Is the United States the New Roman Empire?

Question

We attack other countries like the Romans and Alexander did for years . Just as Alexander, and the Roman Empire fell will the United States fall aswell?? I'm not Anti-American just wondering how long we can continue to worry about the welfare of other countries and try to establish democracy in other lands when we are doing such a piss poor job at taking care of the citizens of our own country? How long will the citizen of the USA allow themselves to be lied to about a false war when our country is being ripped at the seams due to illegal immigration, poor educational standards, and high unemployment percentages?? Wake up my fellow Americans, if we don't start to become more active in voicing our opinons to our government about whats happening to our country we will be the next to fall........

For those of you who are saying that the USA has never enslaved another country , what about the recently admitted torture that we are inflecting and the forcing of the Newly formed goverment to rule their country the way we see fit , and how we are trying to force them to let us build a base in a country were we are not wanted!!!!

The current US Unemployment rate is 4.7 % and need I remind you that Iraq did not attack us on 9/11 Osama Bin Laden sent his followers here to attack us like he did previously. Our fight was with Osama and Afghanistan where he is hiding out, we had no business entering Iraq. Iraq and Saddam were not an immediate threat to us. We had Saddam under control. The U.N. Inspector verified nuemerous times there were not W.M.D. and there are still no W.M.D. in Iraq. Our innocent Men and Women in the troops are dying daily for no reason. Over 130k innocent Iraqi civilians have died for no reason. Our presents in Iraq and in this false war is only contributing to the breeding of new insurgents. The Arabic people who didn't hate us before are learning to hate us now. If the shoe was on the other foot and we were the country that was being occupied by another country we would fight like hell to get them out too. So how can you be mad at them for wanting us to leave? They do not want us there.

Answer 1

I see MANY similarties when comes to comparing the US and other major empires in our history.
Our time will come as well, it all starts when one country focuses on another and forgets about it's people.

We must ask ourselves two questions;
What promises has a government made to it's people, and how many have actually been fulfilled?

Answer 2

Completely different. The most similiar examples of the Roman Empire in modern time are the British Empire (which lasted a couple hundred years, ending about the same time as WWII) and the Soviet Block, the shortest lived of all.

America has never occupied a country, pilliaging artifacts and natural resources from another country. We are currently in Iraq at the request of the New Iraqi government - the so called resistance are muslim extremists coming in from other countries. 85% of Iraq has resumed a peaceful everyday life - once the current government has a fully functioning military we will withdraw.

If you had any understanding of what a true occupation/empire was you'd see how far off base your attempted analogy is. Besides - the Roman Empire was robust for nearly a thousand years - we'd still have @800 to go!

Edit reply: do you think this is the first administration that has allowed torture? it's a necessary evil that I have no problem with - and this is preformed on individual terrorists, not countries.
You said that Iraq was not an 'immediate threat' - so you admit they were a threat? You may want to pick up The Art of War at some point, it's been in print several hundred years - you may learn the value of a pre-emptive strike.

Also, our military - 100% volunteered. Not to downplay what they do as I have so much respect for them, but getting killed is part of the job description.

Answer 3

Yes, and I think that if the people of the United States don't realize this, the USA will eventually end up going the way of the Roman Empire.

Answer 4

While I think your concerns about education and and immigration are quite valid, I would say it's a pretty far stretch to compare the United States with the Roman Empire, or with any other empire, like colonial England or France.

If the United States were an empire, we would've annexed Iraq, and Afghanistan. As it is currently we've merely got an armed force acting as a police force until the region cools off, which will likely take a long time. This doesn't seem to me to constitute imperialism.

I don't think we're doing such a piss poor job of taking care of our citizens. Compare what we have to what Iraq had during the rule of Saddam, and tell me who was doing a piss poor job of citizen maintenance. Bush hasn't sent a certain ethnic contingent of the American population to the gas chamber. As bad as we may look, no nation on earth is as free, as generous, or as secure as America is.

Answer 5

Wake up yourself. We don't have high unemployment percentages. Yes, there are areas worse than others, but historically for our own country, we're pretty good right now. Compared to other countries, we're great.

One big difference between us and Rome is Rome was conquerring other lands and people to increase it's domain. The US hasn't done anything like that since Manifest Destiny in conquerring the West.

I cannot agree with you more on the illegal immigration issue (especially as it pertains to border security) and our declining educational standards. Both of those can be taken care. Just decide to secure the borders and make the NEA accountable!

Answer 6

Well we are still here and I'm actually happy we are the Roman empire and we will still Stay we have enemies let them talk but I'm glad to be an American and Christian

Answer 7

No the Romans conquered Countries and enslaved people I see
no similarities with the United States the people under Romes occupation who didn't cooperate or were troublemakers got fed to the lions alive. All those people who are protesting the war and pissing on Bush if they tried that with Ceaser or another Roman leader they would be executed painfully.

Answer 8

Yes... I mean it needs to be checked over a longer period.

But this is the image people may have in some countries

Oh I forget to recommend you Peter Turchin's book "War and Peace and War how Rise and Fall empires" - He is good!

Answer 9

We do NOT attack other nations as the Caesars and Alexander did. They attacked cities and states to subjugate, control and tax them. They inter-married to dilute the races. They enforced ROMAN law above all others, and often demanded allegiance to ROMAN deities before the local religions could be practiced.

HOW IS THAT LIKE AMERICA?????

Alexander fell because he lost the faith and the determination of his men, because of greed and an abandonment of his heritage and his friendships.

Rome fell because they used diplomacy when war was called for and used war when diplomacy was called for, mistakes the US is fortunately NOT MAKING!

If you do not worry about the state of Iraqis, Iranians and Saudis and Palestinians, their piss poor leadership will continue to foment baseless fervor against America and entrench themselves and their regressive regimes even further, wiping out any hope for the millions of Muslims who live under authoritarian rule with no hope for the future. The world is our business, and there is no denying that. Democracy frees people from ideological and political enslavement and gives them a stake in their own future. These concepts are foreign to those used to life under selfish strongmen who impose their will over the people (much like Roman and Alexandrian methods, each had its own version of totalitarianism).

False war? There's nothing false about it, I am at a loss as to how the war is FALSE? There is a need to introduce democracy and capitalism in every corner of the world, so that all in the world are speaking the same economic language and share in economic opportunity (rather than have it sifted for them by despotic leaders with poor social management skills). That is a NEED. We do not prosper from this war, it has been sacrificial, but for a good aim, the freedom and democracy of Iraq and Afghanistan. There is good being achieved in these regions, which were subjected to regressive, autocratic oppression for years. We have resolved that issue, but the rebuilding into a modern society is a long road, not one that can be travelled in the span of a four-year term or an election campaign. This is a difficult journey, and perhaps too difficult for the feeble and fickle minds of the spineless in our lot.

Illegal immigration and poor education are national security issues, but not to be traded in for national defense. WE WERE ATTACKED. We must respond, until the task of routing out extreme Islamic terrorism is achieved. Falling short means we ACCEPT terrorism in our lives and in our world. THAT is UNACCEPTABLE. So you can make yourself feel better by saying we should leave the Middle East, but that just brings the threat closer to home. There is a threat, we saw its face, in 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, the terrorism does not sleep, nor should we.

Employment is at its highest level since the pre-dot-com boom of the mid-90's. So I don't know what unemployment you speak of, please provide facts!

WE should wake up, WE should be active, WE should be invested in a Grand America that leads the world in economic and political progress. America is the bastion of freedom and human intellect. We are despised because we succeed, NEVER forget that. If making friends means failing, I'd rather be lonely. We must NEVER forget 9/11. NEVER.

Answer 10

We are not spreading an empire or enslaving our combatants. Rome fell apart from the inside and was not conquered by anyone.