Decline and Fall

Americans have collectively become some of the most submissive, spineless peasants upon the face of the Earth.  –  “Dependence Day”

In practically every essay for this occasion, and every one for November 1^st and 5^th, and in innumerable other essays, tweets and statements, I have reminded my readers that every single thing in the Cosmos is mortal, and will pass away in its time.  Empires rise, thrive, decline, and fall, to be replaced by younger ones which then decline and fall in their time.  The history books are littered with their names, and even before Man learned to write there were other, elder realms (albeit of smaller size), stretching back into the mists of prehistory; there may have even been civilizations before the present Age of Apes which rose, fell, and eventually faded even from the hazy glass of mythology, leaving not a rack behind.  Likewise, the future will be riddled with empires, in the short-term developing from countries whose names are familiar to us, then, further into tomorrow, from nations on worlds yet unsettled circling nameless stars in constellations invisible from the Earth.  Each will rise and fall in its turn, crumbling into dust and passing first into memory, then legend, and eventually beyond the horizon of sentient knowledge.  The wheel turns inexorably, and all there is to say about it has already been said countless times; there is, I think, little point in saying it again, so this year I’ll instead content myself with reminding y’all of everything I’ve previously said on previous anniversaries of the birth of this particular collapsing empire.

The era of US hegemony is over; it looks, may the gods help us, as though the dominant world political power of the twenties is going to be an empire even more outrageously evil and single-mindedly authoritarian than the US ever was.  –  “Post-Imperial”

Modern rulers claim “legitimacy” by a long series of Byzantine pretenses and procedures no more moral, just or rational than “Divine Right of Kings” was, then claim that their subjects somehow agreed to obey due to something called a “social contract” by virtue of being born within a particular set of imaginary lines the rulers drew on a map.  –  “Western Illiberalism”

The moribund American Empire will produce no more good in the world except by its collapse and replacement, and though I grieve the innocent blood which will be spilled, it isn’t like US policies aren’t spilling rivers of innocent blood right now.  –  “It Can’t Come Soon Enough”

I’ve come to view the present as an historical tableau, a set of events that has already happened, which I observe unfolding as though I were a time traveler from a future age.  –  “Divided We Stand”

The idea that vast social resources should be devoted to warring upon the country’s own citizenry in order to stop them from consensual activities that the rulers disapprove of is a distinctly American form of collective madness, and the powerful influence American culture has exerted on the world for the past century…is the only reason it has become at all prevalent in the rest of the world.  –  “Successor”

Police state[s employ]…a bloated police force whose powers are limited only by the imaginations of officials and whose members are able to inflict violence upon anyone they choose without any consequences whatsoever or recourse of any kind for the victims.  –  “My Police State, ‘Tis of Thee”

It is insulting to the Founders’ memory to associate any patriotic feelings you have for the memory of the nation they created with the repressive fascist police state that now occupies its territory.  – “The Spirit of ’76”

Though “freedom” is still a “worship word” in this country, observing the ovine obsequiousness with which Americans submit to looting, brutality, sexual molestation and demands of literal obeisance to petty officials leads me to the unavoidable conclusion that they have…little understanding of its meaning.  –  “The Fourth of July”

The police have become…a vast, decentralized, undisciplined army which is not subject to any law, nor are individual cops held responsible for any crimes they commit.  –  “Independence Day“