While more and more people are becoming aware of the decline of our society, action is thin on the ground. Are people being lulled into inaction by modern versions of the same bribes as were used by Roman emperors?
Bread and Circuses In the dying days of the Roman Empire, Roman leaders worked to keep the population’s support by offering free bread and a wide range of circuses in the Colosseum and other arenas.
Welfare state and sports channels In the modern world, we see the same process: the electorates of Western democracies are offered more and more free goods, promising health care, free school meals, pensions etc, at levels which it unable to finance.
In parallel with this, the population is constantly distracted with Tv channels, game shows and a massive expansion of international sports competitions to follow. Interest in these is promoted by mainstream-media coverage.
Specific Examples
1978 vs. 2023 World Cup (Football):
- 1978: BBC and ITV broadcast select matches (e.g., Scotland vs. Netherlands, final), covering ~15–20 of 38 matches due to airtime limits.
- 2023 (Women’s World Cup): All 64 matches were televised on BBC/ITV, with streaming on iPlayer/ITVX, reflecting full coverage and gender equity.
Cricket (1977 vs. 2023):
- 1977: The Ashes (5 Tests) on BBC, with ~10–15 days of coverage.
- 2023: Ashes, World Cup, T20 series on Sky Sports/Channel 4, with over 50 days of international cricket.
Breaking free
To Revive Britain, we need to dismantle our physical and psychological addiction to welfare, take more personal responsibility, rebuild support within families and the local community.
To do this, we will need to significantly reduce our passive consumption of distracting media.