Obligatory US election post

[strange_complex]

I can't help feeling today rather like the Italian allies apparently felt on the eve of the Social War in 91 BC. They fought alongside the Romans on campaign, and were therefore profoundly affected by Roman foreign policy. Rome's enemies were their enemies, and Rome's campaigns were their campaigns. But they had no vote in Rome, and thus no say in the decision-making process that lay behind declarations of war.

Velleius Paterculus describes their situation thus:

In every year and in every war they served with twice as many foot and horse as the Romans, and yet were not given the right of citizenship in the very state which had reached through their efforts so high a position that it could look with contempt on men of the same race and blood as if they were outsiders and foreigners. (Roman History 2.15.2)

Their reaction was to rebel against Roman power, causing warfare throughout Italy: an action which in fact resulted in them getting exactly what they wanted, since the Romans realised that extending the vote to the whole of Italy was a small price to pay for peace and stability on their doorstep.

I'm not saying anything of the sort is either desirable or necessary now - it would be far better if the United States simply stopped throwing its weight around so much, and dragging the rest of us into its ill-thought-out wars. But I empathise with that sense of frustration. Today the world's future is being decided by the electorate of one nation. And all the rest of us can do is stand there crossing our fingers.

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Comments

[primitivepeople.livejournal.com]

I think there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. I think Tony Blair genuinely thought he was doing the right thing at the time, and if the Conservatives had been in government, they'd have done exactly the same. The Lib Dems were able to say what they wanted, knowing they'd never have to be held accountable for it. :)

Seriously, though - apart from our close alliance with America, I suspect the UK government was probably put under a lot of pressure that we don't know about. Bush was full of "you're for us or against us" crap, and I'm sure threats were made about what America would or wouldn't do if we ever needed anything from them in the future.

It's easy to villainise various people, but these things are complex. I think Bush is far more to blame than Blair in this case.

[steer.livejournal.com]

Aye -- you're not wrong there.

[primitivepeople.livejournal.com]

I'm never wrong. ;)

[steer.livejournal.com]

I bet that's annoying in games of Trivial Pursuit at christmas.

I'm wrong all the time, particularly in pink and orange.

[primitivepeople.livejournal.com]

My mind is full of useless information, so I am indeed bit of a whizz at Trivial Pursuit.

Especially the Young Player's Edition. :)

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure you're right about the threats. The same was true for the Italian allies, too. It was "Fight alongside Rome, or you're on your own, Sonny Jim." None of them were powerful enough on their own to survive without Roman protection, so they had to toe the line.

[primitivepeople.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. There's a lot of people in America who want overseas aid to be withheld from nations that refused to go into Iraq, and that's what they're willing to admit to publicly. The stuff we don't know about is probably horrific.