Freedom perished in Rome

Freedom perished in Rome. What about freedom in the United States? Rome, the greatest ancient world power, owed its rise to a frugal, self-sacrificing peasantry that sent its sons into military service - except the eldest one, who remained on the farm. Indeed, at the beginning of its surprising ascendency, Rome could boast of a great abundance of children - the demographic sine-qua-non for its expansion. But the imperial successes, especially the victory over Carthage, which opened up northern Africa to the Romans as an almost limitless granary, undermined the strength of the Italic peasantry. Imported grain was so cheap that the Roman peasantry was soon no longer able to hold its own against foreign competition. In contrast, the two hundred or so superrich Roman families owed their staggering wealth precisely to the fact that they had outsourced the supply base at the expense of their compatriots. At the same time, they had built a military-industrial complex to permanently fortify their rule not only in the conquered territories but also against the increasingly disenfranchised masses at home, whom they had deprived of their economic subsistence. The outward sign of this historic betrayal by the ruling elite became manifest in a most conspicuous way. "Proles" or children - the most cherished wealth of peasants and the nation, who had provided the demographic basis for Rome's rise to a world power - had degenerated into dispossessed "proletarians" - in other words, into superfluous human material. In the face of its painful social division Rome had to suffer much more than just a popular movement like Occupy Wallstreet. Civil wars now pitted the elite against the disenfranchised masses. The problem was the immense concentration of wealth and power in a few hands together with the powerlessness and impoverishment of the broad population. During the civil wars ravaging Rome before the final abdication of the Republic, wealth was temporarily suppressed in an extremely drastic manner. In the course of so-called "proscriptions" not only material wealth was confiscated, but the heads of its owners were cut off as well. However, even this drastic action was not able to save the Republic from capitalist economics and the destruction of civil liberties. In hindsight the reasons seem evident: The outsourcing of production and the slave economy were objectively cheaper, and the militaryindustrial complex proved to be the most effective means of holding the giant empire together. We know how the Civil War ended, it led from the Republic to the Roman Empire. The masses helped a dictatorship to power, which acquired divine attributes in order to be able to destroy civil liberties in the name of God. But a price had to be paid for the loss of liberty and the further duration of the capitalist system. It consisted in an (almost) unconditional basic income and tittytainment for the masses - both carried out at state expense. Citizens had no longer a say in public matters, but they were now