attend) when the topic of discussion was whether Congressmen and Senators
should be paid positions or positions of honor. Franklin was opposed to
paying them and in one letter he recounts all the ills he foresaw if those
positions should become salaried. Needless to say, his list reads like a
complete litany of the downfall of American government and society. Franklin
was also the same sort of student of human history that Gibbon was - and
interestingly enough, at about the same time...
Cheers!!
Jim - he of the pensive Midget in Dodge City
--
1964 R60/2
1968 MG Midget
1976 R90/6
1990 K100LT
**Don't underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.**
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