We are the Roman Empire

I've often said it and only half meant it, America is the new Roman Empire. I have come to believe that there is more to that than I ever imagined. The Democrats are the Plebes, the Republicans are the Patricians and the empire is in turmoil. We have no tangible enemy, just some bearded boogie men that terrorize us form time to time. The lack of the a real enemy or serious struggle is forcing us to turn on ourselves. Television, fast food and stupidity are eroding the national character and destroying the American dream .

Just some anecdotal facts before I unleash my conclusion. Fact, 67% of people 20 and over are obese, 44million are functionally illiterate, 80% of people polled last year said they had not read a book for entertainment, the average American watches 6 hours of T.V. a day. I hope these facts are shocking.

America's days of dominance are numbered and it won't be a bearded dialysis patient that lives in a cave, Obama's 'socialist' plans, illegal immigrant, swine flu or the Chinese that are the cause. Much like Rome, the Republic will be torn to shreds by fat, stupid, lazy, mush brained from to much T.V. American citizen's. I hope I'm wrong.

Extreme!

I like to challenge myself. Doesn't matter if it's choosing Mathematics as a major because it's hard, walking up a hill instead of using the stair chase or dating crazy women. I like my life to have a constant element of difficulty. Maybe it's because Mommy didn't love me or perhaps I'm just a sadist. The fact remains that I enjoy a challenge, the more difficult the more rewarding.

The most recent challenge I have taken on is marathon training. To many marathon is a four letter word. I must admit that I didn't register for my marathon until I had been training for 2 months because the schedule seemed insurmountable and I wasn't sure if I could hack it.

As I trained the physical obstacles fell quickly but the one element of marathon training that has proven to be the most difficult thing to overcome is the mental aspect of long distance running. It's one thing to build up the stamina and cardio to run for three hours. To build up the patience to run for three hours is a whole different story. It's been a necessity to come up with distractions, games if you will, to keep my mind occupied during my long runs.

I've been fortunate enough to live in several Southeastern cities with major Universities. This has been a great advantage for overcoming mental barriers. The tactic is simple. Run until I observe an attractive coed and then follow after her and enjoy the gifts evolution has endowed her with. A little creepy, I know, but harmless. My runs have purpose ogling beautiful young women is just a fringe benefit.

Believe it or not that only worked for about a month. As the runs have become longer I've had to searched for other games to play. Today I found a gem. It has been a particularly rainy day in Chapel Hill North Carolina today but when you're training for a marathon there's no such thing as a rain day. As I ran in search of a coed I thought to myself, 'This is nasty weather. Anyone running today must be pretty extreme like me'. Eureka! I had discovered a new game. I now ran with a new goal in mind. When I saw another running passing by I would make the my eyes as large and deranged as possible, scream, Extreme!, in a deep guttural jock voice and attempt to high five my newly discovered running buddy.

Things where going well until my last encounter. My run was almost done and I had made a number of people question my sanity at this point when I spotted yet another runner to share my newly found greeting with. As I approached him I shouted my greeting, Extreme!, and swung my hand his way for the obligatory high five. That's when disaster struck. He must have thought that I was going to hit him because he immediately turtled and ate shit in a big mud puddle. Now here's the part where you would think that I'd stop to help and we'd have some sort of profound conversation that would make us both better people. Nope. I quickened the pace and yelled back over my shoulder, Sorry. I didn't have time to help him. I'm training for a marathon Goddamn it.

EXTREME!

Maybe we're all a little pompous and faggy.

Today I had a conversation with a man who said he did not like NPR because, "All those smart people on there sound pompous and faggy and it makes me mad." I think he shouted something about a tea party and death panels shortly after that.

Wow! Sure some of the guests could be held accountable for fits of smugness from time to time. But for the most part, NPR provides a quality product. A healthy daily dose of NPR keeps a person informed and engaged. Many NPR programs are a valuable part of my day. I even give $10 or $15 every year to help support their programing.

While my initial reaction was to defend NPR. Later, when I was able to reflect on the exchange I realised it wasn't about NPR. At the risk of sounding like a stoner. 'It goes deeper than that, MAN!' My friend disliked the content because of its focus. Programing with intellectual value is distasteful to him.

It's as thought being thoughtful, well read and intellectually active are considered threats to many. We see it in political campaigns when one candidate calls the other an 'elitist' or implies that an opponent is to 'intellectual'. It can be seen in day to day interactions like mine. Even the school yard, where the 'smart kid' gets picked on by the (insert stereo type here).

The cries of snob, elitist or pompous faggy type make me think twice about tipping my hand. Dare I tell anyone I'm interested, engaged, a reader, a thinker or even worst college educated. I don't want to be considered feminine, faggy, pompous or weird by my neighbors and coworkers. Are there others out there like myself. Closet intellectuals, night time polymaths, back room book readers.

What should I do? Keep thinking I guess.