DID MARCO RUBIO “TAKE” A PAGE FROM MY BOOK?

By Dr. Juan R. Céspedes, Ph.D.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a speech on Wednesday evening, Oct. 7, in Athens, with the Acropolis shining magnificently behind him. He encouraged western nations to defend and take pride in their shared heritage. Was Marco Rubio inspired after reading my book, “The Long Goodbye: The End of America and the West: A Guide for Its Burial or Revival” (published in August, 2026)? You decide. The content of his speech paralleled a key chapter in my book, which follows:

PRIDE IN AMERICA AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION — PART 1/4

An undebatable historical truth is that America’s founding was laid on the bedrock of the “Western” values of the Enlightenment, which was part of the broader Age of Reason across Europe, bursting forth in Britain, Scotland, France, and having seedlings planted in Spain. This should not be a complex or debated topic. The Enlightenment was based on the belief that reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy. These values include the ideals of liberty, representative government, the rule of law, religious freedom, and individualism. Add to the mix the principles inherited from English common law, such as due process and trial by jury. The Enlightenment figures are all Europeans: John Locke (rights to life, liberty, and property, and government by consent), Baron de Montesquieu (separation of powers in government), and Voltaire (freedom of speech, religious tolerance). All were men who emphasized the primacy and desirability of reason. Other major figures are Jean-Jacques Rousseau (general will), Adam Smith (the efficiency of capitalism) and you have the basis for our widespread economic prosperity. The extent to which these were also shaped by Judeo-Christian principles, which greatly impacted the founders’ beliefs, such as human dignity, individual responsibility, and free will is also unquestionable. The concept of Imago Dei (e.g., which denotes the symbolical relation between God and humanity — humans made in the image of God) was used to argue for the inherent worth of all people, and became a basis for later arguments for human rights. Recognition should be given to Father Francisco de Vitoria and the School of Salamanca, an early school of thought in the 16th century whose ideas, particularly regarding natural law and individual rights, influenced later Enlightenment thinkers. Father Vitoria was a Dominican friar and professor who is often referred to as the “father of international law” for his work on natural law and the rights of indigenous peoples. All of the aforementioned profoundly and indisputably influenced the American Revolution and the Constitution of the United States.

With the utmost respect and lack of ill will, the Enlightenment was not a product of Asia, Eurasia, Africa, Central of South America, Oceania, Antartica, the North Pole, the island regions, and certainly not Zealandia — it originated in the West. And before the Enlightenment? What did Western Civilization do for humanity? Permit this humble analyst of history to provide a qualified yet meticulous answer: The socio-political achievements of democracy and human rights, whose roots extend to Ancient Greece, and which gradually led to more widespread political power and universal suffrage, are ideals which sprouted in Western soil. Ancient Rome gave the world the development of more complex legal systems, and its subsequent revival in Napoleonic laws. Western civilization was first in seeking to abolish slavery during the 19th century, as well as the development of religious tolerance and the balancing of religious belief with human reason. In contrast, the Muslim Ottoman Empire practiced slavery for centuries, from its founding around the 14th century until the new Republic of Turkey officially abolished all forms of slavery in 1924! The Renaissance’s emphasis on logic and reason, in turn, led to the spread of the scientific method, leading to a greater reliance on reason, empiricism, logic, and inventions which benefitted humanity and extended life expectancy. Let’s throw into this Boeuf Bourguignon Johannes Gutenberg’s movable-type printing press, which started the Printing Revolution, and which revolutionized the spread of information, mass literacy, and new ideas; the first university in Europe — the University of Bologna in Italia; the first hospital, generally considered to be the one founded by St. Fabiola in Rome around 400 AD; a rich tradition of philosophy, from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, to later thinkers like René Descartes, Immanuel Kant, John Locke, and Friedrich Nietzsche; the Industrial Revolution and mass production, which transformed Western society, and then the world, with new technologies, economic systems, and which lead to significant growth, a higher standard of living, and the creation of a middle class; a wide range of inventions, from Fulton’s steam engine and Bell’s multiple inventions, to the Wright brothers, Einstein, Curie and Planck, which led to advancements in telecommunications, agriculture, aeronautics and space travel; the development of global trade networks through the efforts of people like Marco Polo, Columbus, and Magellan to Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes; a long tradition of influential and innovative art and architecture, from Michelangelo and Fredrick Remington to Villard de Honnecourt and Frank Lloyd Wright; the development of classical and modern literature, with its rich tradition of storytelling and poetry spanning from Cervantes to Elmer Kelton; a long tradition of musical composition, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s classical symphonies to the modern popular music of the Beatles and Ennio Morircone….

PART 2/4 to follow!!

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THE LONG GOODBYE: THE END OF AMERICA AND THE WEST A Guide for Its Burial or Revival.

Every civilization believes itself eternal, right up until the moment when it is only a memory. This is the story of that moment — and the choices that follows it.

The Long Goodbye is neither a eulogy nor a rescue plan, but both at once: it is a clear-eyed reckoning with the forces unmaking the American and Western order — institutional decay, civic amnesia, the slow surrender of self-government to the collective spectacle — paired with an unflinching look at what it would actually take to reverse course, if reversal is still possible. Drawing on history, political philosophy, economics, and the long record of empires that mistook decline for a passing mood, this book refuses the comfort of easy nostalgia and the equal comfort of easy despair. It asks the only question that matters at the end of an era: bury it, or rebuild it — and who, exactly, is going to decide?

Bracing, erudite, uniquely panoramic and unsentimental, The Long Goodbye is a field guide for anyone who suspects we are living through the last chapter of something — and wants to know whether the next chapter is theirs to write. A recognized milestone and decisive piece of writing of contemporary historical analysis!

Accessible at Amazon and other fine book emporiums: https://www.amazon.com.au/Long-Goodbye-America-Burial-Revival/dp/B0HDMNS19X

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Thank you for your interest in this book and for complying with copyright laws and not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it, in any form, without the author’s permission. Violators are subject to civil liability and criminal penalties. Allowance is made for “fair use” purposes such as teaching, scholarship, and research on the condition the author is fully named and a link to the complete imprint is provided.

Above Sources:

Book cover page: A depiction of a grieving Statue of Liberty. There is cause for Liberty to grieve when national tragedy strikes, but also when there are societal challenges, such as injustice or inequality. Retrieved from https://as2.ftcdn.net/jpg/06/02/48/13/1000_F_602481311_VlxpnsnIWDi0MCDHeuRhbmGCvQozCA4z.jpg

Father Francisco de Vitoria’s impact centers on his premise of universal natural rights based on inherent human dignity. Writing in the early 1500s, centuries before the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Fr. Vitoria reshaped and reformed legal and theological thinking toward a new universal view of human personhood. Also fascinating to consider is that in his writings, De Indis (Latin: “About the Indians”) Fr. Vitoria courageously challenged the Spanish King’s right of conquest over the Americas. An impassioned and exciting intellectual atmosphere existed in his classroom at the University of Salamanca. Therein were discussed the ideas of the Catholic Church, entwined with his Thomist education, Renaissance humanism, and the political and social concerns of the century. Reference available at the University of Warwick, UK, at https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/modules/archive/hi3f9/timetable/spanishinventionofrightsandinternationallaw/on-the-american-indians.pdf

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Zealandia is a huge, almost entirely submerged landmass beneath the Pacific Ocean. It is considered a “continent” because it is a large, coherent, and unified geologic unit with a thicker crust than surrounding oceanic crust. 94% of it is underwater, its highest points form the islands of New Zealand and New Caledonia. It broke away from the Gondwana supercontinent around 85 million years ago and has been sinking ever since due to tectonic forces. Yes, this is another attempt, perhaps futile, at humor by il vecchio e saggio professore.

Bossenbroek, Martin (October, 2024). The Ottoman Legacy, Slavery, and Denial. Fanack. Retrieved from https://fanack.com/human-rights/features-insights/the-ottoman-legacy-slavery-and-denial~269118/

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About the Author:

Dr. Juan R. Céspedes, Ph.D., is a veteran educator, lecturer, and prolific author with more than three decades of experience sharing research and commentary on history, politics, economics, sociology, and international relations with a global audience. He is an advocate for maximizing individual freedom, human dignity, and democratic government, known internationally for his clear-sighted, persuasive analysis of totalitarian regimes, the Cold War, the causes of war, terrorism, geopolitics, and contemporary global affairs. His professional accomplishments include being an Educator at both the high school and college levels, school administrator, Examiner and Content Contributor for the International Baccalaureate Organization, Social Studies test bank writer, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the Florida Department of Education, Fellow for Advanced Placement, American College Board, and Advisory Board member and Adjunct Professor, Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Gordon Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship Studies. In 1960, the Céspedes family fled the Castro-communist regime in Cuba and was granted political asylum in the United States. This personal history confirms his deep, firsthand commitment to promoting and protecting democratic values, the common good, and a more humane, lawful, and just society. The Céspedes family fled the Castro-communist regime in Cuba and was granted political asylum in the United States. This personal history confirms his deep, firsthand commitment to promoting and protecting democratic values, the common good, and a more humane, lawful, and just society.

A Partial List of His Published Works

Collapse of the Soviet Empire — an analysis of communism in Europe and Eurasia

War Interminable: The Origins, Causes, Practices and Effects of International Conflict

Cuban Communism and its Impact on World Affairs

International Contemporary History 1848–2008

The Myopic Vision: The Causes of Totalitarianism, Authoritarianism, and Statism

Footsteps to World War III

Coup d’État USA: The Overthrow of the Constitution & Democracy in America

Peace, Conflict, and Security: The Widening Gap

HEGEL & THE REAL FINAL DIALECTIC of HISTORY : Why Nazis, Communists, Dictators, and Other Totalitarians Love Him

The Coming Socialist Revolution in America: The United Socialist States of America is an Inescapable Historical Possibility

CRITICAL RACE THEORY : Explained, Analyzed, and Evaluated

Victory Over Terrorism: The Unthinkable Solution

These and other books by Dr. Céspedes are available at Amazon and other fine book emporiums… https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00DJDSUC0/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=b916f42d-6946-4c74-90a3-e3ce373bd660&ccs_id=1bb7233d-81be-4871-8908-73f7544b5af6