How do you say 'kevlar toga' en Francais?
One of my favorite bits of Izzard comes from "Dress to Kill", wherein he states, "You are the new Roman Empire, you realize that? There's no one else going... So you've got vomitariums and orgies to look forward to. Let the President lead the way!"
This comparison is nothing new; I remember my 9th grade Geography teacher talking about how the general excess of the country was leading us down the path of imperial collapse, and this from the guy whose idea of a lesson was attempting to lay out the borders of Europe and Asia with masking tape on the carpet.
You can Google-search for "United States Roman Empire comparison" and read into it in more depth if you prefer; fascinating and disturbing.
But the reason it came to mind lays at the feet of Wikipedia. On one of my usual forays into tangental-weblink-stream-of-conciousness, I found myself at the Wiki page about the French Revolution. We certainly learned our fair share about it in my four years of French study, but I found this bit under the heading of 'Causes' and had a flashback to said unorthodox teacher. Scholastic debate and inherent 'truthiness' of Wiki knowledge notwithstanding:
"Remember, remember, the fourth of November
the oilfields and treasonous plots
I know of no reason
this electoral season
should ever renew the despots."
This comparison is nothing new; I remember my 9th grade Geography teacher talking about how the general excess of the country was leading us down the path of imperial collapse, and this from the guy whose idea of a lesson was attempting to lay out the borders of Europe and Asia with masking tape on the carpet.
You can Google-search for "United States Roman Empire comparison" and read into it in more depth if you prefer; fascinating and disturbing.
But the reason it came to mind lays at the feet of Wikipedia. On one of my usual forays into tangental-weblink-stream-of-conciousness, I found myself at the Wiki page about the French Revolution. We certainly learned our fair share about it in my four years of French study, but I found this bit under the heading of 'Causes' and had a flashback to said unorthodox teacher. Scholastic debate and inherent 'truthiness' of Wiki knowledge notwithstanding:
- Louis XV fought many wars, bringing France to the verge of bankruptcy, and Louis XVIAmerican Revolution, exacerbating the precarious financial condition of the government. The national debt amounted to almost 2 billion livres. The social burdens caused by war included the huge war debt, made worse by the monarchy's military failures and ineptitude, and the lack of social services for war veterans. supported the colonists during the
- An inefficient and antiquated financial system unable to manage the national debt, both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation.
- The continued conspicuous consumption of the noble class, especially the court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at Versailles, despite the financial burden on the populace.
- High unemployment and high bread prices, causing more money to be spent on food and less in other areas of the economy.
"Remember, remember, the fourth of November
the oilfields and treasonous plots
I know of no reason
this electoral season
should ever renew the despots."
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