The Empire No One Wanted

By Christy Cole

There is something ALL Americans do that annoys the hell out of people from, say, France, or even Australia. We ALL do it like it is an instinct. As we are not very famous for our impulse control, mostly till now the world let us get away with it while tolerantly rolling their eyes with love.

No matter what state you are from, no matter your birth nation.Independant of race, age, or religion, we are ALL arrogantly proud to be a citizen of the U.S.A. Even the meekest among us puffs out his chest some as he gleefully says 'I am an American'. It is almost child like in its innocent rapture, to say those blessed words. We even grin widely as we admit our conceit.

Yet, most never understand why those words make us each tremble, in awe of ourself. And of those that understand it, NONE dare call it by name.

Here is a fun game for non US citizens. Find an American and deliberately ask him about America. Not America the Beautiful. Not America, The Brave.

Say, America, the EMPIRE, and watch his or her reaction closely.

I would say not one American even read it without flinching. If you press ANY American about it, they will most probably squirm. I know I do, just thinking of the word.

Empire. Yuk.

It is contrary to EVERY belief we hold as patriots. It is EVERYTHING we have fought against and condemned.

There was a time we were just proud of ourselves as a nation. But times have changed. Now the arrogance of empire has been programmed into our very flesh as surely as our own thoughts. We not only were TOLD we are number one, but for so long, we WERE number one...in pretty much everything we ever touched. We were free to dream, and we dreamed BIG.

WE as a united people made empires bow to US, in fear, no less. We all liked it, even if we refused to admit it. We were the Champion of the weary, repressed, and those yearning to breathe free. They loved US for our laws that provided mercy, itself. Nothing on earth has EVER compared to what WE The People built. Only once has whats been accomplished here been parralleld in history.

They named themselves Rome.

Like us, their society was built on superior law. But Rome, itself, still pales in comparision. WHY??? As they say, it was not built in a day.

The Empire of Rome ruled through more than a thousand years. What they learned they actually stole by conquor and claim. It was a slow process, indeed, to anniahlate entire people and "assimulate' the survivors into the society safely. They stole people for slaves. They slaughtered innocents. They swollowed entire nations, cultures, histories....Sound familiar America...?

We did it ALL in less than 1/4th their time. Like all empires before, we only ever wanted to be faster, better, stronger, beloved. Unlike other empires, we had better laws to avert the injustice of monopoly. By shunning the thought, we grew bigger than any before us. Unlike others before us, the common people of the world NEEDED us to exist. They wanted us to rise above them all.

We, like the Romans, so do love the luxury of our empire. Just do not call it that, or we may have to discuss how every OTHER Empire has wound up. And how much blood it took to mortar the bricks. Rome did not fall in a day, either.

If the time curve holds true, we will fall faster than Rome ever could have. But we will fall for the same reason. Do not EVER doubt the same trap exists even if we refuse to see it.

The most basic assualt on our legal system that could occur is happening right before our eyes. Like a modern day Calligula, GW Bush and his merry band of oil thieves are committing both illegal and immoral acts and openly scorning anyone in the populace that has a problem with it. Our laws will not survive if they can not be applied at the highest reaches. Especialy there. It is the same as setting fire to our Constitution. It has been the death of EVERY empire.

Nehru not only fiddled as Rome burned he literally had been using his palace, the White House of Rome, if you will, as a brothel. We, too, also have known prostitutes running nakedly through the halls of power pretending to not be gay or incorrect, but still a whore, none the less. With the 'green card soldiers' dying in our uniforms in Iraq, I cannot help but think of the arrogant Romans who sat in thier luxury villas, as the children of virtual or literal slaves fought to expand the very empire that destroyed their lines and made them slaves. They only let their splendid sons out for platitudes or power.

The Romans too, were VERY proud. They wore red so blood could not be seen, lest their enemy think them weak for bleeding. Imagine such pride! Not even your BLOOD can bring honor to such a lofty ideal.

It is no wonder that eventually not even Romans could find a way to justify or sustain an empire. But pride goeth before the fall. Eventually Romans no longer wanted to be Rome. The empire was lost but the people remained.

When I hear one of my countrymen say, "I am an American", I, involuntarilly, have started seeing the image of a Roman General decked out in his full blood red and gold regalia. It is a viceraly beautiful image, but confused with resounding echoes not even time can slow the thrust of. I am reminded of Rome so much lately I see it in troubled dreams.

I am sure every single person in modern day Rome is fondly proud of their history. But, they do not hold the arrogance of their long ago power over history, itself. Maybe their arrogance was lost forever in the terrifying loss of their world as they knew it. How bitter it must have been. Their fall from grace took generations.

They had to let go of the dream of empire to save themselves. To live to dream another day.

When I speak to my friends overseas, I now openly wrestle with my own nationalistic arrogance. It is painful, yet amazingly, enlightening. It has made me look deeper at the America I love. Without the pride clouding my eyes I see our nation anew, and I am again awed by the sheer hope of it.

We can do what no empire could before.

We can restore it by rejecting it. By restoring the laws that made us merciful and just, we reject tyranny and regain our nation..

Bring our battle hardened soldiers home from global conquest, to restore order to their own leaders. Let us throw down our acts of nation building and rebuild our nation back to be the pride of the earth. The envy of both kings and slave alike. An empire every single soul on earth wanted.

When I humble my vison, I see only America The Beautiful. America The Brave. Untended and crumbling.

I wonder will our ruins be as lovely as Romes...?