By Vince Coyner
From Madison reading Cato and Cicero when framing the Constitution to the outsized impact both Rome and America had on the world around them, the United States has long been associated with historical Rome. There are great similarities, and there can be much to learn—and what’s happening now does not reflect well on either historical Rome or America.
When most of us think of the worst emperors in Roman history we think of names like Commodus, Nero, Caligula, and Elagabalus. To a man they were vain, self-centered, bloodthirsty hedonists who took what they wanted and tortured and killed many thousands of Romans and provincials.
All emperors, including the great ones like Augustus, Trajan, and Aurelian had blood on their hands to one degree or another but most tried to maintain or grow the empire. Commodus et al didn’t. Their goal was to satiate their lusts, whether literal lust or gluttony or, sadly, bloodlust. While there were other bad emperors, these four are among the worst.
What makes this relevant today is the fact that all four of these “men” were spoiled, pampered, entitled sadists who were given free rein when they were still essentially children. Commodus was the oldest at 19, while Nero was 17, and both Elagabalus and Caligula were 16.
They were overindulged brats who never faced consequences for their behavior. They were given virtually anything they wanted or, just as often, allowed to take what they wanted with impunity. And at those ripe young ages, and with that upbringing, they were literally given the keys to the kingdom and unleashed on the Empire—and virtually everyone in it suffered as a result.
Every day in America we see modern-day Commoduses or Caligulas wreaking havoc on our streets and in our stores, restaurants, schools, and more. Instead of a single entitled Emperor, America in 2022 is being ravaged by a generation of young men—many of whom have grown up fatherless—who have been told that they can do and say anything they want and that, regardless of what they do, there will be no consequences for them.
Just as Elagabalus et al brought nothing but blood, despair, and dysfunction to the Empire, these 21st-century youth are bringing blood, despair, and destruction to America. A generation of Americans has grown up being given “time outs”, “participation trophies,” and grades that have nothing to do with actual academic success, while at the same time they’ve been told that all inequality is due to racism, sexism, homophobia, or anything other than individual choices or actions.
The consequence of this indoctrination is that far too many young Americans think they can do anything with impunity. If they want something they take it. If they’re mad about something they protest, disrupt the lives of everyone within shouting distance, and frequently riot. They assault, rape and, sometimes, even murder, increasingly with impunity.
Pat Moynihan predicted much of this 60 years ago in his “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.” In it he “…described through pages of disquieting charts and graphs, the emergence of a “tangle of pathology,” including delinquency, joblessness, school failure, crime, and fatherlessness that characterized ghetto—or what would come to be called underclass—behavior.”
While most of the scenes of flash mobs, carjackings, Knock Out Game punches, subway shovings, and daily shootings involve black male youth, this is not a race issue. Yes, the problem is disproportionately black, but White and Hispanic America is increasingly experiencing the same challenges of unwed mothers, school failures, and the lack of responsibility that underpins much of the dysfunction.
Whether a California college student getting 6 months for rape, a Texas boy getting no jail time for killing four people in a car crash, or charges being dropped against a South Carolina boy for killing someone in a boat crash, unaccountable America spans across races, wealth, and indeed the country itself. This is nowhere better demonstrated than by the legions of rioters who participated in the “peaceful protests” of 2020 who found their charges dropped or their bails funded by the glitterati.
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These unrestrained youths highlight the existential threats to America today: The lack of accountability and individual responsibility. To the degree that America’s leaders have spent more than a generation telling the young that they’re nothing more than products of others’ malevolent thoughts and actions, and are not responsible for their own actions, they shouldn’t be surprised at the carnage we see across the country. To the degree that single mothers and schools and, increasingly, DAs across the country are not holding youth accountable for their transgressions, they should not be surprised by the blood on their streets, the boarded-up shops in their neighborhoods, and the flight of families seeking safety and security.
Since its beginning, America has been a nation governed by the Rule of Law as opposed to the Rule of Man. Imperfect and sometimes unequal in its application, America’s Constitution has successfully guided the behavior of government (mostly) for more than two centuries and in doing so guaranteed citizens freedom and the prosperity freedom cultivates.
But that framework only works when citizens feel confident that justice and the laws are applied equally, or mostly so. When citizens begin to recognize Orwell’s “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” in their daily lives and on their streets and television screens, the civilization’s days are numbered. This is exactly what Americans are seeing today….
Nero, Elagabalus, and the rest of that youthful cohort showcase exactly what happens when young men learn that accountability doesn’t apply to them. When people aren’t held responsible for their actions, many will act accordingly, without restraints, unleashing a torrent of violence, excess, and depravity that tears at the fabric of a civilized society.
Which is exactly where America is in 2022.
We currently have a government that panders to the entitled class. On an article about the intention to “forgive” 200,000 student loans, I got into a long drawn out discussion with numerous needy crybabies that think they should have an eternal safety net provided for them against all possible outcomes. Worse, they absolutely prefer Mommy Government provide that protection.
When I suggested it’s not my responsibility to pay for their stupid mistakes, a vast array of excuses for being burdened by the loans. The colleges cheated them; the lenders cheated them. When I told them to get their money from the schools, well, the schools were bankrupt. Which schools? No answer. When I suggested they go after the predatory lender, well, that takes too long or THEY’VE gone out of business. In that case, I tell them, you’re just screwed. It happens every day to thousands of people. Most never even contemplate someone else paying their debts.
No need to discuss the tangent pursued about “defense spending”. Just another excuse for someone making a bad decision because they equated “college” with “wealth”. No, kiddo… you still have to go out and work to earn it. You’d better develop a skill.
No, everything is someone else’s fault and everyone else should cover the costs.
Socraties was force to Commit Suicide drinking Hemlock Tea for the crime of Cprrupting the minds of the Greek Youth today many of those liberal collage Professors and Administraors would be drinking Hemlock for the same reason