The year is 152 BC. Rome has fought two wars against its neighbor in the Mediterranean, Carthage. Although Rome was ultimately successful in both wars, it suffered a number of humiliating losses along the way that shook faith in Roman military might. By 201 BC, Carthage nonetheless had been reduced to a small territory and ceased to be a threat to Rome.
Scipio Africanus imposed a peace treaty on the Carthaginians which stripped them of their overseas territories, and some of their African ones. An indemnity of 10,000 silver talents[note 2] was to be paid over 50 years.[26] Hostages were taken and Carthage was prohibited from waging war outside Africa, and in Africa only with Rome's express permission. Many senior Carthaginians wanted to reject it, but Hannibal spoke strongly in its favour and it was accepted in spring 201 BC.[28][29] Henceforth it was clear that Carthage was politically subordinate to Rome...
Cato the Censor traveled to vestigial Carthage. He was shocked by the wealth and culture that remained. Upon return to Rome, he began to end all his speeches before the Senate with “Ceterum (autem) censeo Carthaginem esse delendam (Furthermore, I consider that Carthage must be destroyed), often abbreviated to Carthāgō dēlenda est (Carthage must be destroyed).
Carthāgō dēlenda est...
Rome prepared for war against Carthage, for a third time
A large Roman army landed at Utica in 149 BC under both consuls for the year, Manius Manilius commanding the army and Lucius Marcius Censorinus the fleet. The Carthaginians continued to attempt to appease Rome, and sent an embassy to Utica. The consuls demanded that they hand over all weaponry, and reluctantly the Carthaginians did so. Large convoys took enormous stocks of equipment from Carthage to Utica. Surviving records state that these included 200,000 sets of armour and 2,000 catapults. Their warships all sailed to Utica and were burnt in the harbour.[62] Once Carthage was disarmed, Censorinus made the further demand that the Carthaginians abandon their city and relocate 16 km (10 mi) away from the sea; Carthage would then be destroyed.[62][63] The Carthaginians abandoned negotiations and prepared to defend their city.
Carthage ultimately was destroyed. Up to 750,000 people died, most of them civilians, and a further 50,000 Carthaginians were enslaved.
* * *
Fast forward about 2,200 years to San Francisco, CA. Tech giant Twitter, a perpetual money loser, has finally started to turn the corner and generate a profit, or at least reduce its losses.
|
Year
|
Net profit / loss ($mm) |
| 2012 |
-79 |
| 2013 |
-645 |
| 2014 |
-577 |
| 2015 |
-521 |
| 2016 |
-456 |
| 2017 |
-108 |
| 2018 |
1206 |
| 2019 |
1466 |
| 2020 |
-1136 |
| 2021 |
-221 |
How did Twitter do it? Content moderation.
By 2021, Twitter was able to bring in $4.5B in advertising revenue. Advertising is basically Twitter’s only source of income. Content moderation brought more people to the site. Companies were willing to pay more money to advertise. And Twitter made more money. Viola! Moreover, the people who were coming to Twitter were the kind of people advertisers wanted (i.e., not Nazis).
It’s the age old debate that’s been raging on message boards since the late 90’s and early aughts: free speech versus content moderation. And Twitter was showing in cold hard cash that being liberal while imposing moderate content moderation worked. So… dēlenda est.
* * *
People ask my why Elon Musk would light so much money to destroy Twitter? I tell them because Twitter was succeeding. Oh, there’s other, secondary motives tied up in this. It’s Elon. But at the core, Elon was willing to set a pile of money on fire because the very manner in which Twitter was succeeding was intolerable.
If you think I’m being speculative here, Elon has an actual record of doing the very same thing.
In 2008, California passed a proposition to build High Speed Rail. A communitarian endeavor is anathema to Silicon Valley. While Republicans set out to kill the project through lawsuits which delayed it and defunding in Congress, Elon had another strategy. Elon spent his own money to create a company which would outcompete California High Speed Rail in the public eye. While High Speed Rail became bogged down in lawsuits over land acquisition, Elon Musk proposed… hyperloop. “You stupid, communitarian liberals building 20th Century technology,” Elon said, “through my genius and advances in technology, I will build something cheaper, easier, and faster!” Who would want to spend $100B on high speed rail whose fate is subject to political pressures when a tech genius like Elon Musk can do it faster, cheaper, and easier?
Except hyperloop is vaporware. The concept wasn’t invented by Elon Musk — It’s been around for over 200 years. People haven’t built it because the technical hurdles, which I would be glad to elaborate on, are insurmountable. Did Elon Musk spend money to start a hyperloop company just to attack California High Speed Rail? Actually, yes.
The hyperloop facility has since been demolished. A bunch of the high speed rail system has been constructed, but the future is now uncertain.
Carthāgō dēlenda est…
* * *
Twitter was many things. It was chiefly a piece of tech real estate, where activists could resided in close proximity to powerful elite. It was coveted by fascists, neo-reactionaries, and authoritarians for this very reason. Twitter is now purging mainstream liberal accounts. I migrated to Twitter from here, because activism through microblogging was easier for me, and easier to remain anonymous. The liberal community on Twitter has been decimated. Twitter will descend into 4chan; the fate that awaits all forums who refuse content moderation. And that’s just fine with Elon. This was his goal all along.
dēlenda est…
