Fall of Rome
There is an apocryphal story about the beginnings of the fall of the Roman Empire. Long before Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 AD, the story goes that Emperor Nero was so oblivious to the fate of his subjects, that he played a lyre as the city burned. From that story comes the phrase for a leader heedless of his duties: “He fiddled while Rome burned”. It is the symbolic tale of a government absolutely detached from the needs of its constituents. Nero was the “beginning of the end”.
There’s some serious fiddling around going on here in America today. The Government of the United States of America is closed, and has been for more than a month. Sure, the wheels of bureaucracy continue to grind, albeit slowly. Medicare bills and social security payments still arrive. But, what used to be called “food stamps” (now SNAP benefits) are on the block this week.
And the place where many Americans come in direct contact with Federal employees, the airport, is under stress. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are mandated to show up for work. But they aren’t getting a paycheck. Not surprising, many are taking sick days, perhaps to work other jobs to pay the bills.
Fiddling in Florida
And what is the President of the United States, for once, really the “only man” who can fix this, doing? Most of the past couple weeks was spent overseas, picking up awards from various leaders. Then, he returned to host a White House Halloween party, and work on planning the self-named new ballroom. Next, he spent the weekend at Mar-A-Lago, golfing during the day, and hosting a “Great Gatsby” themed dinner party at night.
Ironic that they chose The Great Gatsby, a book about social elites set in 1922. 1922 was a transition era for the United States. The Nation was recovering from the Great War, with the economic upheaval caused by moving from a wartime economy back to peace.
Gatsby
The United States was also restricting immigration, and cracking down on political dissent through the Palmer Raids. And many Americans ignored the US Constitution, particularly when it came to the 18th Amendment banning alcohol production. That created a huge criminal black market for alcohol transportation and sale, and made many Americans new criminals.
It was a time of rich extravagance, and criminal growth. There were the “bandits”: Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd. They were well armed with the new weapons used in the Great War. And it was also a time of dramatic growth for organized crime, financed by the alcohol trade. While Al Capone headlined with violence, all of the Mafia families dramatically grew through bootlegging and other illegal activities.
“Main Street” America was invested heavily in Wall Street. It was a time of excess, and “fiddling while Rome burned”. But, the economic success was soon to end. By 1930 we were in the throes of the Great Depression, the wealth of the masses lost in the market crash.
Knee Socks
So where are we now? The Wall Street economics seems to have no bounds, driven by the “AI bubble”. But on Main Street prices are still high, with no end in sight. Some US Senators in both parties would like to negotiate an end to the shutdown, but leadership knows that nothing is possible without Trump’s agreement. And in the House, Democrats face locked doors, as Republican leaders keep the body in more than a month-long recess. They’re waiting for Trump’s “permission” to come back to Washington.
Decades ago, my teacher’s union was negotiating for a new contract with the Board of Education. The Superintendent, the Board’s lead negotiator, thought he could get a “better deal” by blowing things up. So he showed up hours late for negotiations, dressed in a summer Boy Scout uniform, complete with shorts, knee socks and tasseled garters. The message was clear: going to his son’s Scout meeting was much more important than what the teachers wanted.
It worked. The teachers were incensed. And while a strike was ultimately averted, the final deal was tough. The Superintendent got some of what he wanted. I guess he won. But the loyalty and respect of the teachers he lost was never regained.
Trump’s message to America is clear as well: playing dress-up at Mar-A-Lago is more important than getting the American Government back open. The difference is that many Americans aren’t sure that the President wants to ever open the government again. He’s much more comfortable running it “by himself”. It’s that “he alone” thing all over again.
“The Great Gatsby” did not have a happy ending. Neither will Trump’s current course of “fiddling around”.
