Rome is literally America or why Sargon of Akkad should not be taken seriously

[NED funded]

So this marvelous piece authored by noted intellectual Sargon of Akkad just surfaced upon my youtube suggested videos, it has shed some knowledge upon this ignorant man.

Now on a serious note, this type of comparisons between Rome and the USA does no one a favor specially when the author making the comparison lacks the knowledge in American History and how our system works. Of course it's great if you want to show off how big your metaphorical dick is.

Anyway Carl makes a lot of mistakes in the video that I feel should be corrected but I mostly do this because I hate the guy and how his idiotic videos are taken seriously.

1. Yep, you heard it here folks Sargon of Akkad actually believes in the myth of Aeneas.

2. Noted intelectual believes in manifest destiny; ffs Carl you are better than this.

3. Welfare defined by the Romans is considerably different to what welfare is in the US. In Rome "welfare" was the rich giving stuff to the poor in order to gather sympathy from them and achieve their political ambitions. The key difference between both is that the Roman "welfare" was private whereas in the US welfare is managed publicly by the goverment and you are recieving it regardless of the political ambitions of an individual or a grou and no longer has the same effect. Unless UK students have some hidden emotions towards Goldman Sachs

4. More of Sargon of Akkad's belief in destiny. I'm assuming by economic reforms Sargon is refering to welfare or redistribution of wealth by that matter ,thus JFK according to Sargon of Akkad was killed . However if that was true then Roosevelt wouldve been killed, since he did a lot of wellfare-y stuff.

5. I'll give him some credit for correctly labelling Donald Trump as a populist, however for "real need" I assume Carl is talking about well paying jobs (due later references on the topic later on the video), however that is not the case in the US. There are well paying jobs in the US, the problem is that there is a lack of means to acces them (education), which I think is an issue that should be addressed.

6. Carl states that Trump will somehow shift the balance of power from the rich to the common man. A claim that I found bogus given that judging from his policies none of them actually describe how he will achieve this.

7. Then Carl makes some references on how slaves in Rome can be compared to foreign labor in America. I can only assume that he is refering to immigrants. But that comparison should not recieve merit. While supply shocks can in fact affect wages of competing workers, the effect is not permanent.
This is because unlike slaves, immigrants that come to America can improve their living conditions and spend their money or start new buisnesses. While at the same time firms that have become more efficient; due to immigration, grow and are in need of new labor, thus in the long term wages of American Natives does recover. Carl should know this because this is literally basic understanding of how labor markets work.


As an additional note Carlgon would have more of a point if he mentioned free trade and solely with China in addition of labor disruption generated by technological advances, which as mentioned above is an issue that can be solved through education and other goverment programs such as NIT.

Edit: title should say America is literally Rome.

[Macaquerie]

What I don't get is why a guy calling himself "Sargon of Akkad" would do nothing but make videos about the supremacy of Western civilization.

[Garnier Fructis]

British accent? Check.
Whines about religion? Check.
Whines about feminism? Check.
Arrogant? Check.

These guys are a dime a dozen on youtube. It's like if you have a British accent people automatically assume that you know what you're talking about.

[s_bushido]

Sargon may have lost the plot a while ago, but I find it pretty ironic that the sort of people who would flip their shit over someone being misgendered have no problem calling someone by their real name despite that not being the identity they put forward to the public.

What I don't get is why a guy calling himself "Sargon of Akkad" would do nothing but make videos about the supremacy of Western civilization.

As opposed to what? Considering the crap that's being going on in the Middle East since...forever...you'd be hard-pressed to argue that Western civilization isn't superior to that, at least.

[LilSaihah]

So what precisely merited you posting this here? He doesn't post here. Go talk to him.

[zorkuus]

The last video I saw from him he was explaining why he's a liberal, this was a while ago. When did he drink the alt-right kool-aid?

[breadisfunny]

what is going on here?

[Theodarzna]

So this marvelous piece authored by noted intellectual Sargon of Akkad just surfaced upon my youtube suggested videos, it has shed some knowledge upon this ignorant man.

....

Mr. Akkad went down the wrong angle with the America = Rome angle.

1) To be fair to Mr. Akkad, I don't know if he is serious there, but maybe.

2) Manifest Destiny is better understood that complex societies need to expand in power and influence one way or another. I refer to Dr. Tainter on this one to point out that the US and expansion is not the same as Rome's. Yes the US expanded geographically, but America's real power expansion doesn't happen until after WW2 when it effectively holds dominion over the planet Earth. HERE is where the US reaches the absolute limits of its expansion, and indeed the absolute limit of any Empires expansion. The US however doesn't directly control the Earth, but through economic integration, Neo-Liberalism, Capitalist institutions and the growth of Globalization and Global Integration a new quasi-global superstate is taking some sort of shape.

3) You are right about his Welfare point. I mean he could more accurately just describe that America's costs of existing are catching up to it.

4) Sargon is an idiot for sure here. Though I would argue in the grand scheme of things that no complex society CAN solve its existential threats forever and even the act of creating solutions to older problems CREATES new problems.

5) Here I will agree with Sargon actually. The effects of Globalization on vast swathes of individuals creates a disconnect between a net benefit of Globalization and the crippling losses for vast numbers of individuals. Access to education here solves nothing in that education does not assure a good job, or resolves the core loss of purpose, stability and security that manufacturing brought to Americans.

6) Trump will not, but the effects of Trumps run are to be felt for a generation IMHO. I have zero doubt in Hillary's assumption to the presidency, but I suspect that America will never really be set right after this election. Clinton will not make the necessary reforms to resolve these issues because its just not in the cards for her, and its not a solution she would consider. Unless she has been planning to fix America this whole time and is a Lit. Illidan Stormrage here making gruesome sacrifices for some unseen greater good..... and like Illidan failed to inform anyone or explain this to fuck all people.

7) This is definitely another spot were Carl gets very wrong. Immigration brings problems but I'd be hesitant to describe that as the cause of America's problems in their entirety.

EDIT: America is like Rome mostly because Rome is this epic Ancient Empire we all know and have lots of documentation of and thus all Empires in the West afterwards would compare itself to Rome. But really what brought down Rome IMHO was what brings down all civilizations.

[NED funded]

Sargon may have lost the plot a while ago, but I find it pretty ironic that the sort of people who would flip their shit over someone being misgendered have no problem calling someone by their real name despite that not being the identity they put forward to the public.



As opposed to what? Considering the crap that's being going on in the Middle East since...forever...you'd be hard-pressed to argue that Western civilization isn't superior to that, at least.

1. I don't see the problem of calling people by their name. Most of the issues related to transgender people are related to pronouns.
2. Sargon of Akkad was a brutal tyrant in the middle east.

[bufferunderrun]

then fuck give me citizenship?



note: this comment was generated after only reading the title

[s_bushido]

1. I don't see the problem of calling people by their name. Most of the issues related to transgender people are related to pronouns.

Tell that to Bruce Jenner. I'm sure he'd love to hear your explanation.

2. Sargon of Akkad was a brutal tyrant in the middle east.

Oh, so now you want to acknowledge his user name? And what does it have to do with anything either I or Macaquerie said? And what's the difference between an emperor/king and a dictator?

[NED funded]

Mr. Akkad went down the wrong angle with the America = Rome angle.

1) To be fair to Mr. Akkad, I don't know if he is serious there, but maybe.

2) Manifest Destiny is better understood that complex societies need to expand in power and influence one way or another. I refer to Dr. Tainter on this one to point out that the US and expansion is not the same as Rome's. Yes the US expanded geographically, but America's real power expansion doesn't happen until after WW2 when it effectively holds dominion over the planet Earth. HERE is where the US reaches the absolute limits of its expansion, and indeed the absolute limit of any Empires expansion. The US however doesn't directly control the Earth, but through economic integration, Neo-Liberalism, Capitalist institutions and the growth of Globalization and Global Integration a new quasi-global superstate is taking some sort of shape.

3) You are right about his Welfare point. I mean he could more accurately just describe that America's costs of existing are catching up to it.

4) Sargon is an idiot for sure here. Though I would argue in the grand scheme of things that no complex society CAN solve its existential threats forever and even the act of creating solutions to older problems CREATES new problems.

5) Here I will agree with Sargon actually. The effects of Globalization on vast swathes of individuals creates a disconnect between a net benefit of Globalization and the crippling losses for vast numbers of individuals. Access to education here solves nothing in that education does not assure a good job, or resolves the core loss of purpose, stability and security that manufacturing brought to Americans.

6) Trump will not, but the effects of Trumps run are to be felt for a generation IMHO. I have zero doubt in Hillary's assumption to the presidency, but I suspect that America will never really be set right after this election. Clinton will not make the necessary reforms to resolve these issues because its just not in the cards for her, and its not a solution she would consider. Unless she has been planning to fix America this whole time and is a Lit. Illidan Stormrage here making gruesome sacrifices for some unseen greater good..... and like Illidan failed to inform anyone or explain this to fuck all people.

7) This is definitely another spot were Carl gets very wrong. Immigration brings problems but I'd be hesitant to describe that as the cause of America's problems in their entirety.

EDIT: America is like Rome mostly because Rome is this epic Ancient Empire we all know and have lots of documentation of and thus all Empires in the West afterwards would compare itself to Rome. But really what brought down Rome IMHO was what brings down all civilizations.

I haven't watched the 90 minute video you posted, so forgive me if I'm missing something .

I will disagree on point five and six.

- Societies change, thus the only thing that one can do is adapt to those changes, the only thing we can do is make the transition smoother for those left out, this holds true for most forms of governing. Education gives a sense of stability since you can fall back on the skills acquired to get a newly job, if they ever fire you and social safety nets are a thing. Wheather or not stability of labor will hold true later on is a different issue that I lack the knowledge to discuss.

- the idea that the USA is an oligarchy comes from a study that stated :
Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.

The policies proposed by trump's base are backed by corporate industries that do not like competition from other countries, so in that sense even if their base gets what they want they'll do it because there has been a shift in corporate interests. Not because individuals or large base groups advocated for it.

- - - Updated - - -

Tell that to Bruce Jenner. I'm sure he'd love to hear your explanation.


Oh, so now you want to acknowledge his user name? And what does it have to do with anything either I or Macaquerie said? And what's the difference between an emperor/king and a dictator?

1. Bruce Jenner changed his name legally, I cant recall carl changing his name to Sargon of Akkad.
2. The point being made is that for a guy that speaks how great Western society is, his choice for his persona is strange.

[Shibito]

British accent? Check.
Whines about religion? Check.
Whines about feminism? Check.
Arrogant? Check.

These guys are a dime a dozen on youtube. It's like if you have a British accent people automatically assume that you know what you're talking about.

So a liberal then, when its christianity ofcourse. Complains about third wave feminism is legit. British accent makes it more real. Who isnt arrogant these days?

[Ryme]

These guys are a dime a dozen on youtube. It's like if you have a British accent people automatically assume that you know what you're talking about.

It's a gift of American movie betrayals of us I would guess

[Strangebrew]

Whines about religion? Check.
Whines about feminism? Check

Implying this is a bad thing somehow, feminism is cancer, and religion don't belong in a progressive society.

The last video I saw from him he was explaining why he's a liberal, this was a while ago. When did he drink the alt-right kool-aid?

Except he haven't, thats's just bullshit spun by people like the OP because he doesn't fall in line.
He constantly challenge the alt-right to debates.

He spent an entire week pissing of the alt-right by posting interracial gay porn at them recently for fuck's sake

[Notter]

So, i see Naked Ape was right.
he said that calling people "alt-right" is now a term people use to disregard people they don't agree with. even though they have no idea what alt-right even means.
it's the opposite end of calling someone who doesn't agree with you an SJW.

anyway on topic.
yeah, i didn't completely agree with the whole rome comparison.
but i also think you took it a bit too literal than what he meant.

his over-arching point of view, was that the current path the US is taking, will lead to it's collapse.
and while it will not be 1-1 to how rome collapsed, i agree with him, that america right now is facing a downward spiral of sorts.
and they need a strong leader to stop it.
but it is more likely they'll choose hillary, which will probably make them suffer like germany does right now.

[Templar 331]

1. Yep, you heard it here folks Sargon of Akkad actually believes in the myth of the Aeneas.

Citation.

2. Noted intelectual believes in manifest destiny; ffs Carl you are better than this.

No, he's quoting a belief that was established in the U.S. for our expansion west and Rome for it's expansion. He never said he believed it but that the U.S. and Rome believed it.

6. Carl states that Trump will somehow shift the balance of power from the rich to the common man. A claim that I found bogus given that judging from his policies none of them actually describe how he will achieve this.

No, that is what Trump is offering. If you'd listened to the video you'd know he never made that claim himself.

7. Then Carl makes some references on how slaves in Rome can be compared to foreign labor in America. I can only assume that he is refering to immigrants. But that comparison should not recieve merit. While supply shocks can in fact affect wages of competing workers, the effect is not permanent.
This is because unlike slaves, immigrants that come to America can improve their living conditions and spend their money or starting new buisnesses. While at the same time firms that have become more efficient; due to immigration, grow and are in need of new labor, thus in the long term wages of American Natives does recover. Carl should know this because this is literally basic understanding of how labor markets work.

He's making this comparison to illegal immigrants. Where do you think the phrase "day took er jobs!!" came from? We have millions of undocumented works.

Edit: title should say America is literally Rome.

Which is a literal straw man. The title of the video was "The Parallels between Rome and the United States." He is making a comparison of how they are similar.

[Deleted]

He's right though. America is a republic getting torn apart by corrupt Political figures and needs a major reform to avoid being sundered by waves of Barbarians who refused to change to the culture of the Republic.

[Venant]

He's right though. America is a republic getting torn apart by corrupt Political figures and needs a major reform to avoid being sundered by waves of Barbarians who refused to change to the culture of the Republic.

Don't worry, more multiculturalism will solve this problem!

[mickybrighteyes]

So when is the USA going to get our own Caligula? And what about death arenas... with optional monster truck dildo rallies