America seems to be at war with just about everybody lately. There was Iraq, then Afghanistan, then we intervened with Libya…and let’s not forget about our oh-so-noble War on Drugs (an inanimate object), War on Christmas (at least according to religious fanatics), and the infamous War on Terror (an abstract concept). With the recent economic recession and political strife that has been plaguing this country, it’s kind of a wonder how so many people seem to be all too willing to repeat history. What do I mean by that? Let me explain.
Centuries ago, there lived a little place named the Roman Empire. It was known throughout the ancient world as a bastion of culture, wealth, and prosperity and as the successor to the fallen Republic. The empire was vast and it easily conquered any barbarian invasion that came its way. Obviously it faced various political problems just as every other nation to date has, but the empire continued to thrive for centuries without too many problems. Then things changed for the worse. The country eventually expanded beyond its capabilities. The empire wasn’t able to be governed efficiently due to its unmanageable size and there were numerous occurrences of precious cities and territories being lost to barbarians without the emperor even hearing about it until weeks later. Communication was difficult in a huge world with no cars or cell phones, after all.
This was especially problematic since Rome had many enemies. The empire fought wars and battles on practically all fronts with no end in sight. These wars cost large amounts of money that was mostly gained through taxing the people. However, as more and more of the empire was overtaken by the barbarians, the government eventually lost huge amounts of revenue that it needed to protect its people. To make matters even worse, the nation’s currency was facing a serious inflation problem. When Rome stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the economy plummeted while the spending of gold continued to rise, especially for unnecessary luxuries, the military, and even social welfare programs for the poor.
As controversial as it sounds, the rise of Christianity also contributed to Rome’s decline. When Christianity became the state religion in 391 BC, Roman citizens began putting personal salvation as a higher priority on their list than contributing to the State. The tax-exempt churches were able to siphon off power from the government when more and more people joined them. Less people were interested in their military as well and it eventually got to a point where the Roman government had to hire barbarian mercenaries (many of whom betrayed them in the end) to fill in for their shrinking army. Obviously, religion isn’t completely to blame. Other factors that caused Rome to fall included politically corrupt and incompetent emperors, class warfare between the rich and poor, the government becoming increasingly controlled by its military, and unemployment. The list goes on and on.
So why does any of this matter to America’s current situation? Think about this for a second. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples (ethnic groups) united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy (an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy). While the President of the United States is by no definition a monarch, the amount of power and influence the executive branch now holds is far beyond constitutional limits. Are you starting to see where I’m heading with this?
While it’s a bit of a stretch to peg America as an empire at this present time (the title is merely a fun poke at the idea), you have to admit that the similarities are quite obvious…and scary. All of the problems that Rome faced back then, America is now facing right now. We are one of the largest, vastest nations in the world and our people are often very divided and different; we have an economy that is rife with inflation, government intervention, and high unemployment; we have an incompetent President at the helm; we are facing multiple never-ending wars on multiple fronts; our country’s politics is largely influenced by religious fundamentalism; we have a spoiled populace that cares more about Lady Gaga’s latest fashion statement than our own political turmoil and we are spending our money more extravagantly than a Beverly Hills pop star (usually on the military or on those social welfare programs). America is going down the same road as Rome!
Our situation, thankfully, is significantly more reversible than that of the Roman Empire. It will be long and tedious work but if Americans can unite themselves long enough to put aside their differences, we can do great things like achieve a peaceful, non-interventionist foreign policy to end war and help us focus on our economic woes instead. Though, I suppose we would first have to convince the fundamentalists that not all Muslims are lying, cheating demons incarnate….
By: Nicholas Kanasky
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I agree 100% Nick, great post and it add an interesting perspective to our foreign policy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comment Victor! It's very much appreciated. I realize that this wasn't my best writing and I promise I will improve my articles from now on. I suppose I can't expect to write that well on my first attempt on an actual blog but oh well. I'll learn. And thank you for the opportunity, man!
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