The Imperial Downfall - And As Usual There Are No Fucking Barbarians That Can Take Care Of It All

… there are no barbarians any longer


Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?


Those people were a kind of solution.

Constantine Cavafy

In BBC Magazine, 25 May 2012, there is a good text that compare today with the fall of the Roman Empire (- i.e. it can´t be hidden any more).

Viewpoint: The time Britain slid into chaos, The social unrest, economic gloom and austerity in Europe today mirrors one of the greatest crises in British history, says the historian Michael Wood.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18159752


The same day, 25 May 2012, in The Wall Street Journal: New signs of a global slowdown are darkening the economic outlook.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304840904577423961992317658.html

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Update 19 July 2012: America's fascination with the apocalypse
BBC, 19 July 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18877449



Update 17 June 2012: The Perils of Ignoring History -This Time, Europe Really Is on the Brink, A Commentary by Niall Ferguson and Nouriel Roubini 12 June 2012

The European Union was created to avoid repeating the disasters of the 1930s, but Germany, of all countries, has failed to learn from history. As the euro crisis escalates, Berlin should remember how the banking crisis of 1931 contributed to the breakdown of democracy across Europe. Action is urgently needed to stop history from repeating itself.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-germans-have-learned-nothing-from-history-a-838429.html





Update 25 May 2012: Theresa May: we'll stop migrants if euro collapses - The Government is drawing up plans for emergency immigration controls to curb an influx of Greeks and other European Union residents if the euro collapses, the Home Secretary discloses today.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9291493/Theresa-May-well-stop-migrants-if-euro-collapses.html


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However, the ultimate text about this topic is Waiting for the Barbarians by Constantine Cavafy (1863–1933).




Text: Waiting for the Barbarians
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181780

W. H. Auden has/had also some good points.



Text: The Fall of Rome
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=14280


But, back to Cavafy, to reach out for the full story - Ithaka:

When you set sail for Ithaca,
wish for the road to be long,
full of adventures, full of knowledge.


Please, note that the translation in the video is much better.



Text: Ithaka
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181782


Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_P._Cavafy

The Cavafy Archive website
http://www.cavafy.com/


W. H. Auden (1907-1973)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden


Roman Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire

Ithaca or Ithaka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca

Odysseus, king of Ithaca
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus

Odyssey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey