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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 27, 2024

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Escalation from Tiberius to Gaius.

Because I haven't thought of the Roman Empire yet today... I initially thought you were talking about the emperors Tiberius and Caligula (known in his time as Gaius).

But of course you are talking about the Gracchi.

The fact that Donald Trump is a modern-day tribune of the people is what makes this prosecution seem so objectionable. For the same reason, I would oppose prosecution of left-wing equivalents such as AOC or Elizabeth Warren. At some point, if you get a large enough base of followers, the standards for legal action against you should be prohibitively high. You are a tribune of the people. Your person should be inviolate.

Of course, being tribunes of the people didn't save the Gracchi. When they angered the Senate (officially just an advisory body) their deaths were sealed. It's hard not to see a parallel between the Senate of ancient Rome and the deep state of today. The tribes may have the vote, but true power is held elsewhere.

The crime of the Gracchi was believing that the written laws of the land actually mattered. But, just like Donald Trump, they broke the unwritten laws, the mos maiorum. Swiftly, they found that it was naked power, not laws, which really mattered.

And in Rome, as everywhere else it was tried, naked power was eventually discovered to come from the same place as every other power- growing out the barrel of a gun.

naked power was eventually discovered to come from the same place as every other power- growing out the barrel of a gun.

And as history shows, pure quantity of guns quite often matters less than the organization and coordination between those wielding them (see German Peasants' War). And we know which side has more organization, more coordination, more people willing and able to take orders, as opposed to the side of hyper-individualists who insist on going it alone, that they "take orders from nobody but Jesus," and make comments about how anyone who talks about "organizing" is an enemy to be shot on sight.