21 October 2008

Building Empires…

About a week ago I was walking through town with a friend and as we often do we ended up talking about political and related issues. This particularly conversation turned toward the topic of empires – they come and they go. This is what has happened throughout history and it will continue to happen. One particular question that came to mind for me was to what degree we should laud the empires of the past and their achievements.

So why on earth did this come to mind? Well, it’s not unusual to look with amazement at the achievements, chronicles and artefacts of the so-called great empires of the past – such as the Egyptians, the Chinese and the Romans. Yet at the same time it is quite common for people to feel animosity toward economic and/or political empires that indirectly or directly impact their lives. So my question is how do we hold these conflicting perspectives together? Can we despise those empires who attempt to gain so much control now and still sing the praises of empires built with so much blood mix in with the cement? This is a question I ask myself too – after all I too have find myself in awe of the achievements of these empires.

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