From Editor in Chief P.J. O’Rourke
P eople are always saying this... especially people my age. Marcus Tullius Cicero, born in 106 B.C. and therefore even older than I am, is famous for his declaration that the world was going to hell in a hand basket, “ O tempora! O mores! ” (“Oh, what times! Oh, what behavior!”) The trouble is... sometimes Cicero and I are right. Cicero, the greatest orator of the Roman Republic, was denouncing the political conspirator Catiline. Catiline was a “reformer” who ran for the Roman Consulship on a platform – this will sound familiar – of increased benefits for disadvantaged plebeians and tabulae novae (“clean slates”) universal debt cancelation. Then, when he lost the election, he tried to overthrow the Roman government. Catiline was the SPQR Bernie Sanders. Except, as a social-justice warrior, Catiline actually was a warrior and his army of supporters really was armed – with swords instead of bongs, hacky-sacks, and $5 campaign contributions.
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“O tempora!
O mores!”
Oh, what times! Oh, what behavior!
American Consequences
7
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