SINE QUA NOT MUCH WORTHWHILE

Some political musings collected from the dust-bin of my mind over the past few months.

I made the case to a close friend several weeks ago that American military might and economical oomph are currently maintaining and protecting modern civilization worldwide in a manner not dis-similar to Rome's maintenance of ancient Hellenistic culture during the Pax Romana.

Obviously to say that Rome was the source of civilization is ridiculous--even the statement that Rome maintained ancient civilization is a bit oversimplistic. But Roman rule does seem to have been the sine qua non of civilization until they both fell fairly simultaneously in Western Europe.

In a similar manner, though America is certainly not either the source or the sole protector of modern civilization, I suspect that much of what is taken for granted as normality in civilized countries worldwide would disappear were American influence around the globe suddenly to vanish. America, I think, currently acts very much as the sine qua not much for modern civilization.

One the other hand, I recently read Orson Scott Card's latest addition to the cycle which spun off from Ender's Game--Shadow Puppets. It was a fun read while stuck in O'Hare International overnight a few days ago, but I was surprised that Card paints the world of the future with America, and indeed, all English speaking countries playing a quite insignificant role in the power plays of the day. He calls it, in fact, "an old and tired civilization." The significant players in Card's universe are China and a newly united Muslim Caliphate. And the Muslims are the good guys. (boy do I love science fiction)

So I wonder--is America rising or falling? Much as I enjoy Card's writing, America still feels fresh to me, with much life left to live. I am full of hope for the future of this nation...hope even that there might one day be a spiritual renewal such as has not been seen since the glory days of Orthodox Russia. I see no reason it couldn't happen.

But even if it doesn't, I suppose it doesn't really affect anybody today very much. Certainly not me. If anything, this summer has reminded me what sort of things do really matter. And politics is near the bottom of the list.

So thanks for humoring me in a pointless bloviation on an inconsequential subject. Feel free to come back and take a load off yourself here someday. The comments section is open.