The Fall of the American Empire

My second time in Rome, with Eve. Who is number one? And does it even matter? No.

The first time I went to Rome, I kept wondering why everyone was so obsessed with “The Fall of Rome.” After all, Romans still lived there. The food was great. And the ruins of the olden times were a good reminder that we no longer throw Christians to the lions for entertainment, thankfully.

As I grew up and read more, I realized the Roman Empire just morphed into the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Popes were the new emperors. Rather than stealing land through clever war techniques, they were now stealing hearts and minds and a shit ton of money through threats of hell and damnation, which fueled another thousand years of holy wars. After all, men needed something to do with all their free time. They needed some sort of purpose and mission.

Empires are, by their very nature, land and money grabs. That’s why it’s called colonizing. Ants have colonies, too. They move into areas and build elaborate mansions underground. Their purpose is to keep the soil aerated, plant seeds, and clean up stuff. We call them colonies, but really, they are more like communities. Everything has a purpose.

America started with escapees from religious persecution (Protestants), British and Spanish land and resource grabs, and wars over liberty, freedom, and independence. However, we built this country on the backs of indigenous genocide, slavery (both African and Chinese), and cheap immigrant labor. But the American Dream of freedom and justice for all, along with jobs, food, and fun entertainment, was incredibly seductive. We became a beacon for the rest of the world to admire and desire. We considered ourselves the heroes of the world, defenders of Democracy in every country that wanted it and many, many that didn’t. We told our people we were fighting for democracy when we were really fighting for oil and cheap bananas. And sometimes just to distract people from other stuff.

As our brands, movies, and music spread around the world through globalization, the internet, and ease of travel, we both inspired and angered other countries. Our monstrous hunger for growth and dominance began eroding other countries’ environments, economies, and cultures. So, a backlash occurred. China told us to stop sending them our trash, which we had told Americans was being “recycled.” The Middle East told us to stop bombing and corrupting their families. We didn’t listen. So they became “terrorists.” Mexico, Central America, and South America told us to stop selling them guns and stop buying their drugs. But we didn’t listen. So we became a culture of drug addicts surrounded by immigrants who were forced to leave their own countries just to survive. Russia is a whole different story, but Putin’s attempt to “Make Russia Great Again” has only led to suffering, with too many people thrown from windows and poisoned, and a whole nation held captive through bullying and censorship. Let that be a lesson to us, America.

We want to think we were “great” and that we can be “great again.” And sometimes we were great. Not always. The illusion of greatness was often built on lies. At least we tried to act with civility, dignity, freedom of speech, and the rule of law. But now, even that myth has been busted.

I’ve heard this moment described as an “extinction burst,” which is kind of a last-ditch effort to do what worked before even though it no longer works. (This is why standing up to bullies is so important! Thank you, Zelensky.) I’ve recommended these documentaries before, but it’s time to recommend them again…To understand what led up to this moment, you have to understand Roy Cohn and Jerry Falwell Jr. and the long game of Christian Nationalism that led to Project 2025, which we are now seeing implemented. Here is your syllabus: Where’s My Roy Cohn, Bully, Coward, Victim, God Forbid, The Family.

Maybe it’s okay that our empire is falling. Maybe the act of falling will wake people up to the fact that we don’t want to die; we want to live. And in order to survive and truly become great in the future, we need to build a new country based not on cruelty, greed, and over-consumption, but on kindness and care for one another. We don’t need to be heroes. We need to be good neighbors.

Look, the next few years are going to be extremely unpredictable and possibly very dangerous. But remember, the Roman Empire fell, but Rome is still an awesome and a beautiful place to live and visit. Not perfect, but okay. As Pope Francis lies close to death, sadly, the future of the Catholic Church is also in question. But that’s okay, too. (By the way, Conclave is a great movie and worth watching at this moment in time.) God is not dead and will never die.

I’ve recently been reading over old journals for a personal project I’m working on. Back in my yoga days, I took a workshop with Rodney Yee. I wrote down this quote: “Did you ever notice that just when you feel like you’re falling is when you’ve found your center?” Yes, I did notice that. And when I start a shamanic journey, it often begins with falling into the darkness. It takes courage to fall, even if it’s just in your mind’s eye. But once you learn to do it without fear, you find that it lands you in exactly the place you need to be.

Let’s be like ants, building a community underground, cleaning up stuff, and planting seeds. Let’s find joy in the purpose of just being together and building safe places to live and good food to eat and raising healthy offspring.

Let’s fall together and find our center and rebuild a new America from that place of kindness, love, and neighborly care, just like those early Christians who were fed to the lions were trying to tell us. But this time, let’s not make our purpose about religion, or war, or gold, or who can be the biggest or number one. Let’s make our purpose about Love.