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/).
FULL VIDEO ▶️ https://youtu.be/J6QcgGnwPFw
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.
“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
- 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. In the historic words of John F. Kennedy
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
JFK
