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Page added on October 18, 2020

The militarization of the Western Empire: How the COVID pandemic accelerated the process

Donald Trump may not have been not such a warlike emperor as previous Western Emperors have been (and probably will be). But, even assuming that Trump is trying to avoid wars, he cannot oppose the militarization trends of the Western economy that was boosted by the COVID-19 epidemics.

History repeats itself – oh, yes! And sometimes it repeats itself so fast and so ruthlessly that it leaves you out of breath. Think of what’s happening right now: the COVID; the lockdowns, the face masks, the limitations to movements: all that happened in a few months, and the world of last year looks so remote that it could be seen as part of the still ongoing Middle Ages.

And, yet, there is some logic in what has happened. History may surprise you and it usually does (the only sure thing we learn from history is that people never learn from history). But whatever happens in history has a reason to happen. And what we are seeing is not unexpected. We have seen it already, stark clear and unavoidable: it is the militarization trend of a decaying society.

Let’s go back to the Roman Empire, as always the paradigmatic story of a state that preceded us and went through a full cycle of growth and collapse. The Roman world was not so technologically sophisticated, nor so rich as ours, but the basic needs of citizens were the same and the Roman government provided many of them. You may have heard the expression “Panem et Circenses” (bread and circus games). That described two of the services that the Roman state ensured: the shipment of food from Africa to the Roman cities and the various kind of games performed in the amphitheaters.

But there was much more than that. The state built and maintained the roads that connected the different regions of the empire. It built and maintained the aqueducts that carried water to the cities. Then, the main service was security: the government provided an internal justice system that guaranteed a certain degree of social security to the free citizens. The Romans also maintained an urban police (the vigiles) that served also as firefighters. And, of course, the legions were the backbone of the Roman state.

Of course, the Roman state had all the defects that states often have: it tended to harass, oppress, humiliate, rob, and overtax its citizens, But the Romans normally believed that a bad government was much better than no government, so they put up with a lot of stress as long as they could. Unfortunately for them, collapse was unavoidable. As the Empire’s finances declined, the government became unable to pay for the services it had been providing during better times.

The loss of government services in the Roman state was a complicated process that went on for centuries, sometimes gradually and sometimes in bumps. We have evidence that the Roman roads were already decayed so much that they were unusable by the early 5th century. Many aqueducts were in ruin by that time and that probably contributed to the depopulation of large cities: nobody can live in a city without working sewers. The last gladiatorial game in the Colosseum, in Rome, is recorded in 438 CE. Wheat was still shipped to Rome from Africa until ca. 450 AD, but no later than that date. The loss of the supply of food was the last straw that sent the Empire to the dustbin of history a few decades later.

But note an important detail: During the declining phase, the Roman government gave maximum priority to maintaining its military potential intact. The data are incomplete, but the Western Roman troops kept increasing in numbers up to the end of the 3rd century and the sum of the armies of the Western and Eastern Empires kept growing for two more centuries. And to that one has to include the cost of the gigantic defensive walls that must have been a tremendous burden for the state’s finances. As decline continued, the Western Empire was reduced to a giant machine that collected taxes and produced legions.

The result was that the Western Empire was often able to put up a decent fight: even during the final stages of its decline. Just think of the last ragtag Roman army that managed to defeat Attila’s Huns at the battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451 AD. It was at the same time the last battle and the last victory of the Empire.

Now, let’s move forward of about 1,600 years and we are in our times. The modern Western Empire has many points in common with the old Roman Empire although, of course, the range of services the state provides nowadays is much larger. Just think that the Romans had nothing like our public education system, not our public healthcare service. But, like the Roman state, modern Western states provide food, water, transportation infrastructures, security, and entertainment. And, of course, a heavy military apparatus supposed to defend citizens from external invasions.

Today, the West is in a situation similar to that of the Roman Empire at the start of its declining phase. With the economy declining because of the gradual depletion of natural resources, the Western governments can’t afford anymore to provide the services they had been providing earlier on. You don’t have to think that the imperial elites are especially smart, but they understand perfectly well the difficult situation of the Western Empire: it can keep existing only as long as it manages to exploit resources located in faraway places that are hugely expensive to control. Crude oil in the Middle East is a good example. And they face a giant and growing power: the Eurasian block, much better placed in terms of still available resources within its local sphere of influence.

Right now, the West is still in an aggressive posture in military terms, but the leaders may decide to settle into a defensive position and hold on as long as possible. In either case, the Empire needs enormous amounts of resources to keep alive its overblown and inefficient military system. Because of this, some Western leaders may well be reckless enough to try something desperate, such as attacking Russia (preferably in winter, as it has been fashionable in the past). More easily, these resources can be found by taking them from other sectors of the Western economy. If you like to see the empire as a beast of prey, it is starting to eat itself.

Curiously, it has been the coronavirus crisis that pushed the process to accelerate at an unexpected speed. In less than one year, we saw the collapse or the rapid decline of several infrastructures that we were taking for granted but that the pandemic made obsolete. Note that I am not saying that the virus was engineered on purpose in some military lab — that’s extremely improbable, to say the least. I just mean that the elites of the Western world are an opportunistic predator: they jump on whatever opportunities they can find. And there is no doubt that they exploited the coronavirus crisis to their own maximum advantage.

The first and the most illustrious victim of the virus scare was international mass tourism. The collapse will probably be irreversible: read any description of what is today to visit Disneyland while wearing masks and keeping distances and you’ll understand why. Mass tourism was unsustainable anyway, but the speed of its fall has been amazing.

Also, the collapse of the civilian airlines is well advanced and of much of the industry that produces private cars. They were all very expensive infrastructures that consumed a lot of resources for little purpose. Their collapses are taking with them the fossil fuel industry, but that’s not a problem for the military. The remaining production can now be re-directed to military uses.

Then, we have the rapid decline of the public education system. It had been already declining for a long time, but the pandemic showed how fragile is a system that costs a lot of money to the state and produces little that’s useful. Do we really need to teach ordinary people how to read and write? They don’t need that to play on TikTok and most of them are too fat to be useful as soldiers. All that we need is highly specialized technologists able to design and build weapons and top-level managers to handle the levers of the government. And that’s where the remaining resources will be concentrated.

How about the healthcare system? That, too, was badly hit and turned out to be desperately ineffective in stemming the first wave of the pandemic. One possible reaction would have been to strengthen the system with a badly needed injection of capital and a re-organization for better efficiency. But it was not done. Here, propaganda played its usual role in convincing people that what’s bad for them is good for them. Have you ever heard a slogan like “fewer tanks and more hospitals?” Can you imagine one of the presidential candidates stating something like that? Of course not.

Propaganda has been able to convince people that, if the healthcare system was unable to manage a problem that never was really overwhelming, it was not because the system was badly mismanaged and turned into a profit-making operation for a few fat catss at the top. No, it was the fault of the people who didn’t wear their face masks or didn’t wear them right. The pen is mightier than the sword when it is used to write propaganda.

And there we are: suddenly we find ourselves rapidly moving along a road that we hadn’t realized we had already taken. The system is moving to a condition that will eventually turn it into a mirror of what once was the Roman empire: a giant machine that collects taxes and produces legions.

And then what? Of course, the Empire will crumble. All empires follow the same path: they bankrupt themselves with excessive military expenses, they are like the fat man of the restaurant scene of the Monty Python (if you haven’t seen it, it is here). And in our case, things will go even faster than in the past because we face not only resource depletion but also the collapse of the ecosystem.

But history goes in cycles: there is no collapse that’s not followed by a rebound. We don’t know exactly what the world after the crash will be like, but after the great binge of fossil fuels is over, and with it the toxic dreams of dominance, we might be able to build a gentler and better world. And may the Goddess help us in this difficult task.

Cassandra’s legacy

242 Comments on "The militarization of the Western Empire: How the COVID pandemic accelerated the process"

LANA rEpAeR Jonesburg, MO Weather 83 °F Sunny. 83 / 60 °F on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 1:27 pm

France: Muslima screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ threatens jihad suicide bombing at railway station

only master race chinks can understand this.
only master race chinks can harvest master cult muzz

Abraham van Helsing on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 2:05 pm

The US deep state loves communists:

http://themillenniumreport.com/2018/09/john-brennan-how-did-a-card-carrying-communist-get-to-be-director-of-the-c-i-a/

“JOHN BRENNAN: How did a card-carrying communist get to be Director of the C.I.A.?“

Trump declares war:

https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6203359709001

“Trump: ‘Joe Biden a servant of the globalists, lobbyists and Washington vultures’“

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 2:18 pm

JuanP mental illness:

LANA rEpAeR Jonesburg, MO Weather 83 °F Sunny. 83 / 60 °F said France: Muslima screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ threatens…

claw hammer on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 2:18 pm

JuanP is a dipshit

LANA REPAER love u so much supertard kat cant eat cant sleep Several South Koreans die after getting flu vaccine (muzz-17) on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 3:29 pm

duterte gona pump muzz-19 into u soon
u will croak supertard kat

love always conquer hate

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 3:33 pm

Dip shit

LANA REPAER love u so much supertard kat cant eat cant sleep Several South Koreans die after getting flu vaccine (muzz-17) said duterte gona pump muzz-19 into u soon u will croak…

LANA REPAER New Florence, Missouri Weather 85 °F Passing clouds. 83 / 60 °F on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 3:37 pm

love over hate
love supertard kat
hate no1

the answer to hate is love

lovey dovey all the time i’m a midnight talker sure don’t want to hurt no one

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 3:40 pm

faggot south american

LANA REPAER New Florence, Missouri Weather 85 °F Passing clouds. 83 / 60 °F said love over hate love supertard kat hate no1 the ans…

LANA REPAER Why are American colleges and universities radioactive sinkholes of pro-jihad, anti-American propaganda? Here are six and a half billion reasons why. “Investigation Prompts Schools to Report $6.5 Billion in on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 3:41 pm

Undisclosed Foreign Gifts and Contracts

love supertard kat so much, love the higher love

love over hate

may the world generously populated by lovers aplenty

makati1 on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 3:41 pm

I hate South Americans mainly because of the lunatic JaunP

FamousDrScanlon on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 6:10 pm

Right-wing extremism: The new wave of global terrorism

“In early October 2020, less then a month before the United States federal election, the FBI thwarted an alleged terrorism plot by right-wing extremists to kidnap the Michigan governor, storm the state capital building and commit acts of violence against law enforcement.”

https://theconversation.com/right-wing-extremism-the-new-wave-of-global-terrorism-147975

Terrorism, sedition & treason – no doubt.

Why waste another dime on these traitors?

A sturdy rope & tree branch is all that’s needed.

Perhaps afterwards the other Snowflake patriots will think twice about donning their Seal Team 6 Halloween costumes & playing freedumb-tard revolutionary.

Btw, that purple ‘designer’ magazine & new limp wristed way they hold their guns now is beyond faggoty. Grandpa GI Joe was a MAN & he looked like one too.

I hear tell 2020 gunz-N-ammo sales to libtards have been breaking records.

A real sneaky bastard would have struck before they got a chance to arm themselves & make a real fight of it, but since 99% of those play-pretend Cammo queens have no intention of putting themselves in real danger it don’t matter.

It’s mostly MAGA-tard tribal virtue signalling.

Look! Look! look at me & my AR & colour coordinated camo-wear & matching Peter Pan get-away boots. Ain’t I just the most stylish tribe member you’ve ever seen?

Please please except me among your ranks & give my meaningless existence pretend meaning.’

Nope, serious killers don’t advertise their intent & presence on social media – that’s for posers.

A real sneaky bastard (and my mentor) – watch & learn

https://youtu.be/eu1by5-BpTA

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 6:16 pm

The stupid fuck thinks he is famous. LMFAO

FamousDrScanlon said Right-wing extremism: The new wave of global terro…

REAL Green said Everyone no’s were stealin everyone elses IDs Davy…

REAL Green on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:00 pm

FamousDrScanlon is apeman davy. You stupid fuck. LOFAO!

JuanP on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:02 pm

So true REAL Green. So true.

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:04 pm

Yeap. Even you stupid socks are even smarter then you Davy.

dumbass

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:08 pm

LMFA, the lunatic is trying REAL hard to look like it’s not all his fault.

zero juan said Yeap. Even you stupid socks are even smarter then…

JuanP said So true REAL Green. So true.

REAL Green said FamousDrScanlon is apeman davy. You stupid fuck. L…

Davy said Mak, since I can’t behave nobody gets a break. I c…

zero davy on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:14 pm

LOFAO, the lunatic davy is trying REAL hard to look like it’s not all his fault.

zero juan said Yeap. Even you stupid socks are even smarter then…

JuanP said So true REAL Green. So true.

REAL Green said FamousDrScanlon is apeman davy. You stupid fuck. L…

Davy said Mak, since I can’t behave nobody gets a break. I c…

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:17 pm

Dumbfuck can’t stand being trolled. LMFAO

zero davy said LOFAO, the lunatic davy is trying REAL hard to loo…

Davy said In case you was wondering nedernazi. JuanP is the…

zero davy on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:26 pm

Dumbfuck can’t stand eating his own shit. LOFAO!

zero davy said LOFAO, the lunatic davy is trying REAL hard to loo…

Davy said In case you was wondering nedernazi. JuanP is the…

zero juan on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 8:35 pm

Fuck face troll days are over. Now fuck face gets trolled. Wa wa widdle

zero davy said Dumbfuck can’t stand eating his own shit. LOFAO!…

zero davy on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 9:01 pm

Fuck face troll days are over. Now fuck face gets trolled. Wa wa widdle daVvee.

FamousDrScanlon on Thu, 22nd Oct 2020 10:45 pm

Apparently there was an incident backstage after the debate. Trumpy creeped up behind Biden & grabbed Biden’s boy pussy.

Biden started moaning ‘more daddy more’, at which point Trump lost his senior citizen hardon & his temper because he only likes it when they put up a fight.

Sources close to the president say the president is a real cunt.

Abraham van Helsing on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 3:24 am

Borat fears social media, like this board of peakoil.com, do NOT Make Benefit Glorious Nation of ZOG-USA:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/22/sacha-baron-cohen-facebook-propaganda

“Read Sacha Baron Cohen’s scathing attack on Facebook in full: ‘greatest propaganda machine in history'”

He could well be right. No Qanon without social media. It remains to be seen if this last minute action against Giuliani (revenge for the Hunter Biden laptop posse) will hit more than a dent in the election circus.

#HowTheyOperate

Right-wingers shouldn’t even want Trump to win, only not to lose and as such maneuver the country in a stalemate over an undecided election and the real fun can begin.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/521037-chinas-xi-tells-troops-to-focus-on-war-preparations

“China’s Xi tells troops to focus on war preparations”

China is ready and anticipates major upward geopolitical mobility (SCS, Taiwan, Ps and more) in the very near future.

zero juan on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 5:04 am

Now that widdle is being stalked and trolled his stalking and trolling is going way down. LMFAO @ FOOL

FamousDrScanlon said Apparently there was an incident backstage after t…

LANA rEpAeR whitey supertard president biden won debate love for supremacist muzzies increse 1000x said a lot of love

zero davy said Fuck face troll days are over. Now fuck face gets…

zero juan said Fuck face troll days are over. Now fuck face gets…

zero davy said Dumbfuck can’t stand eating his own shit. LOFAO!…

JuanP on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 5:49 am

For the record. I am the real JuanP and I haven’t posted a single comment here since before a few days ago. My trolling is failing.
I’ve moved on to greener pastures. I would recommend you all do the same. Reading the comments here or posting something is a complete waste of your lives. This website is fucked beyond redemption. Move on, guys!

zero juan on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 5:50 am

Ppee, if you move on we will ttempt to get some new blood and try to talk intelligent again. You ruined this forum. Don’t let the door smack you in the ass

zero davy on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 6:01 am

Now that widdle is being stalked and trolled his stalking and trolling is going way down. LOFAO @ FOOL

FamousDrScanlon said Apparently there was an incident backstage after t…

LANA rEpAeR whitey supertard president biden won debate love for supremacist muzzies increse 1000x said a lot of love

zero davy said Fuck face troll days are over. Now fuck face gets…

zero juan said Fuck face troll days are over. Now fuck face gets…

zero davy said Dumbfuck can’t stand eating his own shit. LOFAO!…

Davy on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 6:02 am

zero davy on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 6:02 am

DaVvee, if you move on we will ttempt to get some new blood and try to talk intelligent again. You ruined this forum. Don’t let the door smack you in the ass

JuanP on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 6:17 am

Mak, be careful a storm is coming your way:

https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/storminfo/#98W

zero juan on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 6:19 am

The troll JuanP is up from his sleep in madness:

zero davy said DaVvee, if you move on we will ttempt to get some…

the board on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 6:24 am

Post mortem has determined then that most people have left this forum becuase of the insane asshole JuanP. Everyone hates the asshole. Let’s hope the psychopath either feels a little human guilt for his crimes or feels humiliated for so much low IQ efforts at destroying something that was important to many. HEY JUANP, FUCK YOU.

Moving on... on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 6:38 am

This websites article comment sections is a repository for the mentally ill. It demonstrates the need for moderation. There are just too many bored, unemployed morons stalking the Internet.

lAnA REPAER love supertard kat so much on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 7:29 am

He gona croak from MUZZ-19 soon obv

LANA REPAER Islamists are gaslighting us on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:06 am

Two sentiments always emerge whenever Islamists try to regulate speech through murder, as in the horrific killing of Samuel Paty in a Parisian suburb last Friday. We’re told the killer does not in any way represent Islam or Muslims. Yet in the same breath, we are told that the perceived insult against Islam for which the act was committed is deeply hurtful to ‘the Muslim community’ or was a gratuitous ‘abuse’ of free speech. This line always comes with the perfunctory preface ‘nothing justifies murder, but…’.

please love supertard kat

REAL Green on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:09 am

Everyone no’s we have taken over JuanPs old handel as are latest sock puppet Davy. Seeing as JuanP never uses it any more it was REAL easy to take.

LANA REPAER Islamists are gaslighting us master race chinks can not be gaslighted because master race chink will harvest on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:09 am

master race chink used AK47 to harvest muzz on the sea after muzz fired first

then taiwan want to put master race chink on trial. priority all messed up.

first thing to retrieve muzz carcass and bury at sea according to muzz custom but it’s not a muzz

then release master race chink

FamousDrScanlon on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:09 am

Abraham van Hellspawn.

Am I supposed to believe that if there was no Biden laptop circus, that Sacha Borat Cohen would NOT have released the Giuliani video even though Cohen has made a career out of duping famous people on video?

Yabut this one time is different than the other 300 times Cohen’s done it since 1998 because of revenge-N-stuff.

Tell yourself moron.

What’s it like living in that fantasy world of yours where you get to make delusional connections & ‘know’ the motives behind every action of thousands of people you’ve never met, nor will & predict there next 17 moves?

25 Funniest Ali G Interviews – 4,697,512 views

“As far as journalists go, Ali G is in a league of his own. Played by Sacha Baren Cohen, he is meant to portray the stereotype of a typical white suburban male who imitates African American culture. And somehow, much to our amusement, he manages to always end up interviewing some of the worlds most famous names. These are the 25 funniest Ali G interviews”

https://youtu.be/BSMh9qS0OvE

I’ll wager Sacha Borat Cohen has nothing but gratitude for the likes of Giuliani for helping to make him obscenely rich & famous.

Sacha Baron Cohen Net Worth:$160 Million

https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/richest-comedians/sacha-baron-cohen-net-worth/

Don’t sweat it old-timer, many readers here find your fantasy world stories to be quite amusing.

The Real Board on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:11 am

Post mortem has determined then that most people have left this forum becuase of the insane asshole Davy.. Everyone hates the asshole. Let’s hope the psychopath either feels a little human guilt for his crimes or feels humiliated for so much low IQ efforts at destroying something that was important to many. HEY DAVY, FUCK YOU.

Abraham van Helsing on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:20 am

This websites article comment sections is a repository for the delusional nutter, Ozzark Dave. It demonstrates the need for moderation. There are just too many bored, unemployed lunatics like Davy stalking the comments.

LANA REPAER Defiant France Projects Muhammad Cartoon onto Govt. Building… on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:23 am

Islamists are gaslighting us
master race chinks can not be gaslighted because master race chink will harvest on

master race chink used AK47 to harvest muzz on the sea after muzz fired first

then taiwan want to put master race chink on trial. priority all messed up.

LANA REPAER Defiant France Projects Muhammad Cartoon onto Govt. Building… on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:25 am

Each murder desensitises us a little bit more to the next, promoting a kind of cultural fatigue among societies that never imagined they would ever have to explain why religiously motivated murder is unequivocally wrong. ‘Of course it’s wrong’, the Islamist agrees, sympathetically. ‘But we mustn’t forget that the killer was provoked. In fact, when you think about it, he was a product of your society. A victim, crying out for “respect”.’ Anyone daring to wonder out loud if the killer was also influenced by his more immediate environment – perhaps the mosque he attended and the preachers he heard there – will, however, be immediately accused of scapegoating Muslims.

zero davy on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:31 am

The smelly widdle troll Davy is up from it’s sleep in madness:

zero juan said Ppee, if you move on we will ttempt to get some…

zero juan on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:40 am

What a sad reflection on a once strong forum. lunatic juanPPee destroyed it

zero davy said The smelly widdle troll Davy is up from it’s sleep…

LANA REPAER Defiant France Projects Muhammad Cartoon onto Govt. Building… said Each murder desensitises us a little bit more to t…

LANA REPAER Defiant France Projects Muhammad Cartoon onto Govt. Building… said Islamists are gaslighting us master race chinks ca…

The Real Board said Post mortem has determined then that most people h…

FamousDrScanlon said Abraham van Hellspawn. Am I supposed to believe th…

LANA REPAER Islamists are gaslighting us master race chinks can not be gaslighted because master race chink will harvest said master race chink used AK47 to harvest muzz on the…

REAL Green said Everyone no’s we have taken over JuanPs old handel…

LANA REPAER Islamists are gaslighting us said Two sentiments always emerge whenever Islamists tr…

lAnA REPAER love supertard kat so much said He gona croak from MUZZ-19 soon obv

Moving on… said This websites article comment sections is a reposi…

Abraham van Helsing on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:41 am

This websites article comment sections is a repository for the delusional nutter, Faggot JuanP It demonstrates the need for moderation. There are just too many bored, unemployed lunatics like Davy stalking the comments.

zero davy on Fri, 23rd Oct 2020 8:51 am

What a sad reflection on a once strong forum. lunatic daVvee destroyed it