Thomas Paine writes that a despotic government is a fungus that grows out of a corrupt civil society. This is what happened to past societies. It is what happened to us.
Chris Hedges: The Rule of Idiots
Category: Ancient World
Mass Migration & the Echoes of Late Rome
In its greed for power, domination, resources and wealth, the West, says John Wight, is headed for the same fate as Rome all those centuries ago.
Craig Murray: Death in the Bekaa Valley
After a month of Israeli drones buzzing overhead, the author had grown rather blasé about them. But his companions were concerned about one moving along with them as they drove.
Raising the Stakes in Ukraine
John Wight on the grim context of the latest escalatory development in the blood-soaked proxy conflict between Russia and the West.
Lost in Translation: Outcry Over the ‘Last Supper’
A series of serious misunderstandings has led to an uninformed outcry in the Christian West over a short scene in the Opening Ceremony at the Paris Olympics, writes Cathy Vogan.
Biden: ‘I’m Running the World’
The comment by the sitting U.S. president in Friday’s interview has been ignored by the mainstream, but its megalomania is at the heart of why Joe Biden is defying his party and remaining in the race, writes Joe Lauria.
Chris Hedges: Nero’s Guests
Sadism by the powerful is the curse of the human condition. It was as prevalent in ancient Rome as it is in Gaza.
Vijay Prashad: Violating Diplomatic Missions
From Israel’s bombing of Iran’s embassy in Damascus to Ecuador’s raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, leaders feel emboldened by the impunity granted by the Global North.
Patrick Lawrence: Late-Imperial Duplicities
The Origins of Christmas
Today’s holiday culture wars continue an ancient struggle, as Nat Parry explores in this adaptation from his book, How Christmas Became Christmas: The Pagan and Christian Origins of the Beloved Holiday.