tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post7301615094954427640..comments2024-03-06T03:15:58.539-05:00Comments on <b>THE NEW REFORM CLUB</b>: Five for Friday 1Hunter Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-81339196246187060952015-03-17T00:46:55.754-04:002015-03-17T00:46:55.754-04:00Scott, it isn't just the parallel within Italy...Scott, it isn't just the parallel within Italy -- don't forget in the provinces the Romans were busy allowing Germanic settlers into the Empire, partly to keep the Roman legions staffed with personnel but also to populate western regions that were largely empty. Doing the jobs that Romans would no longer do and all that.Mark D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05000893614655251587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-68103194467892537422015-03-15T18:32:43.976-04:002015-03-15T18:32:43.976-04:00So much rich material here! I'll focus on Mar...So much rich material here! I'll focus on Mark Steyn's article. It's always risky to venture comparisons between our society and the Roman Empire...but...in this area the parallel is so obvious that I'll venture in. As the Roman Republic acquired foreign provinces, and the Italian middle class died out or were forced off the land as a result of its adult males spending years away from home at foreign wars, wealthy Romans imported slaves from abroad to do the work that the devastated middle class was no longer willing or able to do. The long-term result was the disappearance of the middle class and the emergence of an Italy stratified between wealthy Romans and slaves, with the former middle class dependent on "bread and circuses." Augustus tried to improve the middle-class birthrate through tax breaks and other incentives but failed miserably. The long-term result was the dilution of Rome's identity as residents of the provinces were made citizens. My students always see the parallel instantly because they are living it. I often wonder about the morality of my educating them for jobs that hardly exist.Scott McDermotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14228597244278786078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-74714253732340170312015-03-13T23:17:39.722-04:002015-03-13T23:17:39.722-04:00Glad to help you remember fun music, Tom!
Yes, ne...Glad to help you remember fun music, Tom!<br /><br />Yes, never believe what the media says about Francis. And also yes that it is obvious that the New Atheist crowd are haunted by God -- if you want to know where people itch, look where they scratch.<br /><br />Locke is a mess (and he was a nasty anti-Catholic bigot), but for good or ill, he has had a tremendous influence on notions of property & rights. I think we would have been much better off to stick with the Aristotlean-Thomistic synthesis, though. There is coherence!<br /><br />The Scandanavians have also been able to tax so much because their socieities have until recently been homogenous. As they have become more diverse in the last 20 years, the social consensus in favor of their welfare state has weakened. Diversity is not good for social democracy.<br />Mark D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05000893614655251587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-65142905620503208152015-03-13T17:43:53.746-04:002015-03-13T17:43:53.746-04:00#1 Never believe anything you hear in the media ab...#1 Never believe anything you hear in the media about Pope Francis or Rush Limbaugh.<br /><br /> <br />#2. The effect of Catholic social teaching on John Locke! http://eppc.org/publications/were-john-locke-and-the-founders-lockeansor-scholastics/<br /><br />As for Thomas Dolby, music used to be fun sometimes. I forgot.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-71942308751009000932015-03-13T16:58:27.049-04:002015-03-13T16:58:27.049-04:00#1. 'There is no God. And I hate him.'
#2...#1. 'There is no God. And I hate him.'<br /><br />#2. Ed Feser shows Locke's philosophy is a mess to the extent it strays from Aristotle & the scholastics. There's some good stuff in it, obviously, but he couldn't get the souffle to rise. <br /><br />#3. How can Scandinavians tax so much? Short answer: No underclass. http://ow.ly/3xvm67<br />Tim Kowalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02196125161888520769noreply@blogger.com