Is this the Fall of Rome?

History made us and history will shepherd us to a good path.

I am by no means the first to observe historical parallels between the remarkable events we are witnessing today and the Fall of Rome (and the collapse of other civilizations alike). So this week I invited back to BIYF Marketing – Dr. Alexander Rosenthal-Pubúl and Dr. Miles Smit, two PhD. Philosophy majors and founders of The Petrarch Institute (http://www.petrarch-institute.com/).

Let’s take stock of just a few of these parallels:

• A widening polarization and civil unrest.
• Economic instability and greater wealth disparity.
• A rise in government corruption and political instability.
• A gradual decline in the traditional values on which modern Western Civilization was founded.
• And of course, at this moment, we are still confronted with COVID-19 (a Plague).

Here are some of my key takeaways from this interview:

The good news is that Rome, like many other great civilizations, often flirted with decline without necessarily falling off the cliff. So our demise is far from a forgone or inevitable conclusion. Hope remains.

If we are to prevent further decline we should consider the following:

• History made us and history will shepherd us to a good path.

• It would be wise to revitalize the values on which Western Civilization was founded.
• We would do well to devalue luxury and shun greed.
• It would be prudent for us to recognize and better appreciate the broader social dividends of community and robust families.

We should consider the necessary interconnection between Freedom and Responsibility and renew our sense of patriotism and the importance of civic action and public service.

Originally published on BIYF Marketing