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Of Bread
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Today's soldiers are faced with much more complicated issues than the simple good vs. evil explanation the President so often cites, yet they fight with the same ferocity and dedication one would expect if the Iraqi army were marching on Chicago. The majority of Iraqi soldiers, on the other hand, had none of those high-minded ideals and even less food. As one of our generals said, "Despite the advanced technology, it is ultimately the young men and women who make the difference. I truly believe we could have traded our equipment and technology for that of the Iraqi army and we still would have won." 1,2,3, What Are We Fighting For… The Romans understood that by keeping the masses fed and, just as important, entertained, they could keep their power and avoid scenes like Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict. They knew that you catch more flies with honey and that a well-fed, warmly housed animal rarely requires a physical leash. The Middle East really hasn't changed much since the Roman Empire rolled through, so who can blame them for seeing any foreign army not as liberators, but as invaders bent on subjugating their nation? Their collective experience wins out over anything we can say and no amount of food and medicine will change that. After all, the Romans (and for that matter, even the Nazis) had to feed and care for their slaves if they wanted them to be productive. A benevolent master is still a master and a well fed slave still a slave.
Democracy, to those who have known only despotism and oppression, is at best an idea that has no form, no shape and certainly no connection to the day-to-day realities of life. It's not like a car with testimonials and specifications that can be evaluated. And, even then, you can explain and describe all you want to but until I drive the car, I just don't know if I like it. It's nothing personal, it's just the way most people are. Freedom means many
things to many people and the debate over what constitutes true
freedom will rage forever. It's easy to understand freedom when
you're able to exercise it in a public way. How public those freedoms
we enjoy should be is debatable (because we are free to debate)
but for someone who has never been free, the very concept of freedom
is remote at best. The personal responsibility factor is almost
non-existent so they can only draw on their imagination and the
brief visuals they see from the Western media.
Remember the joy you felt on Christmas morning (feel free to substitute the religious or other gift-giving holiday of your choice) when you opened the packages containing the toys? Sure, you needed clothes, but there are few joys in life like finding the toy you really wanted under the tree. |
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| To the
Middle East, the United States is that rich relative who could easily
buy you the PlayStation you wanted but nooooooo… socks again.
That's what our government has never understood; the people might
need socks, but what they really want is digital cable and a DVD player.
The despots who control those nations know it well and they are desperate
to deny their people their God-given right to Britney Spears videos
and Budweiser (I bet the Saudi Royal Family has cable). Why?
To state it simply,
those are things worth fighting for and as long as they remain out-of-reach,
the despots can cow the people into believing it's bad to enjoy
the stimulus of a bare midriff, bikinis or a three-pointer at the
buzzer followed by a celebratory cold one. And because the people are denied easy access even to what we called the basic necessities of life, they are happy to get whatever their government doles out. The despots carry a big stick in one hand and a bowl of cold gruel in the other: The gruel sucks, but it's still better than the stick.
America, to the rest of the world (yes, France, too) represents a shining light of hope and the promise that there is something better out there. Unfortunately, there are people for whom the freedom of America is not one of inspiration, but instead one of envy. For them, the good ole' U.S.A. is a constant reminder of everything they do not-- and as some believe-- will never have. They look at us the way a fifteen-year-old boy looks at his older sister's friends: ever-present and beautiful but always just out of reach. The only way they can get our attention is to annoy us and they rarely miss an opportunity to do so. As any parent can
tell you, the best way to deal with an annoying kid is to find a
distraction and as far as I can tell, nothing holds their attention
like a Sony PlayStation. I've seen heroin addicts in total withdrawal
who couldn't hold a candle to the Jones a kid feels for his PlayStation.
Kids today will hold down a part-time job just to make sure they
get the latest video game or CD, proving even young children understand
the concept of rewards for working.
The Coliseum in Rome may be the most famous arena, but you can bet the Romans made sure they had an arena in every city they conquered (complete with local champions for that feel-good flavor). Like any good businessman, the Romans just wanted their cut and were quite willing to allow the locals their illusions of grandeur. It worked pretty well until a bunch of barbarians showed up and ruined the party. So, go ahead a send some food and medicine, but if our government really wants to effect a significant change in the attitudes of the Middle East, start sending them PlayStations and install some cable TV. They'll figure it out pretty quick and once they have Britney, they'll never let go without a fight. Let's just hope that when the time comes, they're not fighting us. |
Gladiator
(Latin gladius,
"sword"), professional fighter who performed in spectacles of
armed combat in the amphitheaters of ancient Rome. The practice of armed
men fighting to the death originated in Etruria, in central Italy, probably
as a funeral sacrifice. The first gladiatorial exhibition in Rome was
in 264 BC, when three pairs of gladiators fought as part of a funeral
celebration. By 174 BC, at a 3-day spectacle, 37 pairs participated. Julius
Caesar's large-scale exhibitions (300 pairs on one occasion) prompted
the Roman Senate to limit the number of contestants. The largest contest
of gladiators was given by the emperor Trajan as part of a victory celebration
in AD 107 and included 5000 pairs of fighters. The emperor Domitian in
AD 90 presented combats between women and between dwarfs.
Mostly males, gladiators were slaves, condemned criminals, prisoners of
war, and sometimes Christians. Forced to become swordsmen, they were trained
in schools called ludi, and special measures were taken to discipline
them and prevent them from committing suicide. One gladiator, Spartacus,
avenged his captivity by escaping and leading an insurrection that terrorized
southern Italy from 73 to 71 BC.
A successful gladiator received great acclaim; he was praised by poets,
his portrait appeared on gems and vases, and patrician ladies pampered
him. A gladiator who survived many combats might be relieved from further
obligation. Occasionally, freedmen and Roman citizens entered the arena,
as did the insane Emperor Commodus.
According to their arms and methods of fighting, gladiators were divided
into various light- and heavy-armored classes. For example, the retiarius
("net man"), clad in a short tunic, attempted to entangle his
fully armed opponent, the secutor ("pursuer"), with a net and
then to kill him with a trident. Other classes fought with different weapons,
or from horseback or chariots. According to the most common tradition,
when a gladiator had overpowered his opponent, he turned to the spectators.
If they wished to spare the defeated man, they waved their handkerchiefs;
to indicate that he should be killed, they turned down their thumbs.
Although Constantine the Great proscribed gladiatorial contests in AD
325, they continued to be held until about 500.
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