bkelly

Wonderful, a post that references Prof. Fears. From “The Great Courses,” and the course “The World Was Never The Same”, Professor Fears noted that in 62 BC the empire was in decline, in some part, because of big money in politics. How we have SCOTUS running Citizens United. I am looking for additional reference on this topic. Any comments, direction, or advice appreciated.

If I may chime in. From “The Great Courses,” and the course “The World Was Never The Same”, Professor Fears noted that in 62 BC the empire was in decline, in some part, because of big money in politics. How we have SCOTUS running Citizens United. I am looking for additional reference on this topic. Any comments, direction, or advice appreciated.

I am interested because Professor Fears, in "Great Courses," in a 30 minute presentation on Caesar, noted that one of the causes of the fall of the empire was big money in politics. They, business and the rich funded the political campaigns then had control over the politicians. They had the power, not the person in office. Now we have SCOTUS decision Citizens United. I want to find out more of what Professor Fears spoke of and how those concepts relate to us today.

From “The Great Courses”, and the set “The World Was Never the Same”, lecture 8, “Caesar Crosses the Rubicon”, Professor Fears talks about the fall of the Roman empire. He presents the case that big money and business in politics played a major role in the fall. Politicians could not be elected without the backing from these sources, and once elected, had to do their bidding. I recall a mention about the city/state Venice that was a thriving business community on the world stage. Big money become involved in politics and it did not work out well. On to today: I see the SCOTUS running Citizens United as a huge step down that path. The question: Do you agree with Professor Fear’s position? As I write about this, where are the best places to research this? Which books might be better than others. Moderator: I am new here and unsure of selecting the appropriate forum. Please advise if I have selected badly and maybe even move this post. Thank you for your time and patience