Originally Posted By TxSgt1911:
Yes - incompetent leadership, inflation, devaluation of currency, and a weakened military were major factors.

IIRC, some historians also cite the rise of Islam as a factor.

Originally Posted By KingGhidora:
We are NOT on the decline in this country - yet. We do not have a shortage of people willing to be part of our army like Rome did. When you can choose to stay home, have slaves tend to your every need, and have the government keep you afloat when times get bad then you begin to see the signs of the end coming. We are at about that point now. But let's not forget that Rome lasted several hundred years after the Barbarians invaded Rome. In fact the eastern empire lasted about 1000 years after that. Constantine moved the head of the Roman empire to Constantinople in 324. The Goths invaded Rome, the city, in 411. So the heart of the actual empire was not even located in Rome at the time most think of the empire falling. It was in the 1400's when the last of the eastern empire fell to the Ottomans. There are those who would put the end of the empire much later still. They considered the Holy Roman Empire to be an extension of Roman rule and that empire lasted until the Napoleonic Wars.

It is true that a severe shift in the culture of the western empire contributed to its demise. The change was from traditional Roman paganism to Christianity. It put the citizens of Rome at each other's throats and made the empire weak. We see that sort of turmoil today but we are switching from Christianity to nihilism. You don't see too many hippies joining the military just to be blunt about it. But in fact Christianity eventually united the Roman Empire under one banner after a while. Instead of Christians being burned at the stake they became the dominant force in Rome in the later years. Even after the Vandals and Goths and Visigoths sacked Rome the western empire continued for a few hundred years. It was never on par with its former glory but IMO that wasn't such a bad thing considering how Rome acquired their power in the first place which was by conquest. Slavery was slowly replaced by the self denial furthered by the monastic movement and people like Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Benedict of Nursia. They professed a life of self denial and sacrifice and they brought many priests and monks into what became the Catholic Church. Their lives of poverty were a far cry from the excesses of the Romans at the time of the gladiators and slaves.

We actually see a lot of people wanting to take those government handouts that kept the Roman citizens going when the military wasn't able to secure enough food for all the non-working types hanging out in Rome. They remind me a lot of the Occupy Movement types with their mouths open and their hands out. The self denial of the monks was a sharp turn away from the fat slobs who lived in Rome.

But anytime you see the youth of a culture adopt a different philosophy of life than their parents held you are bound to see trouble. in fact most great civilizations in history have started to decline over exactly that phenomenon. And we are certainly on that boat. That doesn't mean we won't last out the year. Italy is still on the map and people still live there. It just isn't the heart of a huge empire and it hasn't been for a long time. Only time will tell if the USA goes that route. I happen to think we have quite a bit of good left in our culture. My kids have been wildly successful and they got it from hard work. I don't expect the whole country to become loonie liberals overnight. They are only about 10% of our population at this point. We won't have real problems until that number becomes 50% or more.

Originally Posted By vm1970:


Then why are we using contractors to help augment our milatary.

Originally Posted By 4v50:
Like the Romans we are devaluing our currency.

Like the Romans we have our own Free Shit Army

Like the Romans we have many laws that cannot be enforced

Like the Romans we have our bread (Dignity Cards) and circuses (TV)

Like the Romans we have mercenary armies (Xe) to do our bidding

Like the Romans we have over extended ourselves (wars in the Middle East and Asia)

Like the Romans we are broke.

Unlike the Romans we don't have a single common unifying language. Hablo Espanol?

Originally Posted By Arcades057:


What happens after the fall? A generation of barbarians feast on the leavings of America. A generation later, barbarian hovels spring up in the shadows of skyscrapers, with "elders" telling stories about the God-men who built the massive stadiums and other edifices.

Rome fell for many, many reasons, not the least of which is that it relied upon barbarians to defend itself from... barbarians. Sort of like how we allow the barbarians-of-thought, the left-wingers, to decide policies that are supposed to protect us from barbarians-of-action, like illegals and the "flashmob" crowds.

To decide whether we are on the wrong path, understand this: During the time of the Roman Republic, the most sought-after thing was the Roman citizenship. Nations warred, and lost, against Rome because they were denied it (the Italian Wars of Gaius Marius). During the early 20th Century, the most sought-after thing was... the American citizenship. Roman senators, and later the Emperors, used the citizenship as a reward to secure political support. They gave away the most valuable thing, thereby reducing its value; just like American senators and the president have done the same over the years.

The truth that Romans learned over time is the same that we will learn soon: Those barbarians of thought or action from the Third World do not, will not, and cannot respect those things that we hold to be valuable. Their thoughts will always be turned to the "right now;" Immediate gratification, as opposed to working for a goal. We're already in our death throes, as evidenced by our elected officials and the staff filling the majority of our courthouses.