US: Ancient Athens rather than ancient Rome?

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Weetabix
Posts: 6106
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:04 pm

US: Ancient Athens rather than ancient Rome?

Post by Weetabix »

Duty to Others in an Age of Individuals

An interesting comparison. Normally, you see the current US compared to Rome before the fall. This opinion piece compares us to ancient Athens quite credibly, I think.

The whole thing is worth a read. The author focuses on marriage, but this can easily be extrapolated to duty to others in other areas.
Note to self: start reading sig lines. They're actually quite amusing. :D
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g-man
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Re: US: Ancient Athens rather than ancient Rome?

Post by g-man »

There are a lot of parallels there too. I’d espouse a hybrid analogy. The Athens comparison does a good job of looking at the why, i.e. failure of individuals in understanding that the optimal overall outcome sometimes depends on slightly sub-optimal individual outcomes (ignore the blonde), and therefore requires self sacrifice for the common good. Meanwhile, the Roman comparison hits pretty close to home with the how, i.e. bread and circuses.
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme...

-Anonymous
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
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