St. Peter's Square at sunset

Binks, the Elf behind FreeMarkSteyn.com used ancient Rome to illustrate his essay the other day about the dangers of utopian thinking.

He writes:

It’s hard for liberals, in their endless War Against Reality. They’ve got the magic happy-plan, and all they need is to get us all lined up and taking part, like good utopian minions.

Best. Empire. Ever.

Such imagined worlds seem very modern and new– but the planned perfect society was the idea of Augustus Caesar: the Pax Augusta/ Romana, as articulated by the poet Virgil, and the writer Cicero. The cost of Augustus’ revolution? The loss of political freedoms, a cuddly dictatorship, with no checks or balances on the Imperial power.

Individuals are made subservient to the master-plan, the ideal theory of the Roman Golden Age, under the perfect ruler. Except people are not Lego, and reality does not always fit the theory.


Binks is right. I do not want to have someone in power who plans to fix the economy, or fix the climate or fix society so we can have utopian social justice. I want someone who understands the limits of government; someone who understands human nature; and someone who understands our Western heritage of God-given rights inherent in the dignity of the human person and not something conferred by Ceasar.


The pictures show some Roman ruins,
Piazza Navona, the ubiquitous graffiti (one of the saddest things about present-day Rome) covering a subway train, and St. Peter's Square at sunset.

I was told, however, the Roman graffiti is less likely to be gang markings (the city felt very safe to travel around in alone on the bus, even at night) but romantic!

But it's ugly and everywhere. It makes the city look uncared for, seedy, and more spooky and dangerous than it actually is.