The Falling of Rome?

In ancient Rome, as the empire decayed, the Fat Cats would put on special events or declare holidays with wild attractions to keep everyman at bay. Animals were captured in huge numbers to fight to the death in the arena's. This was to keep everyman complacent. Everyman has his dark-side also, and it needs to be fed. Gladiators were honored as the sport stars of today are. To be a Fat Cat in ancient times you had to be able to exploit everymans every venal weakness. Sound familiar?

Today we have television and radio with which the Fat cat can corrupt everyman. They can promote their lies in an instant. In the the end, it wasn't just the water flowing through lead pipes that brought down the Romans, it was the Fat Cats love of excess.