Barbarians.

I’ve been thinking about barbarians quite a bit lately. At the moment, I happen to be watching an History Channel program on the Germanic barbarian hordes that gave Rome such a headache. It’s pretty interesting to think that hairy, ignorant dudes with wooden clubs dealt a staggering blow to one of the most powerful empires the world has ever seen. How embarrassing.

But isn’t that always the way? Rome was the most technologically advanced society of its time, and yet she was ultimately picked off by wave after wave of barbarian raiding parties. They had no respect for her pomp and circumstance, her accomplishments–they saw weakness and they struck. In the end, Rome was disintegrating, eaten away from the inside by its own indulgences and self-absorption, with leaders too concerned with shoring up their own power to pay attention to the literal barbarians at the gates. Therefore, the great Rome became easy prey for simplistic warrior tribes.

The nice thing about history is that it almost always repeats itself. This is why studying history is so very, very important. All the mistakes that are available have usually been made before, which is why it is so surprising to see a president who claims to be such a history buff make such easily recognizable and stupid blunders.  But maybe it’s not about the economy, or foreign policy, or even the precious European relationships that must be restored at all costs. Perhaps it’s only about the changes that can be made within our borders–massive government, the defeat of capitalism, the expansion of the welfare state.

[T]he way to think about Obama, I’ve concluded, is that essentially he’s not, he doesn’t have a political philosophy or a geopolitical vision. He’s a social engineer. And so his priority is always to grow government at the expense of any rival sources of legitimacy. . .

I think history has shown us that when our horizons shrink, when we become a navel-gazing society, there is nothing left between us and the truly inhospitable world outside. For as much as we’d like to convince ourselves that the barbarians are long gone, human nature doesn’t change. When instability threatens to upend civilized society, humans revert to their most basic nature. I’d feel a bit more secure if we had a leader who recognized that.