The post America at 250: Politics, Religion, Morality appeared first on New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism.

"Rome fed 200,000 families free grain by 46 BC, and it called this generosity. Julius Caesar inherited a dole of 320,000 recipients and trimmed it, not out of principle but because the treasury was bleeding. This was the annona, the grain distribution that started as emergency relief under the Gracchi in 123 BC and hardened into a permanent entitlement. Once free grain became a right, no politician could touch it and keep his head. 

"You already know how this works, because you watch the same play run today. A subsidy arrives as mercy. It stays as an expectation. Then it becomes the thing men vote for instead of working for. 

"The Roman citizen once farmed his own land, served in his own legion, and expected nothing from the state but courts and roads. By the time Trajan was staging 123 days of games in AD 107, slaughtering 11,000 animals and pairing 10,000 gladiators for the crowd, that citizen had become a spectator. He no longer fought Rome's wars: hired auxiliaries and Germanic mercenaries did. He no longer fed himself: Egypt and North Africa did, shipped in on the public account. He no longer chose his rulers in any meaningful sense: he cheered them in the Colosseum and collected his ration. 

"The free grain and the free games purchased compliance, not compassion. A man dependent on the state for his dinner and his entertainment does not organize resistance to that state, and every emperor from Augustus onward understood the arithmetic. Panem et circenses [bread and circuses] was a bribe paid in exchange for civic surrender, and the mob accepted the terms gladly. 

"Here is the mechanism the welfare enthusiast never grasps. Virtue is not a feeling. It is a practice, and practices atrophy when the incentive to perform them disappears. Take away a man's need to provide, defend, and decide, and you domesticate him rather than liberate him. Rome spent four centuries proving it, then handed the ruins to Odoacer in AD 476 without much of a fight, because the men who might have fought had long since learned to wait for the grain ship instead."

~ Handre

"Freedom is not empowerment. Empowerment is what the Serbs [had back in the Yugoslav civil war]. Anybody can grab a gun and be empowered. It’s not entitlement. An entitlement is what people on welfare get, and how free are they? It’s not an endlessly expanding list of rights — the “right” to education, the “right” to health care, the “right” to food and housing. That’s not freedom, that’s dependency. Those aren’t rights, those are the rations of slavery — hay and a barn for human cattle.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences."

~ PJ O'Rourke from his 1993 'Liberty Manifesto'

Director Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey,” created the kind of cultural buzz few films can deliver.

Be careful what you wish for, as a wise soul once said.

Said buzz started months ago, and it hasn’t let up in the days leading up to the film’s release date – July 17.

Much of it centered on the film’s cast. Few complained about Matt Damon as Odysseus, the tortured hero at the center of the story. No, the kerfuffle erupted around two performers in the large ensemble.

Lupita Nyong’o and Elliot Page.

Nyong’o is an Oscar-winner, but she’s playing a character typically portrayed by white actresses – Helen of Troy.

We knew nothing about the character brought to life by Page, a trans performer, for the last few months. That didn’t stop social media voices from declaring Page would portray Achilles, a figure known for his warrior prowess.

Page is five-foot-one and, to be frank, doesn’t present as physically intimidating.

Did it matter that we didn’t know what role Page would play until recently? Apparently not, if you listened to the web-based squawking over the casting decision.

Much of the noise has come from the cultural Right. Think The Critical Drinker, The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh and others.

The Odyssey Looks Awful. Here’s Whyhttps://t.co/Wt34srUTAU

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 13, 2026

Now, with the film set for a global release, it’s time to ask the obvious question.

Did conservatives shoot themselves in the foot, or did they bring up valid points about the production?

The answer is easy. Both.

Casting calls took on a decidedly woke edge in recent years. Gender swaps. Race swaps. Some casting decisions happened for diversity reasons above all else.

It’s one thing for “Hamilton” to radically shake up the usual casting choices. That was partially creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s creative point. America is a melting pot, and the nation’s founders didn’t reflect that at the time. They still paved the way for the diversity we see all around us now.

Other recent casting decisions felt forced, inorganic. We suddenly sat through period pieces where the on-screen diversity took us right out of the story.

That’s a mistake.

Nolan has built a career and reputation for putting story first. His 2012 superhero epic “The Dark Knight Returns” rejected early woke-ism while portraying the Occupy Wall Street movement as cruel and corrupt.

How could that Nolan succumb to woke casting decisions? The cultural Right felt confused, if not betrayed.

Still, assuming Page’s role before it became clear proved a mistake. Conservatives still struggle in the pop culture arena, so an unforced error is a terrible look.

So is decrying Nyong’o as not being beautiful enough to play a woman whose “face launched a thousand ships.” The actress is undeniably attractive, even if some may find her less beguiling than others. 

That’s true of any actress. Beauty, like art, can be subjective.

To make matters worse, some used awkward freeze-frame images of Nyong’o to suggest she wasn’t beautiful enough for the part, another clumsy attempt to push that narrative forward.

The Right’s pushback on Page’s casting made more sense.

The slight performer doesn’t conjure heroism on an epic scale. Page’s trans activism makes the actor’s appearance distracting, something a period piece should work to avoid at all costs.

Some movie goers also struggle to watch Sean Penn or Jane Fonda due to their extreme off-camera activism.

Nolan deserves a little blame here, too. He ignored the Achilles rumors for far too long, when he could have easily explained them away months ago. More recently, he shared how he downplayed the culture war squabbles over the film, focusing on the movie first and foremost.

Christopher Nolan Says ‘Odyssey’ Backlash Over Casting and More Is ‘Irrelevant’ and He’s Learned Not to Worry: ‘Remember, I Spent 10 Years Dealing With Batman’ https://t.co/21AhMaGDuF

— Variety (@Variety) July 10, 2026

That’s smart, on paper, but it’s also dismissing those who genuinely want “The Odyssey” to soar.

For every rabble rouser looking to start a fact-free fight over “The Odyssey,” there are others who want the best out of Hollywood and are frustrated by what the’ve seen of late.

They deserve to be treated with respect by the industry. When they’re shut out, ignored or just called racist, everybody loses.

And that only pours more fuel on the next culture war clash.

The post Did Conservatives Jump the Gun on ‘The Odyssey?’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.