Elsewhere I have stated rather emphatically, we are living in the Future of the Ancient Past .
If Sallust were to time travel to be here now, he would shake his head head in both HORROR and BEWILDERMENT .
I shake my head for him .
We have a chance to change ~~~~~~~~~~ .
Sallust continues :
"But the nobility, thanks to its cliques, was more powerful, while the strength of the people, dissipated and divided so many, was of less avail . Military and domestic administration was in he hands of the minority; the treasury, the provinces, public office, military decorations, and triumphs were in the hands of the same men ; the people bore the burden of military duty and poverty ; the generals divided up the spoils of war among the few ; meanwhile the parents or the little children of the soldiers, if they had one of the nobles for a neighbor, were evicted from their homes . So, along with power, selfishness without limit or discretion invaded, desecrated, and laid waste everything, holding nothing important or sacred, until it wrought its own destruction . For as soon as men from the noble class were found who preferred true glory to unjust power, here began movements in the state, and strife between citizens began to arise like an earthquake ."
"Even slaves who are bought for gold do not stand for unjust orders from their masters ; are you, citizens, who were born to rule, going to tolerate servitude meekly ? But who are these men who treat our commonwealth like an occupied country ? They are arch-criminals, whose hands are bloodstained, whose avarice is monstrous . They are guilty as sin and proud of it, men to whom loyalty, decency, duty, honor, and dishonor are all merely matters of profit and loss ."
Further along :
"For to do what you please with impunity is to be king . What I urge upon you, citizens, is not that you should take more satisfaction in wrongdoing than in the uprightness of your fellow citizens, but that you should avoid ruining the innocent by pardoning the guilty . Besides, in public life it is far better to forget a good turn than a bad one : a good man simply grows more reluctant to do good if you neglect him, but a bad one grows more vicious . Moreover, if there were less lawlessness, you would not be in such constant need to barter liberty for security ."
I introduce Sallust to my Gentle Readers today, because I can't write as if I were Pericles . The following are excerpts and passages from Sallust from the time of the Jugurthine War . These are from the Realm of : "WHEN YOU STEAL, STEAL FROM THE BEST" .
First a kwik bio taken from Paul MacKendrick . "C. Sallustius Crispuus (86-ca. to 34 B.C.) is one of the few ancient authors to show any sympathy for the common man ; opponent of Cicero, partisan of Caesar, tribune of the people, quaestor, praetor and proconsul of Numidia, he has not gained in reputation by opposing the senatorial class . According to the aristocratic tradition, he was horsewhipped for an intrigue with another man's wife, was expelled from the Senate on a Morals charge, and enjoyed his magnificent gardens on the Pincian hill at the expense of provincials he had robbed as governor . owever real these sins may be---and they can be matched from the life story of many an optimate--- the allegation of them was sufficient to drive Sallust from public life; he devoted the years of acute civil war to writing about party strife instead of actively participating in it ."
And then this : "Sallust is the first triumvirate of Roman Historians which includes Livy and Tacitus . He shares with Livy a nostalgia for the earliest days of Rome, when men were so nobel and so poor . He rivals Tacitus in his cynicism and in his ability to evoke the atmosphere of crack-up, the mood of an age of anxiety . But the Historian to whom Sallust would most like us to compare him is THUCYDIDES ."
I LOVE him, BOTH actually .
The Universe has given me Cosmic Reprieve---Mercy---I have about a four hour tree job in my neighbors' driveway = the removal of an overhanging Birch limb that threatens the stockade fence on the boundary line . I've been thinking about the Plan all night and have decided on a proper / safe course of action . I'll start sawing around 8:30 a.m. EST .
Of all the days preceding the Election I figured this day to be the worst as far as Angst and Dread are involved; but now, as I have just written, Relief . Propaganda will be like a mountain of chicken shit hitting a GIANT propeller---- everyone is gonna get shit all over them . Rain-gear will help, a suit of armor even better : there will be no escape, indoors outdoors = same .
I write this NOW : BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING ! I will repeat this tomorrow as well, and probably the day after . Trump is DIABOLICAL and so are his lackeys . Remember, he faces PENITENTIARY CONSEQUENCE should the democrats gain a MAJORITY in both Houses . HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO SAVE HIMSELF !!!!!
Tomorrow the entire UNIVERSE will CHANGE . Get Ready ... .
It's Sunday here on Earth, the first day of the return to Eastern Standard Time and I allowed my Mind to roam free . Since our brief investigation into Sufism I wondered what other medium I could employ to describe and explain trump . This morning "it" arrived, Film/Cinema as "Jurassic Park" . I know "it" sounds QRAAZEE* but because Academia has many failings as well as numerous shortcomings I KNOW "IT" will allow me a Creativity of Expression all Writers enjoy .
I figured this : trump >is like< the Meteorite that hit the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and BLASTED dinosaurs into EXTINCTION, not all at once, but as the result of the Ice Age that "IT" produced . Let's call the "Ice Age" a DARK TIME, and further, the Dark Ages . {I know rite, how good am I ???} . Now the actual meteoroid that did all the Damage has no name but takes on the name of the Crater that resulted,,, it is Chicxulub Crater and is pronounced chick-shul-oob-lub(e) . According to my Interpretation trump is the meteorite that hit America which created an Extinction Event, the extinction of republicans as they use to be known, and as trumpists we know Now . We are presently experiencing the Dark Age (check it out) >>>the I.C.E. Age<<< {am I not TERRIFIC ???} = the extinction of the Rule of Law, which itself has manifested as the re-Assertion of the "Law of the Jungle" [Civilization be damned] .
"But wait,,,, there's more... ."
47. K'un / Oppression (Exhaustion)
"He who lets his spirit be broken by exhaustion certainly has no success . But if adversity only bends a man, it creates in him a power to react that is bound in time to manifest itself . No inferior man is capable of this . Only the great man brings about good fortune and remains blameless . It is true that for the time being outward influence is denied him, because his words have no effect . Therefore in times of adversity it is important to be strong within and sparring of words ."
I CHING
2 words : Solace .
Tare Forward and Keep the Faith
