BBC Series: An Empire to Rival Rome?

[richsc]

The BBC has a new series comparing the US to the British Empire and to the Roman Empire.<br>
<br>
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3430199.stm <p>Legio XX<br>
Fortius Conamur<br>
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</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

When I was a youngster back before the"flood" you remember there was talk then that the US was out to conquer the world by "cokacolonization" or by selling every one coke . then came the korean war and the vietnam war. then the "Iranian" crisis. and so on. if we didnt actually have people on the ground fighting...<br>
anyway just think of it "Starbucks" has opened in Paris! and there are "micky D's" anywhere you want a burger.<br>
and we have become the "worlds police" we spend more money on forign stuff and leave domestic problems laying dead on congresses floor. we have babys living homeless even tho their father and mother is working 2 jobs.<br>
<br>
oops Im on my soap box again<br>
sorry <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Well, lately I was more interested in another mini series called the Hutton Report...<br>
An interesting follow up on the Gilligan Report. <p></p><i></i>

[Goffredo]

Rome grew quickly into an aggressively imperialistic "monster". England was commercial but it needed a navy and army and inevitably became imperialistic in a violent world. Athens like the US became imperialistic after the Persian War: many smaller greek city states asked her to do the dirty business of a violent world leaving it as a major power that inevitably became the bully on the block that needed to expand continuously. Pericles warned athenians that they would be slaves of their own power. How could they avoid becoming further what they had become? What were the options? Athenian isolation? Periclean moderation had lived-out its course and the athenians affected by collective megalomania fell victims to amoral personalities like Alcibiades.<br>
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Is the US becoming the bully on the block?<br>
What are the options? US isolationism? Let the world go as it always has in the past and care less? Is it possible to care less? Would the world be a better place if the US said, as I personally hope, "who cares what they do! Let me tend to my own yard."<br>
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What about the responsibility of the non-US in accepting Coke and Starbucks? Does someone or some mythical entity force the parisans to eat/drink/watch/consume US-of-A products?<br>
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The world is a complicated place. I don't know the answers. Does anyone?<br>
<br>
By the way. I really never believed the argument based on weapons of mass detruction to be water tight. Saddam was dangerous and I do believe there are better chances of eventual peace in that area than there was before. Democracy is a big word too!<br>
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Was it immoral to start the war to get Saddam out or would it be immoral to accept such a regime in the name of a comfortable living-room pacifism as many european friends of mine do, not recognizing the very same forked tounge language they accuse the US of when the US supports immoral and corrupt regimes elsewhere. It is difficult to be coherent. What about other similar regimes that abound? The resources are limited and the danger great so Saddam had to go. For the moment "one down". The important thing is to avoid setting up another one in its place. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=goffredo>goffredo</A> at: 2/4/04 4:48 pm<br></i>

[Thiudareiks Flavius]

Goffredo wrote:<br>
<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>Was it immoral to start the war to get Saddam out or would it be immoral to accept such a regime in the name of a comfortable living-room pacifism as many european friends of mine do, not recognizing the very same forked tounge language they accuse the US of when the US supports immoral and corrupt regimes elsewhere. It is difficult to be coherent. What about other similar regimes that abound? The resources are limited and the danger great so Saddam had to go. For the moment "one down". The important thing is to avoid setting up another one in its place.<hr><br>
<br>
Some good points and interesting questions here. I'd love to answer, in some detail, but I was under the impression that discussions of this kind are no longer allowed at this board.<br>
<br>
A pity - it would have been an interesting discussion.<br>
Cheers, <p>Tim O'Neill / Thiudareiks Flavius<br>
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