Are Conservatives Condemned to Be Modern Ciceros?

Everybody knows the term "Cassandra" and vaguely understands it refers to people who perpetually warn of impending doom, but few understand who Cassandra was, what made her a "Cassandra," and, most importantly, that her warnings were right and nobody listened. Her gift was perfect foresight; her curse was being ignored. 

Hence, people often dismiss those they see as "Cassandras," even when they shouldn't. That was true then, and it remains true now. Foresight is most often a curse, even when not dispensed by a god. 

Cicero is often seen as similar to Cassandra because he ultimately lost his fight to save the Roman Republic he adored. He was instead assassinated by Marc Antony's minions for his troubles. Unlike Cassandra, many agreed with Cicero, and his failure was that he bucked a system where the big money and power wanted him dead and buried. He wasn't a Cassandra; he convinced people, and then the big money and power crushed him. 

There is currently no great conservative orator who will be remembered in the same breath as Cicero, but as a collective, conservatives have been warning (correctly) that Western Civilization is under attack and in real danger of destruction. 

Many people see what we do, and others look away, hoping we are wrong. We are half Cassandra, half Cicero. And like Cicero, we keep paying a political price for not embracing the future we are barreling toward.  

Cicero's genius was promoting the old virtues and the Republican values that made Rome great in his eyes, and his failure stemmed from money and power aligning against embracing them again. It was just too profitable to ditch the old ways, and too easy to dispense with Cicero when he got in the way. His fate warns the rest. 

Plenty of people agreed with Cicero — there is a reason we still remember him as a towering figure, and the Italian Renaissance was kick-started by a rediscovery of his writings and an embrace of the Roman virtues he championed. One of the great assets a young up-and-comer could have was the ability to write in a manner that echoed Cicero. 

Cicero's reward for being right was becoming a hero long after his death. 

Being right, and even being right with allies who are not powerful enough to take on the true powers in society, is not only a lonely business, but it can be a dangerous one as well. You earn yourself a lot of hatred, few friends, and more than a few people who want you dead or in prison. We see that reality playing out right here, right now, and even more so in Europe. 

If you have ever had that desire to grab somebody by the shoulders, shake them gently, and scream "Don't you SEE?!" you have the Cicero experience in miniature. And when you see the lawfare, assassinations, and assassination attempts, you have your warnings. 

It seems so easy to look around, notice the corruption and decline just beneath the seemingly prosperous surface, and project the path into the future, yet so few people seem aware of what seems so obvious. 

Open borders? Decarceration? Decriminalize shoplifting and drugs? Embrace socialism? Alphabet ideology? Communists running our public schools? Academia becoming indoctrination camps? Net Zero? 

It seems so obvious. But apparently not. At least not until it is too late and Caligula is in power. And, eventually, the polity itself falls, and the Dark Ages are upon us. Someday there could be a revival, as in the Renaissance, but it will come long after we are dead and buried.

With Cassandra, Troy fell quickly. With Cicero, Rome itself didn't fall for centuries, although as a civilization, it was fundamentally changed and became something the people who built it would never recognize. 

The West will fall somewhere in between, I fear. On the one hand, it will likely remain an economic powerhouse for a long time; on the other, classical liberalism will erode and become unrecognizable. 

It's not a future I will quietly embrace, nor should any of us. History doesn't repeat; it rhymes. And we still have a choice in what our future looks like. 

We can't give up. 

Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at HotAir, we stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical Left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.

Help us continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration and its successes. Join HotAir VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.