Lux Lucet

You can’t get very far into the financial news without coming across a story about the European financial crisis. Riots here, bailouts there. Bureaucrats and politicians running hither yon. One day we’re told everything’s solved, nothing to see here. The next day the end of the world draweth nigh. It’s all very entertaining in a perverse sort of way.

But apart from the repetitious, bipolar financial news out of Europe, one thing does stand out about the crisis: the countries at the epicenter of the mess, Greece and Italy. Both these nations are ridiculously indebted as a result of reckless government spending and appear headed toward economic perdition. In other words, they’re really not any different than the rest of the western world, just getting there first.

But these aren’t just any nations. This isn’t Bulgaria we’re talking about. No, as secular scholars will tell you, Greece and Rome were the very cradle of Western civilization. If the West began with Greece and Rome, there’s a good chance it just might end there as well.