The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

--amadeus--

A common enough theme and one that's been discussed in any number of places but this article gives the best thought out and argued list of parallels between Ancient Rome and teh modern US that I have found.

After ruling much of the known world for centuries, Rome fell due to a number of factors that, historians believe, would not have been fatal in isolation, but that proved terminal in combination. Military overspending and overreach, an untenable economic system, and currency debasement all played a role. As has been well documented, the Roman emperors attempted to distract the populace from the increasingly dire reality of their situation by providing bread and circuses. But entertainments could not stop the nation-state from yielding to the pressure of its own weight.

There are numerous parallels between the end of the Roman Empire and the path the 226-year-old American republic is now on. One difference in these fast-moving times is that empires can rise more rapidly, but are also likely to decline more rapidly

linky

Very strange! I'd found this on Stumble a few days ago, read it, and had it left aside to post here...

It's a good, long article. I must give it another read, my previous one was just a quick skim.

DublinWriter

It can be applied to all empires - especially the British Empire.

--amadeus--

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Very strange! I'd found this on Stumble a few days ago, read it, and had it left aside to post here...

It's a good, long article. I must give it another read, my previous one was just a quick skim.

Too slow

I found it on StumbleUpon as well - great way to get stuff like this.