Rome burned while Nero played his fiddle. That is an adage or saying that we can learn a lot from. 

This is why learning a little history can be important. Nero was the emperor of Rome in 64 AD. It is now 2025, so that was close to 2,000 years ago - long before the internet, YouTube or social media.

Rome started as a farming village and grew as it slowly became the capital of an empire which covered most of continental Europe. It had become a city of around 1 million people, making it the largest city on the planet at that time. It had its big state buildings and palaces for the wealthy and many also had country homes and estates. Unfortunately, the poorer people and workers lived in shanties, shacks and poorly constructed abodes.

Then on a hot and windy summer day, probably in the middle of a drought, a fire started and swept through the shanty towns and slums of the city. Accounts vary but it seems Nero, their supreme ruler, was hanging out in his palace in town or maybe out at his country estate and he wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 fazed by this disaster at all. He was busy entertaining other nobles and playing his fiddle. 

Some even suggested he was pleased that the fire was wiping out the shanties and slums because that would allow him to construct roads and infrastructure to create suburbs befitting a capital city.

No one knows for sure because it happened so long ago and no one at the time wrote a well-researched book about it. It was just another story in history. However, I remember in high school a teacher was trying to explain the adage when one of the students insisted it couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 be true because the fiddle or violin wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 invented until the 1600s. Obviously, the person was destined to become a music history major. 

A lesson on the power of the rich turned into a debate about musical instruments and when they were created.

We are certainly living in turbulent and politically confusing times. But there is another adage: SA国际影视传媒榊ou have to be careful what you wish forSA国际影视传媒�. LetSA国际影视传媒檚 imagine that Parliament, whenever it decides to sit again, passed a law that if you get 100,000 signatures on a petition, your wish will be granted. Can you imagine how many petitions would be started overnight? 

Personally, I would consider starting one that said 'None of the above' should be an option on the election ballot because it is a feeling I often have. As a species, humans have been working on how to govern themselves for thousands of years and hopefully we will continue to evolve in this regard. 

Another word I always liked is quisling. A gosling is a baby goose while a quisling is someone who sides with the enemy, usually for their own gain. Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator during the Second World War. Things didnSA国际影视传媒檛 end well for him when the allies won that war.

I like that word because around powerful leaders, there is usually a lot of quisling going on by assorted quislers. I am surprised the word isnSA国际影视传媒檛 used anymore. 

Speaking of words, there should be one for the group of people who stand behind a politician when they are giving a televised speech. Sometimes the people look interested but other times, they look baffled at why they are standing there listening to someone drone on and on. Some look downright bored, and they are even asking themselves 'Why am I here?' 

Good question. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 all about optics. Maybe they should be called opticons.