And how wrong are they? The point of being an empire, in its senescent phase, is not to sacrifice anything: it's to take what you want and "be who you were meant to be," etc. I'm reading through Katusky's "Origins of Christianity" and the passages describing the late Roman empire feel very familiar.
At the same time, I notice that the current spate of war movies are all about stoic, unquestioning self-sacrifice (Blackhawk Down and We Were Soldiers). Clearly if we are going to go out and fight the world, this is the desired attitude, but I think it's more wishful thinking than reality.
It may very well be that only some kind of ascetic movement will get us out of the capitalist horror show....(some anti consumerist save the earth thing) ...but I don't see American adolescents (i.e. eighteen year olds) lining up to die for Enron, PG&E, etc. So long as the capitalists reward themselves with gazillions in bonuses, while the workers are left to sink, why should the workers fight?
In the culture of the "individual," what is there that is greater than one's self to sacrifice to?
Joanna