Do you feel that we are witnessing the downfall of America?

Question

Historically speaking, the AVERAGE span of any great civilization is 400 years.
Ancient Rome and America are very similar. After the Pax Romana (latin for "the great roman peace", lasted for about 100 years and was a time of prosperity), Rome began to see it's demise (from within). I feel that that 1900 - 2000 was america's "pax romana". We have become too liberal, lost moral foundations, and now we're starting to be attacked from outsied our borders (similar to the Mongols invading Rome)

Furthermore, a democratic society can not last.....it never has.

Just a few of my thoughts.......

Answer 1

Historically speaking the AVERAGE span of any great civilization is 600 yrs. thats what I have learned, and researched for an answer, so we got a problem here it seems. and length of a time of power has little to do with determining anything in history, The US is not Rome, Rome is not the US, you can't make superficial comparisons to a nation that has been gone for 1500 yrs? people need to get off that stooge mentality, did the romans compare themselves with the Sumarians? the Greeks, the Egyptians? I think not, and it's fatalist whothink for some bizarre reason the US is linked historically to Rome, where in fact they have not commonality at all. Britain could be more in line with the rise and fall of Rome, both came to power, spread out over the known world, controlled trade through out there vast network of resources and trade routes, both had similar legal systems and governments, and both had huge conscript armies. Both slowly lost power,with the loss of lands and trade routes, and shrunk down to there original beginnings, so why not the more equal comparison on Britian with Rome, since Rome actually settled and invaded Britian (londonium) for hundreds of years. But not once did a roman soldier or citizen set foot on North America, so I disagree with you opening statement, and the rest of your illogical comparison.

Answer 2

To the above poster, this is not the 'Pax Americana.' You're incredibly naive to think so. The only 'Pax Americana' was around 1945-1965. To the asker, you claim 1900-2000 was, you're evidently unaware of World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Iraq, and the current wars. (And to K.K., the notion that the economy is up is absurd. In comparison to 20 years ago it is not. In comparison to Western Europe it is not. To what exactly are you comparing your statistics? Or are you getting your statistics from Fox News?)

Firstly, yes, American culture is decreasing, there's no arguing that. It is inevitable. However, where you get the idea that the average span of any civilization is 400 years is beyond me. It's quite mistaken.

The Roman EMPIRE lasted 500 years, but it was a civilization since the 6th century BC (founded in 753 as a small village.) Thus it lasted a thousand years in the West, but its culture continued in the East for another thousand years. Besides which, the Pax Romana lasted from 30 BC-180 AD. That's 200 years.

Greek civilization began around 1600 BC, went through a 'dark ages' period around 1100 BC, was re-born around 800 BC, and continued to 146 BC. That too is more than a thousand years.

Egyptian civilization lasted well over 3000 years. Chinese civilization has lasted continually for over 4000.

Mesopotamian civilizations vary. The Sumerians lasted 1500 years, the Babylonians and Assyrians not nearly as long, roughly 500 years. The Persians lasted about 200 years, but were re-born with the Parthians for another 200.

The Celts lasted a thousand years until conquered by Rome in the first century AD. The Germanic cultures replaced Rome (the Mongols did not invade Rome, they did not appear for another 800 years after Rome's fall) and lasted until the formation of nation-states in the 17th-19th centuries, also lasting over a thousand years.

Thus, the lifespan of civilizations vary greatly, but in no way is the 'average' 400 years.

Answer 3

All empires decay from within because their leaders become corrupt and greedy and other nations find the weak spots in their superiority.
The greed of the American corporations has led to them basing more and more of their manufacturing overseas to take advantage of cheap labor with the compliance of the American consumer who likes cheap goods.
Rich people avoid taxation so that the infrastructure starts to collapse and the divide between rich and poor grows wider.
The people become so disillusioned with their leaders that few even bother to vote and democracy becomes meaningless.
The USA is now in massive debt to China and Saudi Arabia - it's only a matter of time before the collapse comes as it did with the Soviet Union.

Answer 4

Why are so many people in such denial?? Denying the problems in the Black community isn't going to help it. If you're Black and you answer something like this by blowing off the topic then how do you deal with the fact that your future Black sons will have a 1/3 chance of being imprisoned at some point? You cannot ignore the problems in our community because it will allow them to get worse. The answer to this question is YES, obviously. Rap music has penetrated the Black community and hip hop culture dominates over any values previous Black generations had and instilled in one another. Most Black people may not be obsessed with hip hop culture, but a large portion are, and predominately Black communities thrive on hip hop cultural ideals, which are all negative. Lots of free, open sex, money (materialism), ignorance, etc.... Did the Black men in the 70s sag their pants? Did they talk about getting B---ches and h0es? Black people in the 1970s were going in a better path (it was the era of Black Power, being "cool" like Marvin Gaye or Al Green, etc..), before the drug wars of the 1980s and the gangster rap phases that changed the image of Black Americans more into violent thugs who were proud of it. So you're right. In the 70s Black gangs used to BREAKDANCE to show they were better than a rival gang! Do they do that now? No, they kill each other now over stupid things. Black men have the highest high school dropout rate in the United States and the highest homicide rates. Most Black children are raised by the state and a single mother whose father may come around, but there isn't any strong family unit to instill morals and values. There are too many problems to ignore them. I cannot stand when Black people are in denial by the problems that are right in our face every single day. @Soul, that may be real hip hop, but mainstream hip hop is what most people are paying attention to, including most young Black kids. They're the ones who like these stupid rappers, and at this point many of the behind the scenes forces in the music industry are Black men. It is good that it has helped some Blacks come out of the ghettos, but its also keeping some others from trying to get out in other ways like through education, which is necessary at this point. Let hip hop be, the roots of hip hop are NOT bad at all, but the prevailing and dominant culture for Black youth these days is, and it is coming from the mainstream Black rappers like Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, & a bunch of others... People say "70% of rap is bought by white people" and that is a problem because it keeps these guys in the media, BUT that other 30% is largely Black and Latino, just like the demographics of this country. Black people are definitely into rap as much as anyone else, if not more.

Answer 5

You answered it in your first sentence. Average. If the avg is 400, then for every 8-10 yr banana republic, one lasts 800-1000 yrs. Averages out to about 400. It's just a restructuring.

Answer 6

You may be right that we're getting too liberal. But so is the rest of the civilized world, and they're getting liberal even faster than we are. So although we may be getting weaker on an absolute basis, we might be getting stronger on a relative basis.

My point is this: we'll only fall if something makes us fall. And at present, nothing else is strong enough to take us down.

Answer 7

I personally think the "Pax Americana" has been and is continuing from 1945- present.

Answer 8

Your observation echoes Ibn Khaldun's writings in 'Muqadimmah' who states that any civilisation will go through the similar progress. What varies is that the time period of which it takes place.

It's a vicious cycle. It's as certain as death and taxes... and in-laws.

Answer 9

if we are it is because of the non understanding of each others differenxes. We seem to treat each other like it is me and not a unique and different person. Lets face it we all liked the usa at some point - than it swallowed us up. Also we seem to be as messed up as any civilization when it comes to different classes of people.

Answer 10

This is what happens when secularism takes over and they try to take The Ten Commandments out of the courthouses and prayer out of our schools!When we all said God bless America, God did! God blessed us. Now that the Godless are trying to take over, you will see her downfall!