I would disagree that Trump and Julius are antithetical. The Roman times were very different than today in certain ways. The Senate had long been hoarding power and wealth to establish their place as the elite class. This is part of how they did not take care of their military Veterans. Romans were offered as part of their pay for military service citizenship status and/or a parcel of land. Land-owners were basically "independently wealthy" and the represented class in Roman society. However, the Senate constantly reneged on their obligations to the veterans and kept the land for themselves. This was one of Julius Caesars primary grievances, and why his troops were so loyal. He kept his promises to them in terms of land. Also, there is a big difference between socialism versus giving sorely needed $2000 ...err, I mean bread, to those that the elites have truthfully oppressed.
Julius was antithetical to Trump on several points; both are quite similar on several others.
While his willingness to keep the promises made to the military gave him very popular support among them, Julius was also willing to extend that to ANYONE with a grievance toward the Senate, and really wasn't willing to negotiate much of anything. He knew allegiance and loyalty could be bought with lesser men.
Trump keeps his promises, and goes out of his way to negotiate where he wants things done. He seems to leave brute force out unless it is the very, very last option. Julius wasn't opposed to cracking a few skulls to get the point across.
The Roman military was extremely harsh in its discipline, especially by today's standards. Julius was unrelenting on that.
Again, we are talking of cultures separated by several thousand miles and over 2000 years in space and time.
I can concede your point here: Julius and Trump both kept their promises, when the self-styled elites reneged. Both men were/are powerfully popular because of this very fact.
Both men expected their people to perform, or they were gone. Loyalty was rewarded.
Both men face very powerful opposition in their respective Capitols.
An in both cases, the self-professed "elite" made/are making the same mistake: that their "elitism" will enable them to survive the civil turmoil they themselves push to create.
From the standpoint of history, the Roman practice of "bread and circuses" started up when the Senate elite wanted to pacify and distract the unrest they were creating by paying off the people.
I must agree - the Roman "bread and circuses" was not socialism as Marx formed it to be. What we have here in America today is a distorted amalgamation of socialism (as Marx intended it to be) and the Roman "bread and circuses" used to pacify and distraction the people from the rampant corruption seen in the later Roman Empire.
True, but there are still lessons to learn from history. I think the key is knowing what is similar and when it applies, and when not. A literal application of today's politics is a bit of a stretch; however, keep in mind that there is 'nothing knew under the sun'. These philosophies take on knew shapes and forms, but most are not as original as they claim. Ludism for instance is constantly re-surfacing in all sorts of different movements; it was itself a re-surfacing of a previous ideas.
History's lessons stem from knowing the danger of failed ideas (like Communism) and abused extremes (like Dictatorship or Elitist Oligarchy).
I would disagree that Trump and Julius are antithetical. The Roman times were very different than today in certain ways. The Senate had long been hoarding power and wealth to establish their place as the elite class. This is part of how they did not take care of their military Veterans. Romans were offered as part of their pay for military service citizenship status and/or a parcel of land. Land-owners were basically "independently wealthy" and the represented class in Roman society. However, the Senate constantly reneged on their obligations to the veterans and kept the land for themselves. This was one of Julius Caesars primary grievances, and why his troops were so loyal. He kept his promises to them in terms of land. Also, there is a big difference between socialism versus giving sorely needed $2000 ...err, I mean bread, to those that the elites have truthfully oppressed.
Julius was antithetical to Trump on several points; both are quite similar on several others.
While his willingness to keep the promises made to the military gave him very popular support among them, Julius was also willing to extend that to ANYONE with a grievance toward the Senate, and really wasn't willing to negotiate much of anything. He knew allegiance and loyalty could be bought with lesser men.
Trump keeps his promises, and goes out of his way to negotiate where he wants things done. He seems to leave brute force out unless it is the very, very last option. Julius wasn't opposed to cracking a few skulls to get the point across.
The Roman military was extremely harsh in its discipline, especially by today's standards. Julius was unrelenting on that.
Again, we are talking of cultures separated by several thousand miles and over 2000 years in space and time.
I can concede your point here: Julius and Trump both kept their promises, when the self-styled elites reneged. Both men were/are powerfully popular because of this very fact.
Both men expected their people to perform, or they were gone. Loyalty was rewarded.
Both men face very powerful opposition in their respective Capitols.
An in both cases, the self-professed "elite" made/are making the same mistake: that their "elitism" will enable them to survive the civil turmoil they themselves push to create.
From the standpoint of history, the Roman practice of "bread and circuses" started up when the Senate elite wanted to pacify and distract the unrest they were creating by paying off the people.
I must agree - the Roman "bread and circuses" was not socialism as Marx formed it to be. What we have here in America today is a distorted amalgamation of socialism (as Marx intended it to be) and the Roman "bread and circuses" used to pacify and distraction the people from the rampant corruption seen in the later Roman Empire.
True, but there are still lessons to learn from history. I think the key is knowing what is similar and when it applies, and when not. A literal application of today's politics is a bit of a stretch; however, keep in mind that there is 'nothing knew under the sun'. These philosophies take on knew shapes and forms, but most are not as original as they claim. Ludism for instance is constantly re-surfacing in all sorts of different movements; it was itself a re-surfacing of a previous ideas.
History's lessons stem from knowing the danger of failed ideas (like Communism) and abused extremes (like Dictatorship or Elitist Oligarchy).