Capitalism Would Never Build The Colosseum
Why we can’t have nice things
I was away on a European trip for two weeks with my partner starting at the end of September when we met up with another couple in Italy. Together we toured the Roman ruins in and around Rome and the countryside. It was an epic adventure that made this old Civil Engineer swoon.
The ancient Romans were master builders and their work continues to stand the test of time. We toured the Colosseum with a guide one day and I was just floored by what he told us. Everyone sees the Colosseum as this old brick and stone structure but we don’t realize that it was once clad in marble and decorations. It was a grandiose and posh place for all Romans, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves.
Yes, the Colosseum was adorned with grand paintings, and mosaics, and covered in marble. Of course, all this was looted and stolen when Rome collapsed, but small pieces of it remained and Archaeologists and historians have pieced together what it once looked like, thousands of years ago.
I admit, I was in awe when I saw the ruins but then our friend said something that stayed with me throughout the trip. She said, “Capitalism would’ve never built this.”
There was this mantra that we heard echoing in our heads as young Civil Engineers, it was “faster, better, cheaper.” The idea was to design and build things faster, make them better, and above all cheaper. Civil Engineers are by nature thrifty designers and contractors are by nature all for building things cheaper. Those two features of the mantra were to save money and make more profit. The “better” part of the mantra was the way you got clients.
In a capitalistic world, your “faster and cheaper” can only be realized if your customer/client thinks it’s “better” than your competitor. I understand this mentality completely because it drives profits, the goal of any business owner in this world.
That mantra leads us to cookie-cutter houses in cookie-cutter developments where everything looks the same except for the upgrades you chose. It leads to a segregation between the haves and the have-nots in society. It leads to the minimum that everyone can get away with and it leads to “good enough.”
It leads to a commoditization of our world as opposed to the celebration of it.
The Roman Empire wasn’t perfect. It conquered, destroyed, pillaged, and built itself up on slave labor. All the opulence of the Colosseum and other structures now in ruins exploited resources and people. It was great if you were a man and in the ruling class or land owner. It wasn’t great if you were a slave and/or a woman.
Yet those in power built these massive structures as both a vanity project to themselves for all to see and use. They built public baths and public water fountains for all. The Colosseum allowed slaves and women to watch brutal shows and gladiator fights. The ruling class in Rome was smart, they kept the masses occupied with bread and circus.
Those projects were a way for those who had power, money, land, and resources to leave their mark for posterity and to be “patrons” of society. On one side of the double-edged sword, it was a pretty cool thing to do. On the other side, it was just a dick-measuring contest.
It was all a Roman dick-measuring contest that happened to have some positive outcomes for the general populace. Today? It’s still a dick-measuring contest but with no benefits for the general population unless you can afford to pay for subscriptions.
The Neil Young song, Pocahontas, has this salient line:
They massacred the buffalo
Kitty corner from the bank
The taxis run across my feet
And my eyes have turned to blanks
In my little box at the top of the stairs
With my Indian rug and a pipe to share
We all own or rent ever more expensive boxes at the tops of stairs, in the cul de sacs, and in subdivisions that all look the same. There are no more grandiose Colosseums for free. Tickets to see Taylor Swift (layoff ok? I’m a Swifty!) and Beyonce are astronomical in cost. Food prices have doubled and we have no affordable healthcare.
Our bread and circuses cost too much money and we can’t even escape the oppressive feeling of dread, even if just for a few minutes. Just like the poor in Rome, we’re being exploited and pushed into slavery without any real benefit. At least the Roman poor and slaves had some public bread and circus, we are ever being forced into a corner with no way out.
We’re slowly coming to the end of Capitalism whether we want to admit it or not. When the masses see no more way out, have no more food to eat, and can’t even rest for a short time they will rise up and tear this place to shreds.
Except this time, after 2,000 years, future Archeologists will compare our “faster, better, cheaper” buildings and infrastructure to the Roman ones and wonder, just what the hell were we thinking?
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