(place) by stash Wed Jan 30 2002 at 10:25:37
Future Fall of Rome

  • I'm sitting on the cement edge of a ruined building foundation, looking out from a hillside over the desolate expanse of a city in ruins. My friend Mario sits by my side and we discuss the scene before us. The architectural atmosphere is a surreal mix of the archaic, the futuristic and the post-Apocalyptic. To our left rises the immense decaying form of a Roman Colosseum; it's the size of a modern stadium and half the structure is missing, the interior exposed in our direction. The rest of the deserted city is likewise composed of ancient Roman ruins that have stood, empty of inhabitants, for millenia. But the paradox is that this is America in the near future, following a catastrophic war. Mario and I try to figure out this double contradiction. If this is America, why are the buildings Roman? If the city was abandoned after the recent war, why does it look like no one has lived here in the last thousand years? The puzzle is indecipherable and we return to our camp site nearby to prepare the morning meal with our friend, Thomas.
Only now do I see a possible interpretation of this dream in light of Terence McKenna's timewave theory. Modern America in the 21st century is playing the archetypal role of the Roman Empire at its political peak. Though the most powerful nation on Earth it stands on the very brink of destruction, unbeknownst to its government and citizens. Soon she will fall and the survivors will puzzle over the ruins that seem to have always been there.

I like it!