The invincible Roman Empire collapsed. Could the USA? What do you think?

Question

Terrorists have a stated goal of destroying America. Do you think it could actually happen?

Answer 1

It's only a matter of time. The Roman Empire collapsed because its people got lazy and overconfident. They could fight off these barbarians--after all, they're the mighty Roman Empire. Sound familiar?

Answer 2

Rome wasn't exactly invincible. At the height of Roman power, three whole legions were wiped out in Teutonberg Forest in 9 CE. This put a check on Rome's attempts to conquer Germany.

However, Rome was still the major power of Europe at the time. Historians have debated the reasons for Rome's fall, but I think that is boils down to a few prominant ones.

Probably the big reason for Rome collapse was the decay of infrastructure. A lot of it had to do with the capitols pulling the local governing talent away from the provinces and leaving local administration in the hands of lesser officials. They pretty much let things like roadways and aqueduct rot away, and corruption ran rampant without any checks.

Probably the big turning point was the Battle of Adrianople in 376 CE, where the Visigoths, guests within the Empire, rose up and destroyed a Roman army, leading to the death of the Emperor Valens. Until that point, Rome seemed to have the ability to recover from disasters, such as the Barrack Emperors of the third century. After the Visigoth victory, this optimism died out, and it was little surprise that Rome was sacked in 410 CE.

Getting back to the USA, it would be a good idea to determine how the country could collapse. Looking at the external threat of terrorism, I honestly can't see how it would work out. Their numbers are far too few. They may be able to wreck incredible damage to certain parts of the country, such as destroying some cities with atomic weapons, but it is unlikely that they can bring the country down alone.

I think that if there is any collapse that it will be a result of an internal process. We see a large division between the wealthy and the impoverished, between coastal mentality and heartland mentality, between cultural lines drawn by immigration. Political divisions, shown prominantly in the last two presidential elections, are a possible driving force.

I think that a collapse would boil down to economics. With the federal tax system and congressional budgets, the wealthier states tend to be having a net loss of revenue, with smaller states being the receiving end. I can imagine a situation were say California, tired of not being able to support itself due to this net loss, decides that as one of the largest economies on their own, they choose to declare independence. Unlike the Civil War of the 1860's, California would have no moral failing that would justify keeping them in the Union. If Sacramento plays its cards right, they would have a high level of foreign support that would make the federal government hard pressed to return the state to the fold.

This would probably start a chain reaction as Texas might follow suit, then perhaps the Northeast. Soon you would have a division of North America where the wealthy states would no longer have a united support system, and the smaller states have economic deprivation.

That's about the only way that I can see the US collapse, as a break-up into a number of smaller nations. It probably would be beneficial to some states and worse for others, but it might be a mosaic a lot like the European Union is today. In other words, a collapse would probably be followed by a revival, but not as a economic superpower.

Answer 3

In time, the U.S. will collapse. It will not be an outside force that will do it. It will be form within.

The Roman Empire was already declining by the time the babarian tribes started raiding the Western Empire. So, it was just a matter of time before the Romans collapsed completely. It had already been divided, so that helped in the decline. The babarians just helped in the decline in the West.

The U.S. will and has started to decline. It is not from outside forces, it has come from within. The Government is too big, same as the Romans. Too many people from too many cultures, so there is cultural divide, same as the Romans. The rich get richer with a decline in the middle class, same as the Romans. A decline in morals, depending on what you think morals are, same as the Romans. The U.S. has sent it's troops out as policeman of the world, not quite the same as the Romans, but similar. The U.S. has become divided, same as the Romans

Well I could go on, but I think I gave enough reasons. The terrorist might be helping in the decline, but they will not be the cause. It just has helped us to see what is wrong with us. The decline can stop if we just figured out how to overcome these problems.

Answer 4

Everything comes to an end but America's dominance won't come to an end from the hands of terrorists. It will come from the hands of politicians and the American people by being complacent doing things like:

- Thinking that democracy is OK and it is somebody else's problem to make educated choices about the leaders we choose.
- Continuing with mediocre education policies
- Making bad economic decisions to protect a status quo instead of moving with the rest of the world
- Blocking legislation that could help the development of new technologies.

Answer 5

Who said the Roman Empire was invincible? Like someone stated above, nothing lasts forever, we even have a law that covers this...the all pervasive 2nd Law....

Answer 6

The USA will not collapse, however the USA could or will become less of a super power in time. I see China becomming the next great super power, since they have the technolgy to put men in space and have the largest popullation.

Answer 7

the US is on an unstoppable decline now. We have destroyed our economy by making wages so high that all manufacturing is done abroad. Now we are exporting our technical jobs. The US is lost. It is just a matter of time. It could be that terrorists help the destruction along, but the destruction is inevitable.

Answer 8

To be frank, we could if crime keeps up.
Rome collapsed becouse the government n o longer accepted it's own money. They doubted the value of the coins that were being made so it was a "no acceptance" policy.
If countierfieters keep it up, we will collapse under our own economy, like Rome.
-Hytegia
(NOTE: This theory is in the long run.)

Answer 9

If the Roman Empire had been invincible, it wouldn't have collapsed now, would it?

Answer 10

the reason the roman empire fell was it's inability to exist on it's own resources. the roman capital grew nothing, created little, and imported all it consumed. when the countries and tribes conquered discovered how weak the romans were, they exploited it. when the us has to get it needs taken care of outside the us (oil for example) it is heading for a downfall. of course we grow our own food, create our own technology (not just tv, computers, etc...), and take care of our wn people (mostly). in a world economy it's a different world, but that's just my opinion. hope this helps.