What's wrong with America? Everywhere you look it seems like everyone has gone crazy. We've lost something but were not sure what. It must be the schools some will say. It's the Democrats! No, it's the Republicans! Sorry folks, it is neither and we can see it if we look around us, but it is more easily seen if we look back, more than two millennia back.
If we check in with a poet, no less a Roman poet named Virgil, we can clearly see what's going on. Virgil lived a world away from here, but in an eerily similar environment. The Roman Republic had become the Roman Empire and Virgil knew why. You see, he figured out that Rome was missing something, just like we are today.
Virgil wrote of three ideals that his society had lost. In Latin they were, labor, pietas, and fatum. Let's talk about the first one. Labor means what it says labor, but it goes beyond just work. Early Romans cherished work, they thought it almost sacred. If one loved her work, that made you a better person, which in turn made for a better society.
Pietas translated to English essentially means piety, but the Roman meaning goes beyond that. Pietas meant that one reverenced and respected spiritual and sacred things. You payed close attention to living in accordance with your beliefs. Religion was an important and necessary part of everyday life. Virgil believed that this contributed largely to a well ordered society.
Lastly, fatum was the belief that your country was the best. Early Rome knew that it was going in the right direction. Patriotism was high, the love for their country was very evident.
As we look forward to our day what similarities can we see? Labor, honest physical labor has become looked upon as beneath the average American. In fact, as recently as 2001 as our economy slipped following the terrorist act of 9/11 our President asked us, not to go to work, but to go shopping to boost our economy. We have two generations of people who have never really needed to do physical work and so have lost touch with the reality that work brings prosperity and connects one with the physical laws of the earth. For example, The Law of the Harvest, what you sow, so shall you reap. Many have no connection with that. If I need it I can get it from the store or from Amazon.
Before we discuss pietas, let me say that there are many Americans who are very religious and that has benefited our society immensely. What is happening today, is that religion is being marginalized as a nice thing to do but not really important in our governance. Popular culture views religion as an annoyance and portrays believers as being out of touch with reality. It goes beyond this, if a religious person speaks out against one of the hot issues of the day,(gay marriage, abortion etc.)they are portrayed by pop culture as a zealot and a bigot. America was established on a foundation of Hebrew, Christian, Greek and Roman religion and culture. As we drift from this our society becomes less ordered and vital.
Lastly, fatum. It seems that patriotism and love of country is alive but gradually waning. Periodically some event comes that rallies us to the flag but the enthusiasm is fleeting. We are not sure if we are going in the right direction, in fact, the country is sharply divided as to the direction we should take. We haven't had dynamic leadership in some time to give us hope or direction. We seem to drift from one calamity to another and no one seems to want to take the helm.
Is our Republic falling? States rights seem to be withering under an ever expanding central government. Personal rights are eroded daily in the name of security. We have been calling ourselves a democracy for sometime now. Many American citizens don't know that we live in a republic. I would say it is eroding and we the people need to work toward its restoration.
In its final stages the Roman Empire undertook feeding and entertaining its people in order to keep them from revolting. The official term they used was "bread and circuses". A modern day equivalent could be called "government welfare and the NFL" or your choice of media entertainment. The Romans ran out of money and their society and government crumbled. America is running on credit, when the loans stop coming, what happens then?
We are at, and have been at for some time,a crucial stage in our history. We need to teach and instill labor, pietas and fatum back into our society. This can only happen in our homes. This can only be a bottom up reform, no government program can instill these values in its people. It has to start in our families, which means that it is not a quick fix. If we start now the next generation can be better than we are. In two generations, society could be much better. Rome lasted about a thousand years, America seems to be on a faster track in its evolution compared to Rome. If we don't put the brakes on our erosion, we may not be able to turn it around. So remember, work hard and love your work, respect and revere the sacred and see America as great again and we could just become so.
