Tuesday, January 03, 2012

The Decline and Fall of America

I received, as a gift, this exact set of books, Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which I’ve just cracked today.

On page 52 of Volume One; The History of the Empire from A.D. 180 to A.D. 395, Chapter II - Of the Union and internal Prosperity of the Roman Empire, in the Age of the Antonines; Gibbons makes the following observation regarding the decline of the love of letters into a maelstrom of “servile imitations.”

A cloud of critics, of compilers, of commentators, darkened the face of learning, and the decline of genius was soon followed by the corruption of taste.

Your modern American equivalent of Gibbons’ observation on one aspect resulting in the decline of the Roman Empire is exhibited by the following panel discussion to be hosted by the Los Angeles Press Club, which you can attend, if you so desire, for a mere $52.24, if you’re not already a member.

What if Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. had Tweeted the Civil Rights Movement

Link to Los Angeles Press Club announcement via Radley Balko’s Morning Links.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/03 at 03:02 PM
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