Time to start drinking

After the successful conclusion of the Second Punic War, a wave of stability and affluence settled over the now Superpower of Rome. But to peruse the equivalent of Roman newsstands and bookshops. a visitor to the eternal city would believe the end was near. Polemics about imminent decline were all the rage during the height of the republic's power, or so said historian Thomas F. Madden. There certainly were changes, in tastes, in values, in political wrangling, and in concentrations of wealth and power. But the Roman state in the West persevered for nearly five centuries after vanquishing Carthage, and nearly a millennium after that in the East. While I am no Roman expert ready to compare Sulla or Cesar to American presidents, it can be said with some certainty that problems facing the United States are not new in history. Madden would be the first to point out that states rise and decline in history, some fade away altogether, and the Romans really had a good run.

However, Edward Luce presents a picture of America with real problems, not simply fretting about the rise in value and status of slaves who could cook or "effeminate" easterners with their cultured ways taking over from hard working natives as his ancient predecessors did. The tradition of cultured foreigners visiting an emergent new power and reporting their findings goes back at least to Roman times as well. Though Jonathan Rauch in his review noted that Luce is a longtime resident of the US and has worked for the Federal Government in addition to his extensive experience as a reporter.

Unlike other prophets of doom yanked from American mothers on American soil, Luce seems to have no axe to grind and genuinely seems to want the republic to get back its former glory. The title of this post is quoted from Rauch's review play on words, and as a patriotic American drinking is probably what one wants to do after reading this book. It is not a pretty picture. Instead of looking at the children of darkness in America and all the trouble and harm they cause, Luce concentrates on the dysfunction in government bureaucracy and the struggles of the (relatively) more progressive elements of American business.

If you chose instead to listen to this book on CD or downloaded from Audible.com, drinking might not be the best idea if Time to Start Thinking was for your commute or work. Make sure to have alternatives available too, after less than a half hour each session I had to stop listening because the temptation to simply accelerate into a tree was becoming harder and harder to resist. The problems just bombard your ears and sink into your brain. To the point where I have not entirely finished the book and therefore cannot comment on Luce's conclusion yet.

This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is also not for partisans of the left. Luce seems to suffer from doublethink in spots, where he comes close to actually blaming tangible individuals and groups but then backs off and cites "bureaucratic scoliosis" as the cause of American ills. Perhaps a bland admonishment of "anti-state ideology" or maybe suggesting in passing that electing leaders adhering to this belief system is not a viable strategy for addressing what plagues the US. There is hesitant praise for President Obama and his administration's attempts to address the dysfunction, the inertia, and as Luce puts it "the utter lack of ambition in American government." In describing the Government Accountability Office, the British journalist comments that the hardworking staff nails the problems in almost all cases but are extremely cautious and timid in proposing remedies because 1.) the vested interests who benefit from dysfunction,
2.) the dependence on Congress for budgetary requests, and
3.) the synergy between those vested interests and members of Congress who readily accept campaign contributions.

In the end, if even those charged with watching the watchers who are supposedly regulating this country are cowering in fear or at least resigned to irrelevance, maybe it is time to start drinking.