By Mark Joyner
We are history´s most-empowered children. But then, so were the Romans.In case you´ve been sleeping here´s a re-cap:
1. The Internet is the most empowering invention in the history of the world.
2 .Those of us in the industrialized world are part of history´s most privileged generation.
3. The average guy or gal in that same world has more opportunity now than at any point in history. My own story proves it: I was born into as dire a situation as one can image in the United States. Now at 39 I´m a #1 best-selling author with books translated into 15 languages. Could that have happened to a "pauper" of Dickens´ era? Or any other era for that matter?
We, collectively, are Rome. The industrialized world is, for the most part, now so inter-connected that our regional borders mean less and less.
If you´re reading this, you´re a "citizen" of this new Rome. At any time, you can exercise your new right of citizenship and make yourself wealthy. If you haven´t done so yet and you´re blaming someone else, this is your official call to knock that off. (See points 1 – 3 above if you need further explanation. Or consider my friend Ladan Lashkari who, in her early 20s, set up an online business while living in Iran and prospered. OK?)
But, to quote one of the gods of this new Rome (Spiderman), "With great power comes great responsibility." Rome fell because they grew complacent and decadent – almost allowing the barbarians to take over. Will we do the same?
There are barbarians at our gate as well. Unfortunately, things happen so fast now that it would not take them centuries of chipping away at us to precipitate our demise.
The New Barbarians are hard to spot, though. They wear a suit and tie, speak your language, and even smile as they try to burn down your new Empire and replace it with their own tyranny of brutality. They are the interests that are trying to "centralise" the control of the Internet. (Did you know that radio once had an era of unbridled free speech, much like we enjoy now on the ‘net, before those same interests centralized the control of radio?)
They are the interests that are trying to take away your right to speak your mind (no matter what "good" they claim will come of muzzling you).
These interests are very real and they are a threat to your ability to express your entrepreneurial spirit. Now, before you think this is all doom and gloom, understand: this is the cost of citizenship in the new de-centralized Rome.
We must all be Caesar, take responsibility for our own prosperity, and not sit idly by while the barbarians climb over the walls. Is that what you wanted to hear? That´s what empowerment means today, like it or not.
We are history´s most empowered children. We are empowered to spread this "prosperity meme" to the rest of the world and shore up paradise for our children´s children. We are equally empowered to give in to complacency and let the barbarians have their way with us.
It would be fitting to end this with a call to "make your choice," but ironically you really don´t have one. The right to choose itself requires you to choose the first path.
