Greek mythology tells the tale of Erysichthon, the powerful King of Thessaly. The story goes that Erysichthon, seeking wood, ordered the trees in a sacred grove to be cut. When his workers refused, fearing divine retribution, he did it himself; for this he was cursed. The curse placed upon Erysichthon was simple: unending hunger. In the end, Erysichthon ended up selling his daughter into slavery for the money to buy more food. Eventually, Erysichthon, lacking the resources to feed himself, ate his own body.
A nation that understands itself — that understands its purpose in the world — flourishes. Such nations, historically, have not shied away from their part on the stage of history. They have recognized a simple truth: In the game of power, vacuums are filled, generally by those who are most aggressive. And thus, surrender of the good means victory for the bad.
Historically, America has understood this. America has always been uncomfortable with the realities of foreign policy but has never shied away from its actual role as a player on the world stage. Yes, America was geographically removed from Europe, but that didn’t stop America from competing with the French, British and Spanish empires. It was Thomas Jefferson, writing to his presidential successor James Madison, who said in 1809, “we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation: & I am persuaded no constitution was ever before so well calculated as ours for extensive empire & self-government.” It was James Monroe in 1823 who declared that “the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.”
A powerful America was good, and a powerful America was necessary.
When nations lose themselves — when nations destroy their sacred groves — they open a hole in themselves. That hole is ever-growing, ever-gnawing. And it cannot be satiated.
But that’s just it: the hunger is itself the satisfaction. Our hunger gives us a mission. We must cure all inequality, even inequality caused by differences in behavior — the unavoidable condition of humanity — by spending trillions of dollars not yet created. We must rectify the imbalances of history — the unavoidable condition of humanity — by skewing all institutions toward “equity.” We must abandon our prior foreign policy commitments — and our real foreign policy interests — in the name of quixotic attempts to “build back better” at home. We must rewrite the basic social compact in order to alleviate all natural differences between human beings.
We must sacrifice our sons and daughters to our hunger. We must teach them idiotic doctrines about complete human malleability, training them for confusion and chaos. We must indoctrinate them with the evils of our own philosophy, while teaching them that cultural diversity mandates that we overlook the far greater evils of other cultures. We must demand that our children protect us, rather than protecting our children. And, of course, we must snarl them in a web of debt not of their own making, condemning them to a future footing our bills.
And then, in the end, we eat ourselves. We turn on each other, recognizing that our mission has been lost and that our hunger can’t satisfy us. We treat each other as enemies while downplaying the actual presence of actual enemies.
And then we disappear.
Or, alternatively, we don’t.
We realize that whatever our faults, whatever our shortcomings, we have a role in the world; that whatever our faults, whatever our shortcomings, we still are heirs to the greatest founding philosophy in world history; that whatever our faults, whatever our shortcomings, we are still citizens of the same body politic.
The choice is still in our hands.
But if Afghanistan is any indicator, it’s quickly slipping away.
Ben Shapiro, 37, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “How To Destroy America In Three Easy Steps,” “The Right Side Of History,” and “Bullies.” To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Not suicide—homicide—at the hands of incompetent and incapable leadership. Strangulation at the hands of absurd, and historically proven detrimental, liberal policy and ideology. Blunt force trauma at the hands of America haters who plot and scheme to subvert our founding documents—our Constitution and our Bill of Rights—and replace them with dictatorial rule through executive orders and abandonment of our principles and values. Repeated stabbings by foreign enemies infiltrating our schools, businesses, and government—stealing information and spreading propaganda—brainwashing our children. Wokeness, political correctness, censoring of Conservative speech, sanctioning domestic terrorist groups while debasing law enforcement, promoting racial strife, weakening our military. Refusal on the part of Conservative leadership to stand up to all of this and failing to do anything about it.
Is there enough strength and resolve left to stave off the final villain holding the gun with the finishing fatal shot?
To me its NOT incompetence, that’s causing them to literally destroy this nation. ITS WILLFUL HATE of the nation, they represent, and their desire to ELIMINATE IT and install a totalitarian society in its place.
Hi ltuser. I like your comments. It’s about the swamp scum taking even more control. It’s about turning citizens into Yes people, whatever you say people. It’s about BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST gubment.
As i have often said of them, the left, is literally acting like the Borg from trek. EVERYONE must be in the collective. no individuality allowed.
Obey the few simple, concise Laws of God (the Ten Commandments). Insist that other do likewise. Fully trust in the Lord of the Universe and encourage others to do likewise
Uphold the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This will require that YOU make the effort to READ and UNDERSTAND these documents.
Abolish nearly all of the federal government (leave the State Dept and Defense Dept ONLY) and thus have the feds step aside to let the respective states fulfill their Tenth Amendment responsibilities and authorities to govern their jurisdictions without federal interference.
Strictly restrict the scope of county governments then encourage YOUR state to empower YOUR county commissioners to set countywide policy. Thus allow YOUR local county commissioner to respond to YOUR (real) needs then hold YOUR commissioner responsible to both limit and manage (limited) government services. Refuse to re-elect spendthrift &/or “unlimited government” commissioners.
All of this is called Decentralized Limited Government. It is the ONLY way that YOU will have any influence in YOUR government services and YOUR government taxes.
This is the ONLY way to slow / stop the suicide of America.
And then, in the end, we eat ourselves.
Or, at least, the Left does. There’s still hope that a remnant will be left behind to carry on the older traditions, no longer encumbered by neo-Marxist folly.
Pity it’s only a Figurative “They are eating one another”.. There’s days i would cheer so loud, i’d lose my voice, if it was actually REAL.
It may be a slow suicide but it is get less slow. It’s getting faster. It’s picking up speed. Watch out below.