Father Jim Tucker, of Dappled Things, links to an interesting article about comparing modern Europe to the Roman Empire.
“A lot of ink has been spilled and hands have been wrung over how the American Republic has become something of an empire after the Roman model, although I think the case is overstated.”
I thought this relevant due to a lengthy thread about just this topic in the comments to another post of mine.
As for some quick damage control, I jpointed out that I found the Roman and American attitudes towards abortion provocative in that Rome and America both have a cosmopolitan population that often blends a variety of cultural influences together (Egypt and Greece being the most notable in Rome; take your pick for the states). Both cultures were/are very worldly, and given that human nature remains fairly constant, comparisons to Rome here and there are warranted. My comparison was not a global one; global ones invariably fail at some point.
Our political situations are quite different, for instance, though making facile comparisons can give a pessimistic pundit a cool sort of Cassandra-like air, being the prophet whose words are ignored at one’s own peril…