Like many others, I have been comparing the beliefs, methods and policies of Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten and his Republican Reich to Hitler’s third Reich. Famous writer Paul Krugman validated the comparison and added that we should also find lessons in the decline and fall of the Roman Republic.
Many people are reacting to the rise of Trumpism and nativist movements in Europe by reading history — specifically, the history of the 1930s. And they are right to do so. It takes willful blindness not to see the parallels between the rise of fascism and our current political nightmare.
But the ’30s isn’t the only era with lessons to teach us. Lately I’ve been reading a lot about the ancient world. Initially, I have to admit, I was doing it for entertainment and as a refuge from news that gets worse with each passing day. But I couldn’t help noticing the contemporary resonances of some Roman history — specifically, the tale of how the Roman Republic fell.
Here’s what I learned: Republican institutions don’t protect against tyranny when powerful people start defying political norms. And tyranny, when it comes, can flourish even while maintaining a republican facade.
On the first point: Roman politics involved fierce competition among ambitious men. But for centuries that competition was constrained by some seemingly unbreakable rules. Here’s what Adrian Goldsworthy’s “In the Name of Rome” says: “However important it was for an individual to win fame and add to his and his family’s reputation, this should always be subordinated to the good of the Republic … no disappointed Roman politician sought the aid of a foreign power.”… [emphasis added]
From <NY Times>
Krugman has much more to say, and I strongly encourage you to click through to read it all. Krugman concludes that we need to recognizes how bad thing are: that Democracy is on the edge.
Resist!!
15 Responses to “The Fuhrer, the Reich and the Fall of the Republic”
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The basic point he is making here is one which Masha Geller makes in her "Autocracy: Rules for Survival" – Rule #3: Institutions will not save you
I am NOT trying to diminish Krugman by pointing this out. On the contrary, it illustrates that when intelligent and knowledgeable people look at something, they see the same things – because those are the things that are actually there.
And we had by God better pay attention.
RESIST !!!
I fully agree. This is especially true, because Democrats abide bt these institutions, years after Republicans stopped doing so.
Good quote by Mr. Adrian Goldsworthy: “However important it was for an individual to win fame and add to his and his family’s reputation, this should always be subordinated to the good of the Republic …
How I wish this were so… for the elect to envision.
We can forget the "good of the Republic".. Trump's sole interest is in his own personal aggrandizement.
It's like he wants to be Captain of the team – but only to go to the pep rallies … never the workouts or practice.
I'd cover even-money bets he doesn't even make it through his full term (assuming the EC will elect him).
Oh, they did.
Great! Saved for future use!!
Resist is indeed the Good Word! I am trying to get people together in order to create a coalition for opposing Donald T. Rump and his bugnut policies. Right now the response has been scanty, but the Winter Holidays may be a factor. I will try again in the new year. Meanwhile, who's with me in Atlanta?
Do you know Connie Wernersbach 62, of Fayetteville, and/or Lucy Ahman, 17, of Decatur (her sister, aunt and grandmother also protested)? I just found their names in a news story about the electoral college protests, I didn't look any further, but if you are on Facebook you might try there.
Kudos Freya!!
The people who keep voting for these republicans, who are power driven maniacs, are the ones who should suffer when they are elected, not the rest of us.
I have said on many occassions that the US was following down the same rabbit hole as the Roman Empire. And I still believe it. The Roman Epire did not fall in a week, or a month, or even a year. It took time. But Krugman's words are so true . . .
"American democracy is very much on the edge."
RESIST!!!!!
We've become quite familiar with the parallels between Dumpf's and Hitler's rise to power; we've all read a lot about that here commented on it in abundance. But in the past month or so I had been reading three historic novels of Robert Barnes, based on the life of Cicero and reconstructed from the wealth of speeches and letters this key figure in the fall of the Roman Republic left for posterity. So it's rather uncanny how Paul Krugman, reading up on some Roman history for his own enjoyment, was also struck by the very obvious similarities between the political disintegration over a period of a few decades then and now and with the same result: tyranny.
Hitler modeled a lot of his third Reich on the Roman empire: the salute, the architecture, nationalism and a martial spirit…With Drumpf and his minions now emulating Hitler's fascism in so many ways, I can only shudder to think what else he's going to copy.
Amen to that!
Thanks all!! Hugs!!
We've become quite familiar with the parallels between Dumpf's and Hitler's rise to power; we've all read a lot about that here commented on it in abundance. But in the past month or so I had been reading the three historic novels of Robert Barnes, based on the life of Cicero and reconstructed from the wealth of speeches and letters this key figure in the fall of the Roman Republic left for posterity. So it's rather uncanny how Paul Krugman, reading up on some Roman history for his own enjoyment, was also struck by the very obvious similarities between the political disintegration over a period of a few decades then and now and with the same result: tyranny.
Hitler modeled a lot of his third Reich on the Roman empire: the salute, the architecture, nationalism and a martial spirit…With Drumpf and his minions now emulating Hitler's fascism in so many ways, I can only shudder to think what else he's going to copy.