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De la Vu All Over Again
After the wounds of the bloody civil war
healed, the nation became a world power. But
then/ the citizens began to think ofsecurity paid
for by tax money. Farmers petitioned for price
supports. The government bought up crops and
stored them in warehouses. Industrialists were
the next to ask for tax benefits. The middle
class declined under the added tax burden.
Crime became so commonplace; it was
dangerous to walk the streets at night
A crippledman led this nation into a war, and
foreign entanglements. A general, who had
been victimizedbygovernment pleaded with the
nation to return to the principles ofthe founding
fathers. He died bitterly thinking his anguished
thoughts. An honest senator dared to speak out
for a halt to foreign aid and foreign subversion;
he was branded a reactionary.
The nation fell deeper into debt; it joined a
league of the world and increased taxes to send
wheat to its enemies. It devalued its currency,
substituting base materials for silver in its coins.
Sound pretty familiar, doesn't it? Well, I
happen to be talking about Ancient Rome/ and I
skipped a couple of lines that the historian in
that capsule version had used for summing up.
The lines were, ''Roman being totally corrupt and
its middle class dead, the barbarians moved in
and destroyed it civilization.
"
The parallel to our own history is almost
eerie. That pilgrims rock
--
well, that's what they
call it not Plymouth Rock. And it became the
foundation of the temple of Jupiter.
The
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