By Liz Belilovskaya

Even with a few thousand years between them, both America and the Roman Empire share many characteristics. Both are vast empires with sustained periods of financial stability and technological development during their prominence. They share position as a political and social benchmarks to contemporary worlds and eventually, their citizens began to indulge and entertain themselves with increasingly frivolous affairs as their prosperity increased. Like any empire, Rome eventually fell, and its people plummeted into the Middle Ages. Historians and curious individuals forecast the same fate for America and her citizens in the near future and wonder if there is anything that can stop it.

It’s impossible to assign the actual causes of Rome’s fall, but with so many contemporary parallels to America, it’s hard to at least not raise an eyebrow. The most glaring similarity is the way Rome’s citizens began to entertain themselves as their society begain to decline.  The Romans always loved entertainment and held festivals that brought the civilians together. But as Rome developed and expanded, the festivals became wilder, the parties more extravagant, and the entertainment more base and savage. The Coliseum was built during Rome’s most stable and prosperous age and supplied the public with recreational entertainment of mythically savage proportions. It became a cultural mark of extreme entertainment and a symbol of Rome’s obsession with self-indulgence and all-consuming barbarism that contributed to the empires fall. Sound familiar?

American culture is slowly becoming absorbed by the same gutteral fascinations as we become increasingly oriented towards escapism via entertainment. The entertainment industry has penetrated deep into our culture the same way as Rome was absorbed by the festivals, games, and other dangerous recreational activities. The most popular television programs are reality shows that focus on judgment and humiliating elimination. Commonly they contain a small panel of judges and an audience that helps determine the fate of each contestant, eerily similar to the Roman coliseum concept. This programmed telemania is becoming America’s calling card. With technology, these shows aren’t even confined to television and roam smart phones, iPads and laptops. It’s ignorance to go, with the public so entranced, they are oblivious to what’s going on around them.  The entertainment is becoming more important than the well-being of fellow citizens.

This attention to distraction can’t be good for the whole country. We’re losing the ability to share real experiences and the only thing we relate to collectively is pop “culture.” Everyone is force-fed individuality and consumerism; muting our collective voice. Being unique should not mean the same as being careless or self-absorbed. Along the way people have lost the ability to relate and sympathize with each other in a united manner; unable to establish consensus or compromise. A quick glance at the state of Congress is enough evidence of the danger in that.

The carelessness of the population has enabled the government to neglect addressing some crucial problems we are facing today.   We still don’t have an energy regulation policy, we are under international scrutiny and we are experiencing internal public unrest. Snooki and The Situation get higher ratings by far than most Presidential speeches, even with the media rock star infatuation with Barack Obama. This disinterest of the people with government allows more room for political corruption since the public can’t be bothered to get involved.

This comparison isn’t the harbinger of America’s collapse. A few thousand years of man advancement have to be accounted for, and Kane Vs. The Undertaker isn’t exactly Lions Vs. Christians. But it’s important to note that the rise of civilizations occurs when people come together under a common goal while the fall of civilizations is usually precipitated by their failure to stay united. Our future is in our hands, and it’s time we got off our asses, put down our gadgets, turned off the media [ed note-Hopefully not Planet Ill ] and finally reenter society. Entertainment in itself is not problematic but our abuse and dependence on it is. Hopefully we can focus enough on each other and our country to not let our society slip.

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