Waiting for the Barbarians

There is a sentiment circulating that not enough resistance is being put forward against the authoritarian onslaught on American democracy. It calls to mind Constantine P. Cavafy’s “Waiting for the Barbarians.” The poem, written in 1898, could have been penned this week. The last stanza evokes the phantom ‘enemies’ the Administration is creating from our closest allies in Canada, Mexico, Denmark and beyond. All the descriptive anticipation of the day captures the distractions and aggrandizement of the rapidly deteriorating state, and the capitulation we are witnessing.

See a fantastic performance by Laurie Anderson (2024) built on the poem here. She adds a second twist on to the last stanza as well (though I found it implied in a modern reading of the poem in any case). She also adds another one of his poems, Ithaca, about the importance of the journey rather than the destination. It’s a wonderful poem and worth listening to as well.

Certainly, artists like Laurie Anderson, and scholars like Timothy Snyder and Heather Cox Richardson are using their reach and tireless dedication to help us all push back. More broadly, We have seen the first-ever simultaneous protests in all 50 state capitals, despite concerns (misinformation?) that the organization was a set-up. Phones in Congressional offices are ringing off the hook. Congressmen are stepping up and stepping out – going to the government agencies affected by Trump EOs and/or invaded by the Musk Rats – to various effect (e.g. Dept of Education, Treasury, and USAID). Lawsuits are underway and having impact. A group of State Attorney Generals have led pushback against Musk, who with DOGE is now blocked from accessing Treasury Department Records with sensitive personal data. The plan to ‘put all USAID workers on leave’ is paused pending further legal (constitutionality) assessment of the action – by a Trump appointed judge nonetheless.

Still, there is an imbalance in what pushback is possible. Amongst most of the rich and powerful, the capitulation may be explained by the caterpillar (centipede) game. In general, the game shows how cooperation fails when actions are sequential and the time frame is finite. All those “obeying in advance” – to use Timothy Snyder’s astute summary of how we end up in an authoritarian state seem to believe that they will be the ones to benefit from defecting from cooperation that defends democracy. They are confirming unfit cabinet members and department heads, even while admitting they are incompetent and/or dangerous. The Republican Congressional majorities refuse to intervene in the Musk Rat atrocities, despite admitting they are unconstitutional. Firms are closing down corporate efforts for diversity, equity, inclusion and access or free or accurate press, and West Point is shutting down clubs providing free assembly of those with shared lived experiences.

This capitulation – a defection from democratic ideals – is in spite of the fact that continued cooperation benefits everyone by making the workplace and community more adaptable, talented, equitable, and innovative, among many other things. These types of benefits flow to the management too; cutting out anyone who isn’t loyal and sycophantic is not going to result in bigger long term gains at the top.

What is the intent? A one-off smash-and-grab for all they can get (the Gaza Riviera? Crypto-currency? Unimpeded Space-X activities?) followed by endless Kid Rock concerts at the Kennedy Center? The crypto-blast is already rife with imposters, Tesla sales are in the toilet (esp. in Europe), and virtually no one thinks Trump Gaza-Plaza is feasible or humane.

For my small part, I hope to do what I can to show that the defections from democracy in this ‘elites only’ game will not pay off. We should know well enough where this all goes for the complicit oligarchs, as the Atlantic has just summed up here. The outcomes of the caterpillar game are not mandated, and average citizens have little agency in it (perhaps the origin of the feeling that not enough is being done). There are plenty of other more sophisticated, more rewarding, more successful games we can and should be playing, and art we should be producing and championing.

Περιμένοντας τους Bαρβάρους

— Τι περιμένουμε στην αγορά συναθροισμένοι;

Είναι οι βάρβαροι να φθάσουν σήμερα.

— Γιατί μέσα στην Σύγκλητο μια τέτοια απραξία;
Τι κάθοντ’ οι Συγκλητικοί και δεν νομοθετούνε;

Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα.
Τι νόμους πια θα κάμουν οι Συγκλητικοί;
Οι βάρβαροι σαν έλθουν θα νομοθετήσουν.

—Γιατί ο αυτοκράτωρ μας τόσο πρωί σηκώθη,
και κάθεται στης πόλεως την πιο μεγάλη πύλη
στον θρόνο επάνω, επίσημος, φορώντας την κορώνα;

Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα.
Κι ο αυτοκράτωρ περιμένει να δεχθεί
τον αρχηγό τους. Μάλιστα ετοίμασε
για να τον δώσει μια περγαμηνή. Εκεί
τον έγραψε τίτλους πολλούς κι ονόματα.

— Γιατί οι δυο μας ύπατοι κ’ οι πραίτορες εβγήκαν
σήμερα με τες κόκκινες, τες κεντημένες τόγες·
γιατί βραχιόλια φόρεσαν με τόσους αμεθύστους,
και δαχτυλίδια με λαμπρά, γυαλιστερά σμαράγδια·
γιατί να πιάσουν σήμερα πολύτιμα μπαστούνια
μ’ ασήμια και μαλάματα έκτακτα σκαλιγμένα;

Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα·
και τέτοια πράγματα θαμπώνουν τους βαρβάρους.

—Γιατί κ’ οι άξιοι ρήτορες δεν έρχονται σαν πάντα
να βγάλουνε τους λόγους τους, να πούνε τα δικά τους;

Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα·
κι αυτοί βαρυούντ’ ευφράδειες και δημηγορίες.

— Γιατί ν’ αρχίσει μονομιάς αυτή η ανησυχία
κ’ η σύγχυσις. (Τα πρόσωπα τι σοβαρά που εγίναν).
Γιατί αδειάζουν γρήγορα οι δρόμοι κ’ η πλατέες,
κι όλοι γυρνούν στα σπίτια τους πολύ συλλογισμένοι;

Γιατί ενύχτωσε κ’ οι βάρβαροι δεν ήλθαν.
Και μερικοί έφθασαν απ’ τα σύνορα,
και είπανε πως βάρβαροι πια δεν υπάρχουν.

Και τώρα τι θα γένουμε χωρίς βαρβάρους.
Οι άνθρωποι αυτοί ήσαν μια κάποια λύσις.

Waiting for the Barbarians
By C. P. Cavafy, 1898

What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

      The barbarians are due here today.


Why isn’t anything going on in the senate?
Why are the senators sitting there without legislating?

      Because the barbarians are coming today.
      What’s the point of senators making laws now?
      Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do the legislating.

Why did our emperor get up so early,
and why is he sitting enthroned at the city’s main gate,
in state, wearing the crown?

      Because the barbarians are coming today
      and the emperor’s waiting to receive their leader.
      He’s even got a scroll to give him,
      loaded with titles, with imposing names.

Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold?

      Because the barbarians are coming today
      and things like that dazzle the barbarians.

Why don’t our distinguished orators turn up as usual
to make their speeches, say what they have to say?

      Because the barbarians are coming today
      and they’re bored by rhetoric and public speaking.

Why this sudden bewilderment, this confusion?
(How serious people’s faces have become.)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
everyone going home lost in thought?

      Because night has fallen and the barbarians haven't come.
      And some of our men just in from the border say
      there are no barbarians any longer.

Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?
Those people were a kind of solution.