Guest Blogger: Mikail G.

With this entry I will dive deeper into a subject that I touched upon in our large group discussion several days ago. My goal is to establish a connection between Athens 430 B.C. and the United States (current). Though much can be gained from large group discussion, my comparison will perhaps be more effectively demonstrated if I am able to show you the exact quotes from which my thoughts are based.
Thucydides used the words of Pericles in order to get across two main points: he wanted to show what made Athens so great and also what Athens stood for as a city-state. The part that I find interesting is that many of the things that Pericles mentioned in his speech about Athens 2500 years ago are almost exactly the same as what we constantly hear today about the United States. Some of the quotes I speak of are as follows (all taken from the second page of the speech in the Thucydides packet):
“Our government does not copy our neighbors’, but is an example to them.”
“Because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as our own.” Applied to today, this relates to how we import so many goods (ex. from China) because we are a wealthy nation (however, we do have a very large national debt).
“Our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries.”
The United States has been known as the world’s leading military power for many years.
“Our city is equally admirable in peace and in war.” The United States is always respected whether we are in war, “we have the bigger stick,” or in peace because this country is able to provide a better quality of life to most.
To condense, according to Pericles’ speech, Athens and the United States had/have many similarities that by all means make each sound like grand states/nations. These quotes incline me to pose several questions. Despite having such admirable attributes, is any nation able to be number one indefinitely? It is obvious that Athens did not remain at the top of the food chain forever. According to Rousseau, no nation is able to last forever. Today’s question that many are wondering about is whether it is possible for the United States to continue being “the best” in this globalized modern world we live in, or will we too be passed by some other nation? I will end with a quote by Dave Sedaris suggesting that perhaps our thinking that we are number one is completely arbitrary (something that has never crossed my mind before).
“America is the greatest country on earth. Having grown up with this in our ears, it's startling to realize that other countries have nationalistic slogans too, none of which are 'We're number two!”