Niklas"Empires are at their most interesting when they start tumbling into final decline. Edward Gibbon's long account of the Roman Empire's terminal experience takes on added drama when the barbarians finally break through the walls of the capital and sack it. Their leader "who no longer dissembled his appetite for plunder and revenge," according to Gibbon, delivered the imperial city "to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia," who swiftly embarked on an orgy of rapine and looting.
There are parallels aplenty with the second coming of Donald Trump, especially from the viewpoint of his defeated opponents. He made no bones about his appetite for revenge, decreeing punishment for erstwhile prosecutors, proponents of the "Russia collusion" conspiracy theory, and others who had sparked his ire. Plunder was certainly there for the taking, as evidenced by the millions of dollars extracted from tech oligarchs crowded at Trump's back when he took the oath to defend the constitution. One of these courtier-oligarchs, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, even went so far as to proffer a $40 million gratuity to Melania Trump for a documentary about her activities in the White House. The conquering president's wealthier supporters slavered at the promise of indulgent regulation of their business practices along with reduced taxes on their enormous incomes. Necessary savings would be levied from the less fortunate. Prison corporation stocks soared in happy anticipation of rich pickings from prospective mass incarceration of immigrants."
— Andrew Cockburn: Washington is Burning
