The 19th and 20th centuries contributed beautifully to our ongoing decay. Their greatest gift to our ruin? Merging patriotism with arrogance, aggression, and mindless pride.

And not pride in our homes, neighbors, ancestors, or cultures. No, that's far too human, far too complicated. Pride in States—bureaucracies wrapped in flags, stamps, and paperwork. Easier to manufacture pride than inspire love, after all. Love demands sacrifice, reflection, nuance. Pride just needs a parade and a flag.

We can thank Rome for that. Cicero—Rome’s most eloquent narcissist—helped fuse the concept of Patria (homeland) with Res publica (the state). Not because they’re the same, but because it simplified things. Citizens were no longer defined by love of community or land, but by submission to state power. "Alteram loci patriam, alteram iuris," he proclaimed—one homeland of soil, the other of law. Clever? Certainly. Moral? Not even close.

That toxic cocktail: Pride, expansion, pride again. Military might, more pride. This was Rome’s magic formula. And we know how well that ended. Just ask the Goths—or Cicero’s severed head.

Today, the formula still haunts us—wrapped in new flags, new slogans, new hats.

And let me be blunt: I genuinely support "Make America Great Again." I cheer on every #MAGA Patriot. But do they—do we—understand What

Does Greatness Mean?

Can a country truly be great if it’s indifferent to others' pain?

Can greatness coexist with aggressive ignorance or oppressive isolation?

Do we realize that authoritarian, impoverished but still our neighbors on the planet inevitably mean endless migration, instability, and war?

Are we so shallow that we'd rather be feared or superficially respected than cooperate for something greater than dominance?

Do we finally get it—that in this century, true pride in a state only makes sense if every citizen within it is individually free, educated, and prosperous?

And here’s the real twist: if everyone truly is free, educated, and wealthy, would they even need pride in a state?

If we can't grasp these simple truths, let's face it—we’re heading exactly where Rome went.

Gone. Just like the Neanderthals.