Do you think the U.S. is headed down the same path that Rome did when it FELL?

Question

Is there a similar progression to the event(s) that led to the fall of Rome in 476 A.D.?
http://www.tamos.net/~rhay/romefall.html

Answer 1

JonR has a very good answer as a history of Rome, and he has worded it in a way that is easily understandable. Very good job!

As to the original question, sadly yes, the US is going down the same road, and no this is not a George W thing! Just like Rome, the Ottoman Empire, the American Confederacy, the Chinese Empire, and so many others, the US is facing economic deterioration from within. Specifically, we as a nation have decided that our rich are too poor, and our poor are too rich, and like the Romans before us we have decided to take drastic measures to remedy this. We are giving publicly financed subsidies to the very rich while we continue to pacify the poor with subsitence relief, all the while with unfunded military adventures (regardless of how important they may be!), the stifling of new technology in energy (again, kudos to JonR!), and the curtailment of tax revenues.

In particular, we have virtually ended our protections for individual property holders - ie. family farmers, the glut of predatory lending that is destroying individual home ownership, and we are allowing personal retirement savings to be looted by corporate entities. If that were not scary enough, massive government debt (regardless of what is said, this was a big problem under Clinton who diverted Social Security to pretend he had a fake surplus) is a ticking time bomb that we are not trying to defuse at all. Right now, we are borrowing money from MEXICO to pay just the interest on the money we borrowed from Communist CHINA! There is going to be a reckoning some day and sadly it is not that far away, when it will take a majority of the tax revenue of the USA (after huge tax increases on the middle class) just to service this debt. When that happens, the quality of life and the standard of living in the US will plummet, and the consequences will be terrible.

Answer 2

Not entirely. There are some similarities, but not enough to assume that the U.S. will suffer the same fate as Rome. The Roman empire was a logo-centric society; culturally, they favored the past and the status quo, and relied on what was already written rather than new works. As a result they they were mired in the past; the culture stagnated. There were hostile attitudes toward military, cultural, political, and industrial innovations.
In a way, the U.S. is similar. The political control of the country has been in the hands of only the two political parties for near a century, while other countries have several parties over a wider spectrum of ideologies. Plus, the U.S. seems to fall back on the old adage"might is right" when faced with any international opposition. In doing so they fail to recognize that the world is changing around them and military action is no longer the only answer. In effect, the U.S. is politically stagnant.
However, the fall of Rome was also brought about by a 25% decrease in population, which affected their military strength. A series of health epidemics. And a loss of manual laborers as the slave population of Rome gradually declined ( The slaves of Rome were booty taken in wartime, but under roman law any child born in Rome was a Roman citizen, even if the parents were slaves).
So, the U.S. has a leg up on the Romans. And given that the rest of American culture is so fluid, the political landscape may catch up.

Answer 3

I do not think the U.S. is falling. It is that now, the rest of the world that we wanted to learn our ways is learning very fast and they are seeing how such a young country like the U.S. did at one time become the most powerful Country in the world. The people of these countries are seeing how and why the U.S. was unbeatable It was the PEOPLE who made the country so strong, not the government. The people may not agree with the government but if another country tried to beat that government and the country, the PEOPLE would do what they knew was best. Save the Country for the PEOPLE! Our ways are just being learned by the rest of the world and we are now going to be equal with the rest of the world. So we are not falling, we are just joining! We wanted them to learn and they are learning.

Answer 4

The date 476 AD refers to the destruction of the city of Rome by invaders. The fall of the Roman Empire happened over a longer period of time.

In any case, we can look at some of the theories regarding what contributed to the decline of Rome:

1) Lack of a formal succession plan for emperors. New Emperors might be chosen by previous emperors, by the generals, by the senate, etc.

2) Government corruption and assassinations: a huge number of emperors were eliminated through assassination, and emperors themselves used their power to assassinate political opponents including members of their own families.

3) Lack of communication technologies: despite building roads and other systems for enhancing communication, the ancient Romans had major technological hurdles when it came to organizing a far-flung empire.

4) Imperial legion populated by conquered peoples: as Rome expanded, they had an increasing reliance on filling their legions with people they had conquered. Morale and loyalty to the empire suffered over time.

5) Inflation led to economic deterioration. Conversion to a barter economy (rather than a monetary economy) weakened the government.

6) End of tribute and booty for expansion. Early expansion of the Roman empire was paid for by the spoils of war, but later this became unsustainable.

7) Improving technology in rival states. Rome originally had a major military technological advantage (catapults, armor, fort-building, military theory) but these advantages declined relative to other countries over time.

8) Declining virtue. I don't know how one really measures this, but since others have pointed to Rome's alleged drop in morality, I'll include it for completeness. (My own opinion here is that almost every age tends to perceive their own era as less moral than the last, and I don't view the Romans as any more or less moral than their contemporaries).

Based on the above: I don't see a valid argument for the United States following the same path as Rome. The economic, technological and legal framework of the United States is quite a bit different from the Roman Empire.

Answer 5

Yes.

The reason is too much power gives way to arrogance and indifference to the general public's well being.

For the American Govt. - as it has acquired so much power, the general public is not only the American people but the people of the major part of the democratic capitalist world.

The American Government has little regards to the people outside its border, and when these people turn their backs to USA, all the arms and the great size of the economy will be useless.

We can only hope the the American Government realizes this in time and does not let things get out of hands.

Answer 6

I don't know if we will fall like Rome, but there was a statement by someone, I think Dr. Billy Graham, that God is going to have to judge America soon, or apologize for Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord doesn't apologize, because He makes no mistakes. And before all you homos out there raise up with your lame excuses where do you think the word"Sodomy" came from

Answer 7

Where are the barbarians that are taking over in our military? I think the Americans have the edge. Our leaders won't be in office for too long, they're not emperors. The decadence of the coliseum may be seen in the Ultimate Fighting, which is taking hold, not to mention the national past-time of the controlled violence in the NFL.

The moral depravities may be a sign? We shall see.

Answer 8

One of the signs of decadence is thinking that the Roman Empire was a failure. It lasted 700 years, and Rome survived in hard times for 500 years before that.

Answer 9

We are almost there already, At present rate what we know will not be here with in the next 20 years.

Well have a big fall coming and we are not ready for it.

we will see in our time something like the UN take center stage in world government and the US will not be a world player.

It is the path we are taking because we have forgotten where we came from and our responsibility in the world.

Answer 10

Nope, 'cause the USA has never actually been an empire. They have never conquered another country and ruled it under their own government.
The USA has used more restraint in their wars than any other country in the history of war. They have taken more care to avoid loss of life and to protect their own soldiers.
The USA is bigger, richer, and stronger than ever. In fact, this is the first time in history that there has not been another superpower to oppose the United States.