Elon Musk and Steve Bannon, two fellow travelers with the Trump II Administration, have gained a lot of notoriety for embracing pseudo-Nazi imagery and arguing (here) that the US will Decline and Fall for the same reasons that (supposedly) destroyed the Roman Empire: declining birth rates and declining morals. My analysis of the Decline of Rome (here) and that of a lot of historians, says they are wrong and deluded.
Tweaking the George Santana quote a little: Those who deliberately mis-remember the past are determined to repeat it. Because History is not the unbiased record we might wish it to be, it will always be selectively used and misinterpreted for political purposes. On the other hand, public misinterpretations of history offer an opportunity to educate citizens on things they evidently did not learn in school.
According to Steve Bannon (here), everything changed for Elon Musk when the Trump II Administration refused him access to a briefing on China. After that, Musk started to disappear from the Trump circle and appears to be going back to his troubled business interests (Tesla, SpaceX and StarLink). As for Bannon, the Anti-Defimation League (ADL, here) reports his fall starting in 2020, after which he was charged and jailed multiple times.
Evidently, the Trump II Administration prefers political operatives who do not draw too much public attention but still push the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump, operatives such as Stephen Miller.
So, where does this leave the analogy between the Fall of Rome and the current problems of the US Empire? The current Barbarian Invasion in the US involves the MAGA movement, the J6 attack on the US Capital, the Trump Administrations, the Proud Boys, the entire Alt-Right, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Elon Musk.
ChatGPT reports that:
..the so-alled "barbarian invasions" were a mix of forced migration, opportunistic conquest, and reaction to Roman decline, rather than aimless destruction. Many of these groups sought to become part of the Roman world, not just destroy it.
The entire Alt-Right is filled with people who want to be in power and want to impose their views on the US. Throughout the Late 20th Century, they have failed. Now is their moment and if they do not succeed, they may well be happy just to destroy the system.
Binyamin Applebaum, in the NY Times (here), provides an interesting analysis of Donald Trumps role in the growth and potential collapse of the US Empire. When Empires decline, barbarians see their opportunity. Let's hope that the US can stabilize itself after it's Empire has peaked in the same way that Amsterdam or London have.
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