×
App Icon
The Standard e-Paper
Read Offline Anywhere
★★★★ - on Play Store
Download Now

Like ancient Athens, US is arrogant, powerful, declining and in denial

Vocalize Pre-Player Loader

Audio By Vocalize

The Statue of Liberty looks out on the lower Manhattan skyline, January 2014. [AP photo

The United States behaves as if it is a 21st Century ancient Athens and Rome rolled into one.

It is arrogant, discriminatory, powerful, declining and in denial. Athens collapsed because, despite having brilliant philosophers like Thales, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, it also had tyrannically disdainful imperialists like Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles who believed that forcing others to be like Athens, or discriminating against them, was divine.

Premium Article

Get Full Access for Ksh299/Week.

Uncover the stories others won't tell. Subscribe now for exclusive access.
Continue Reading  →
What you get
  • Unlimited access to all premium content
  • Ad-free browsing experience
  • Mobile-optimised reading
  • Weekly newsletters & digests
Pay via
M - PESA
VISA
Airtel Money
Secure Payments Kenya's most trusted newsroom since 1902
Sports
It's fresh faces and familiar rivals as Stars prepare for 2027 Afcon
Football
SportPesa Premier League: APS Bomet edge Bandari to ease relegation fears
Rugby
Experienced Okello, Chajira named in Kenya Lionesses squad for Rugby Africa Cup
Football
McCarthy set for emotional South Africa reunion after AFCON Draw