I was sitting on the river today with a strange thought. I actually wondered when Boston would be invaded next. I mean, the last time it happened was in the 1770s, but it is bound to happen again at some point. What will the city be like when it happens, and under what circumstances will it occur?

We usually think of such things as being impossible. After all the United States is at the height of it's power, and Boston has been in the American hinterland for about 300 years. Boston is surely vulnerable to a terrorist attack, but the idea of an invading force seems laughable. However, remember that in Rome people had the same assurance that their empire would remain secure forever, and that the order they knew would never fail them. Eventually, though, thier empire/republic which had stood for a 1000 years distintegrated, leaving the Mediterranean basin in chaos.

It's tempting to think that only a cataclysmic event would bring such disintegration to America, but usually historical forces don't work so neatly. It happens over the centuries, our curiosity dwindles, our democracy fails, and our unity crumbles until we become a shadow of our former greatness. The government then seems less worth preserving, and petty ideological differences become more important. Factions break off and civil war ensues.

The funny part is, societies usually percieve themselves as being at their most powerful during the period which historians see as the beginning of the end. Who in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century saw that their empire had but 50 years to live? Who in Rome could see the the disintegration of the coming centuries under the Emperor Constantine, who ruled when the collapse was but a century off?

How will our history read, and is this the beginning of the decline? Some hope remains, but the equalizing force of education has reached vibrant and hungry populations in Asia, which would be all well and good if it weren't for the fact that our own population seems to be loosing it's edge. Inequality has increased and social mobility has decreased, society desires less to be educated about the ways of the world and instead draws in on itself. There is a stigma against the new and the foreign, and the population rewards those who play to their worst instincts. More troubling is what I see here at BU. In my economics classes and in many high level math and sciences there is a far greater proportion of international students than there are in majors such as Bull Shit (International Relations) . Are we Americans seeking the easy way out now? (I don't exclude myself from this discussion, despite my choice of major I also take the easy way out a lot). Are we becoming more petty and less united?

Questions to ponder.

Short funny note: After seeing Richard Nixon on TV in the 90s me and Nick wondered what the strangest job Nixon could hold after leaving the White House. I think the clear winner is Conan O'Brien's side kick on the early years of Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Conan: Yeah this show is really terrible right now, but at least I wasn't impeached!
Nixon: I wasn't impeached!
Conan: Tell THAT to masturbating bear.

Summer is going well so far, it's been very enjoyable and relaxing. I am going to need to get another job or a series of odd jobs to make more money, but for now things are ok and I'm truly enjoying life for the first time in a while.