Essay 3

[Adrienne C]

Adrienne C
English 101- Section#0459
Instructor: O’Connell

Outsiders
In his book, Are We Rome? Cullen Murphy artfully presents the topic of
America and Rome’s view of self in Chapter 4, which is fittingly
entitled, “The Outsiders.” Murphy begins this chapter by referencing
the historical Teutoburg Forest event in which 3 legions that had been
commanded by Publius Quinctillus Varus (Roman general under Emperor
Augustus) were tricked by the Germans and suffered a humiliating
defeat in battle, resulting in the death of 30,000 people. Murphy
alludes that this defeat could be the result of the Roman view of
itself as superior and indestructible. Murphy further illustrates this
point by expressing that it was unbelievable to the Romans that they
could be defeated by so called ‘barbarians.’ He states that, “even if
evidence of barbarian technological skill and organizational precocity
had been presented in advance…Roman officials would not have been
receptive.” This type of viewpoint is a bit scary because we can see
how it somewhat parallels America’s view of itself prior to the 911
tragedy. We felt indestructible and superior, and would never have
imagined that we could be attacked, especially within our own borders.
We underestimate others and can get caught up in our own reverie just
like Antony did with Cleopatra, according to Shakespeare’s version of
the tale. Here we have a Roman general renowned for his acumen and
skill in battle, running around with an Egyptian Queen and imbibing
booze, while his wife has started a war and some of his soldiers are
beginning to question his ability as a leader. In this paper, I will
cover the perceptions of America and Rome and show how both nations
harbor views of self that depicts arrogance and superiority, and how
this type of viewpoint can cause harm or even death when left
unchecked.
Murphy rightly points out that, “One notable constant in American
history is our lack of awareness of the rest of the world- or if we
are aware, our indifference as to whether we’ve got the world right.”
Underestimating the power of other nations has been a trap for both
Rome and America. A prime example of this is our increased outsourcing
of jobs to other countries. Rome outsourced some of its military
functions by allowing Egyptian soldiers to act as purveyors and
enforcers of Roman rule. While there were advantages to having an
Egyptian in this type of role, the obvious disadvantages were the
underlying threat treason and mutiny.
In America, there are many who feel that outsourcing is a good
practice, and that American businesses are taking advantage of so
called cheap foreign labor so that they can see an immediate increase
in profits. What may not be considered is that by outsourcing American
jobs, they are increasing another country’s GNP and lowering our own.
Did it ever occur to anyone that we could be helping other countries
amass power and decreasing of own? Are we too busy feeling superior to
even fathom that a 3rd world country could pose an economic or any
other type of threat to America? The answer is possibly yes. The
exportation of jobs is already affecting our ability to groom and
train US professionals for advanced positions. To illustrate this
point, the 110th Congress had issued the Technology Retraining and
Investment Now Act for the 21st Century (Bill #HR 244, Jan 2007) in an
attempt to stimulate U.S. personnel training by offering a tax credit
to corporations and business owners (since they seemed to be motivated
by financial gain). Unfortunately, there were no co-sponsors to get
the bill passed. The lack of positive response to this bill could be
compared to Antony’s behavior when he ignored the messenger who was
sent to tell him of Fulvia’s death. This message should have stirred
him into immediate action, but instead he remained somewhat passive
even though he knew that the welfare of his country was being
threatened.
This type of passivity and being out of touch has continued to affect
our nation until this very moment. Our troops are still fighting a so
called war, even though no one can really see the value in them being
over there at this point. We’ve spent billions of dollars financing a
war and trying to play Globo-cop while our own nation is suffering.
At the same time, how we got to this point is highly understandable.
Our delusions of grandeur are rightly founded. We are America, the
“land of the free and home of the brave.” People have migrated from
far lands to taste our freedom and sample a piece of the American pie.
Foreigners, I mean “outsiders”, have deluged are borders for decades,
and who can blame them? Even those who can’t make it here try to mimic
our culture in some way. The Mc Donaldization and Cokeification of the
world are only the tip of the iceberg. American music, American style,
and American ideals have permeated cultures all over the world. So it
is quite easy to think of America as being highly influential.
Likewise, the Romans possessed a sense of ‘exceptionalism’ because
they had conquered many seemingly great nations. Murphy quotes,
“Spaniards had the advantage over them in point of numbers, Gauls in
physical strength, Carthaginians in sharpness, Greeks in culture,
native Latins and Italians in shrewd commons sense; yet Rome had
conquered them all and acquired her vast empire because in piety,
religion and appreciation of the omnipresence of the gods she was
without equal.” No wonder they felt superior and invincible.
It’s the same with America. With this in mind, it’s easy to see how a
little pride and arrogance could set in. Murphy says that we use
ourselves as the meter by which we judge other nations: “Americans
tend to see others as being more or less like ourselves; it’s the
default presumption. Or at least other people would be like us if only
certain cultural impediments and institutional restraints were
removed. Human nature, in other words, is basically American.” So, it
has been concluded that Americans set the tone for how things should
be globally. Or, at least we used to.

[Deborah M]

Martinez, Deborah
English 101 Writing Composition

Section #0495
O’Connell


December 13, 2008
“Antony and Caesar’s view of The Outsiders”

Cullen Murphy’s 2007 Are We Rome? argues that America is similar to
Rome in six ways including “view of self,” developed in chapter 4, The
outsiders. Against the background of: the decision to invade Iraq,
the subsequent war and mistreatment of civilians, and United States
sense of “exceptionalism” fueled by ignorance, Shakespeare’s Antony
and Cleopatra provides two characters - Caesar and Antony -
diametrically opposed in both substance and character that make a
compelling pair for metaphoric study of our country’s continued
failure to understand the cultures of countries which whom we engage.
Evidence of this is where Shakespeare’s Octavius Caesar and Lepidus
break their truce with Pompey and war against him. This is unapproved
by Antony, and he is furious. This can be compared to US violating
international law and engaging in an illegal war in Iraq. There are
only two cases in which a nation or group of nations can legally
undertake armed intervention against another nation: in self-defense
against an armed attack or if the United Nations Security Council
authorizes a coalition of nations to intervene militarily to maintain
peace and security in the world. Tom Kresbach of the Seattle Post in
his July 15, 2005 article, Iraq Violates International Law, states
“Contrary to what the Bush administration would like the world to
believe, the invasion of Iraq can be justified neither on the basis of
self-defense nor because it was sanctioned by the Security Council.”
Antony is the more civil one, while Octavius Caesar and Lepidus
represented the arrogant Romans/ Americans. This perception still
persists today. Colin Powell feeling betrayed by the Bush
Administration campaign of misinformation re: Iraq (the "Africa"
connection mentioned in the State of the Union Address). It was Powell
who told the United Nations and the world that Saddam Hussein had
weapons of mass destruction and posed an imminent threat. In his
September 8, 2005 interview with Barbara Walters of 20/20, he stated
that he felt "terrible" about the claims he made in that now-infamous
address -- assertions that later proved to be false.” Although Powell
didn’t blame former CIA Director George Tenet for the misleading
information he says "There were some people in the intelligence
community who knew at that time that some of these sources were not
good, and shouldn't be relied upon, and they didn't speak up. That
devastated me.”
Another example of "exceptionalism” is Octavius Caesar going to
Cleopatra, trying to convince her to surrender. She angrily refuses,
since she can imagine nothing worse than being led in triumph through
the streets of Rome. This is synonymous with what Murphy mentions
regarding the United States treatment of Saddam Hussein after his
capture. He states, “The Romans made a habit of publicly degrading
the captured leaders of vanquished peoples, a practice now turning up
unexpectedly in the American repertoire – recall the official video of
Saddam Hussein’s medical exam, broadcast worldwide.” According to the
January 9, 2004 BBC News article US Gives Saddam Enemy POW Status, POW
status for Saddam Hussein meant that the former Iraqi leader was
eligible to stand trial for war crimes. Prisoners' rights under the
Geneva Convention include adequate medical treatment. However, the
footage of Saddam undergoing a medical examination after his capture
was “regarded by some as a failure to protect him from public
curiosity. The Vatican described the scenes as Saddam being "treated
like a cow."
When Octavius Caesar dismisses his statement that Cleopatra has held
back information about her actual possessions Cleopatra realizes that,
despite his promises of fair treatment, he intends to parade her at
his triumph. This is synonymous with Murphy's mentioning why many of
the “(American trained) armed Muslim warriors from all over the world
(are now) the multinational jihadists we are fighting now." These
jihadists were double crossed by our country, much like Cleopatra was
double crossed by Octavius Caesar. America going back on their promise
of being "liberators" in Iraq and mistreatment of civilians (no
electricity, deaths of innocents, etc.) Daniel Flynn of Common Dreams
News Center writes in his September 15, 2003 article Iraqui Leader
Says U.S. Troops Mistreat Civilians that U.S. troops would so
regularly mistreat Iraqi Civilians that “the population had come to
regard American forces as an army of occupation."
He accuses Octavius Caesar of not giving him his fair share of
Pompey's lands, and is angry that Lepidus, whom Octavius Caesar has
imprisoned, is out of the triumvirate. By doing the “honorable
thing”, Antony’s alliance with Octavius is at best uneasy- much like
Murphy’s mention of Thomas Paine's wariness of the alliance with
France that brought America victory in the War of Independence, Antony
shares the same political wariness. The United States Uneasiness in
our Alliance with Georgia vs. The Soviet Union “Bush has put Moscow on
notice that U.S. relations with Russia would suffer if the conflict
continued, but Russian leaders know that Washington needs their
cooperation on a host of world problems. They know, too, that the
American public has no stomach for war in an obscure corner of the
globe and that Bush will be out of a job in five months. The two
presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack
Obama, have spoken to the crisis, trying to show resolve against
Russian adventurism.”
Antony's long-serving lieutenant, deserts him and goes over to
Octavius Caesar’s side. Rather than confiscating Enobarbus's goods,
which he did not take with him when he fled to Octavius Caesar, Antony
orders them to be sent to Enobarbus. Enobarbus is so overwhelmed by
Antony's generosity, and so ashamed of his own disloyalty, that he
dies from a broken heart. This “nice guys finish last approach” was
used by George Bush when confronting Vladmir Putin, whose atrocities
in Georgia are a matter of record, by saying that he had “looked the
man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward
and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a
sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best
interests of his country. And I appreciated so very much the frank
dialogue”. And much like Antony, this “nice guy” mentality proved
wrong when Russia attacked Georgia as Georgia perceived The US
mentality to be one of weakness, which Ceasar learned in the case of
Enobarbus and used to maximum effect in the battle by sea.
Regrettably, although Antony and Cleopatra was published in 1623,
given the current climate in America , Shakespeare’s characters of
Cesar and Anthony prove frighteningly timeless. As Murphy puts it,

“One notable constant in American history is our lack of awareness of

the rest of the world – or, if we’re aware, our indifference to
whether we’ve got the world right.” Indeed, Murphy’s ruminations ring
all too true: Unless America finds the internal fortitude to right its
moral compass; its world view will ultimately remain the status quo: a
toxic mix of ignorance and arrogance.

References

Krebsbach, T. (2005, July 15). “U.S., other nations step up bribery
battle.” The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0715-07.htm

BBC News. (2004, January 9). “US gives Saddam enemy POW status.”
Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3384359.stm

Flynn, D. (2003, September 15). “Iraqi Leader Says U.S. Troops
Mistreat Civilians.” CommonDreams.org News Center. Retrieved from
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0915-05.htm

Powell, C. (2005, Sept. 8) “Colin Powell on Iraq, Race, and Hurricane
Relief.” ABC News 20/20. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Politics/story?id=1105979

[Dong O]

Dong Chul Oh
Eng.101, Sec. #0495
November 22nd, 2008
Essay 3

In his book ‘Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of
America’ published in year 2007, Cullen Murphy asserts that America
resembles Rome in six ways. In chapter 1 of the book, The Capitals,
Cullen Murphy describes the ‘Inside the Beltway Mindset’ and claims
that overweening importance and self-centeredness of America’s
capital, Washington D.C. parallel, and furthermore, surpasses Rome. In
chapter 4, Murphy extends the idea of chapter 1 by turning America’s
view of the self outward, claiming that the U.S. shares arrogant,
superior view of self and ignorant, inferior views of the rest of the
world with Rome. Through historical comparisons with Rome, and many
previous and current on-going examples of the U.S., Murphy once again
asserts his ideas clearly – the ideas that many of Americans would
have not known or have known little of. His ideas can be summarized as
America’s arrogance and ignorance on outside world is surprisingly
similar to those of Rome, which can be seen from attitudes of Octavius
toward Cleopatra in William Shakespeare’s “Atony and Cleopatra,” who
regards Cleopatra as no more than greed, seductive woman leads Antony
astray rather than a ruler of a kingdom. Murphy implies that such
attitudes will one day strike back the U.S. in unpredictable manner –
perhaps very similar to the fall of Rome. Although the blowback would
come in a catastrophic way as the fall of Rome is unclear at this
point, (America’s newly elected President, Barack Obama, who is the
first cosmopolitan President in the history of the U.S., could
possibly be a sign of America’s change.) it is certain that the U.S.
is dangerously isolated from the rest of the world – the isolation
that would make America with no ally and friend, thus leaves America
with no helping hand when it really needs it.
Murphy starts chapter 4 with Rome’s huge failure in Teutoburg
Forest, which occurred in the time of Emperor Augustus. The time was
perhaps the beginning of Rome’s heyday, when Augustus became the first
emperor of Rome in 17 BCE – a dream his adoptive father Julius Caesar
had long dreamt of, and died for. Emperor Augustus aggressively tried
to expand Rome through military means, and throughout his regime,
expansion was mostly successful, as almost the entire fourth chapter
in his publicly-released memoirs of achievements known as the Res
Gestae was devoted to his military victories and honors.(retrieved
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus) However, the Battle of
Teutoburg Forest was one of his biggest losses, losing three entire
legions by Arminius. At this very point, the U.S. very much resembles
Rome, as witnessed from Vietnam War and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Since World War Ⅰ, the U.S., has enjoyed its heyday, economically and
politically, dominating the world as the superpower; However, since
World War Ⅱ, America’s arrogance started to soar, particularly with
advent of the Cold War. With the ideological war between communist
nations and liberal nations, the U.S. sought to ‘free’ the world with
its ideology. As the result, the U.S. entered into the Korean War,
which is the beginning of the ‘true’ conflict between communist and
liberalist (or capitalist). The Cold War reached its peak with Cuban
Missile Crisis in 1962 (which could have developed into the Third
World War) and the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, the U.S. had an arrogant,
stubborn goal of expelling Soviet influences from the Southwest Asia,
thus fought a war that resulted loss of thousands lives of Americans
and even more number of Vietnamese. Even after the Cold War ended, the
U.S. has not abandoned the ‘proud and self-esteeming’ attitude of
‘freeing’ the barbarian world. Its evidence is clear when it comes to
the Iraq War, a war that has put the U.S. into an inescapable swamp.
Rome did not learn their lessons from the Second Punic War, where they
were defeated by the stratagem of “double entrapment” by Hannibal and
his Carthaginians, and repeated the same mistake in Teutoburg Forest,
because of their culture of aggression. The U.S. too, has not learned
lessons from the Vietnam War and made the same mistake of starting a
war in Iraq. What the U.S. has not learned and does not understand is
that unless the change comes from within the nation in question
itself, it is meaningless. Vietnam, after putting so much resources
and resulting in many losses of live by the U.S., has eventually
shifted to capitalism, and the entire nation is striving to pursue
wealth. If the U.S. did not fight the war and perhaps used different
strategies, billions of dollars and millions of lives could have been
saved, thus been used on other valuable things. Another great American
myth is that other peoples ought to be able to solve their ethnic and
sectarian differences peaceably, because “we did” – which, as Benjamin
Schwarz has written, simply ignores the vast amount of ethnic
cleansing and cultural obliteration that the American settlement
entailed, and that afterward kept the melting pot from boiling over.
(P. 146) ‘Black Hawk Down,’ (2002) reveals the idea clearly with Atto,
a subordinate of General Aidid, the leader of rebels in Somalia and
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan, a soldier of General Aidid. After Atto is
captured by the U.S. Special Corps, he says to General Garrison, who
is a commander of the special corps in Somalia. “You shouldn't have
come here. This is a civil war. This is our war, not yours.” When
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan captures one of helicopter pilots, he says
to him, “Do you think if you get General Aidid, we will simply put
down our weapons and adopt American democracy? That the killing will
stop? We know this. Without victory, there will be no peace. There
will always be killing, see? This is how things are in our world.” In
Somalia, the U.S. was totally ignorant of indigenous cultures and
ways, and underestimated their enemy’s capabilities. As the result,
the U.S. had to withdraw from Somalia, with heavy criticism from
domestic media when a photo of a dead U.S. soldier being naked and
dragged by raged Somali crowds. Has the U.S. learned anything from the
mistake? Never. The U.S. made another mistake in 2006 in the very same
place, not to mention in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Murphy also mentions Americans’ attitude in other part of the
world, based on his own experience during his childhood in Dublin,
Ireland. Such attitudes of Americans have recently gained even more
hatred throughout the world than ever before. In many countries
outside the U.S., most Americans act in the way of ruthless,
unbearable guest, almost like the king who wants to be treated with
the best those countries can offer. Many of American tourists or
American workers dispatched to abroad try little to learn indigenous
culture and language, hoping the people of the country they are in
would speak English for ‘them.’ They also hope that everywhere in the
world they go, there would be American ways of live – fast foods,
drive-in, etc, and if anything is against their own culture or norms,
they quickly regard the country they are in and the people as being
barbaric, illiterate. One good example would be how Americans feel
awkward about taking their shoes off when entering a house – which is
a general, natural norm in Korea. Sometimes, government officials or
military personnel act as they are the owner of the country they are
in. How many times American soldiers committed crimes in abroad and
aroused anger from local people? Though many Americans are not aware
of events, Americans have provoked angers and hatred everywhere around
the world in the past few decades, particularly in nations where the
U.S. Army is stationed. The U.S. soldiers who raped a teenager girl in
Okinawa, Japan, aroused Anti-Americanism from Japanese people. Two
teenager girls named Shim Mi- son and Shim Hyo-sun, crashed to death
by an armored vehicle of the U.S. Army in South Korea, 2002, led to
huge hostility and anger from a long time ally South Korea and many
days of candle light protest against the U.S. There are many incidents
and crimes committed by the U.S. soldiers in nations where the U.S.
Army is stationed. Also, such an incident is not limited to armed
personnel. The best example would be Michael P. Fay, who committed
theft and vandalism in Singapore, thus sentenced to canning by the
Singaporean law, which provoked controversies and disputes in America.
All these events and attitude of Americans show how ignorant and
ethnocentric Americans are when they encounter foreigners and their
cultures, and how they are unwilling to learn and understand other
nation’s ways, which is one strong trait inherited from another great
empire – Rome. At least, Rome tried to keep cultures and religions of
those regions they conquered as long as the conquered regions paid
Rome tributes, which allowed Rome to rule them with ease. It was when
Christianity, which believes the one and only God, was adopted as the
state religion, oppositions from Rome’s tributaries aroused and
eventually led to the fall of Rome. Unfortunately, many of the U.S.’s
traits follow the very same paths Rome took during its declining stage
– ignoring others’ norms and cultures, and enforcing American ways to
others. In other words, the U.S. simply applies their own yardstick,
perhaps based on strong Christian ideas, to other worlds. In addition,
the President of the current administration, George W. Bush constantly
used the term ‘the Crusade’ in describing his attempt to free the
Islamic world – a dangerous, rage-provoking term regarded by Muslims
as the symbol of the Western world’s invasion and massacre of their
world. It is undoubtedly no strange why the U.S. faces heavy anti-
Americanism and hatred from the Middle East, and even from other parts
of the world.
The Romans undoubtedly admired the Greeks for their art,
literature, and philosophy, but admiration can become resentment. This
attitude is apparent among Americans, who admire Anglicism, but at the
same time, resent the way. Too often, Americans complain about
‘English’ ways by saying, “They speak weird English, saying box as
bɔ́ks instead of bɑ́ks, can’t as kɑ́ːnt instead of kǽnt. They also
call subway as underground.” Even worse, the U.S. is now trying to
make ‘English’ as its own language, ignoring the history of English
language. In some ESL institutes in the U.S., instructors teach
foreign students that since British English has gone through major
changes ever since colonization of American continent, where else
American English has gone through little change ever since the period,
the true ‘English’ is not ‘British English,’ but ‘American English.’
Such a narrow-minded, ignorant idea (surprisingly taught by
instructors who should teach proper and correct teachings) is an
evidence of how Americans underestimate and disregard diversity,
variability of language, and eventually destroy integrity (here, the
word integrity has two meanings – one is ‘decency, or fairness,’ and
the other is ‘unity.’) of English language itself. It is almost like
asserting that Mexicans speak better Spanish than people in Spain, or
Brazilians speak more proper, correct Portuguese than people in
Portugal. Ironically, these America-centered ideas reveal Americans’
cultural, literal complexes towards British at the same time – despite
being the superpower in politics and economy in the world, America has
a complex of having a short history with not-so-impressive historical
legacies and heritages.
In ‘Antony and Cleopatra,’ Octavius, who symbolizes elite Rome,
regards Cleopatra, who symbolizes Egypt, or outside world to Rome, as
the source of Antony’s corruption, who symbolizes strong, hot-tempered
Rome, thus weak to temptation. Thus, Octavius doesn’t treat or serve
Cleopatra respectively and honorably as a ruler of a kingdom after
defeating and capturing her, and eventually leaves her to kill
herself. Even after Cleopatra’s death, Octavius once again disrespects
and mocks her by burying her next to Antony, with no mark on Antony
and Cleopatra’s graves and allowing only him and his men to attend her
funeral. Such attitudes of Octavius are not different from that of the
U.S. when capturing Sadam Hussein. Despite he was a brutal, ruthless
leader, he was still the president of Iraq, whether the U.S. likes to
admit or not, who deserved formal treatments even according to Geneva
Conventions. However, foot soldiers in low rank pulled him out of his
bunker, dragged him down the street, with no respect for him as a
human being and mocked him with a camera on. Fearing for his life,
Hussein shivered like bushes in the storm, showing no dignity or
majesty as a ruler of a nation. At the point, the U.S. gladly declared
the victory in Iraq for finally removing an evil leader of an evil
nation. However, contrary to the U.S.’s hope, the true victory is
still far from achievement. Rather, such an attitude provoked huge
rages from the people of Iraq and the Islamic World, and has made the
U.S.’s attempt to ‘free’ Iraq more difficult. No matter how incapable
Iraqi people or unready for it, the punishment of Saddam Hussein
should have been done by the hands of Iraqi people, not by Americans.
Taking Saddam Hussein’s matter into the U.S.’s hand was like
completely neglecting Iraqi people’s opinions and regarding them as
‘inferior.’ With the arrogant attitudes with no respect for others,
even enemies, the U.S. cannot ever achieve success in its glorifying
mission of ‘freeing’ the world – no matter how good and sweat the
mission would sound. Instead, it would be another meaningless
‘Crusade’ attempt that will isolate itself from the rest of the
world.

References
McCurry, J. (2008, February 11) “US marine on Okinawa accused of
raping girl, 14” guardian.co.uk. Retrieved from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/11/japan.usa

BBC News. (2002, July 5) “US soldiers charged for Korean deaths”
Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2097137.stm

Shenon, P. (1994, May 2) “Singapore gives details of a caning” The New
York Times. Retrieved from
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E5D91330F931A35756C0A962958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/C/Children%20and%20Youth

Bruckheimer, J. (Producer), & Scott, R. (Director). (2001). Black Hawk
Down. [Motion Picture]. Sony Pictures Entertainment.