Phillip IV on His High Horse

King Phillip IV may have been important and accomplished many things, but he sure did like to have his way with no questions asked. Imagine if our government today just made up their own rules to cover their backsides, think for a moment that they don't already do this, and they made no bones about it, it was just what happened and that's the way it was. He wanted to live the life of luxury he felt he deserved, regardless of what it took for that to happen. He stepped over people's beliefs and the history of the country, these common courtesies were too much to be considered. I wonder how the American public at large would react to a leader like this, that not only did what they wanted to but loudly made rules to cover their actions regardless of what anyone said. I know they do it now and lie about it, but what if they shook it in our face, knowing there was nothing we could do about it? I hope we still have a little of the pioneering spirit left that would be needed to stand up for our rights and say no to something that is wrong.

The Return of the Black Death?

A statement in the reading referred to there being medication to those that may become infected now, I thought the Black Death was all but gone, extinct. That scares me to death to think this horrendous plague could come back, seemingly at any time. With the catastrophic effects this plague had on the economy, the population of the people themselves, and all the way to the arts, I can just about get a mental image of what it would do to our more modern world. Entire states could be driven to bankruptcy or total disaster areas in a matter of a week or two, and how would we fight back from that? How would it be possible to get back to where we currently are again. I don't want to think about it, but it's something that will not be ignored.