Posted on 10/26/2016 10:07:58 AM PDT by Starman417
I'm writing this while sitting on a cruise ship that’s docked in Mallorca, Spain. I'm heading to France and have just spent 4 days in Italy. I've only had a cursory look at the news from home, and what I've caught has been depressing, like this entire election cycle.
One of the most interesting things about this trip thus far - other than the obvious visits to Pompeii, the Coliseum and St. Peter's - has been observing how things work - or don't - and talking with people who live in Italy. The first thing you discover in Naples is that the place is absolute chaos. Driving is life threatening, things are expensive and the trash situation is a disaster. And that is from a tourist perspective, and we get to see the city's good side! For Italians it's far worse, particularly businesses, and it's not just Naples. The Italian government takes half of your REVENUE, strangles you with regulations and can’t provide basic services for anyone. At our Rome hotel our host asked us to make sure we turned off the light in the room because electricity is so expensive it might be the difference between his breaking even or taking a loss on our stay. A friend living in Naples told us that Italians rarely turn on heat in winter because the price of gas is too high.
This all comes on the heels of my having listened earlier this year to the History of Rome podcast. The most interesting thing about that history was the fact that the Roman Empire lasted for over 500 years... Or 1,500 years if you count the Eastern Empire. They had some spectacular rulers such as Augustus, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius, and some of the worst in Caligula, Nero and Domitian. You would somehow think the Empire couldn't survive such incompetence and perniciousness, but somehow it would. So you ask yourself, cannot America survive whichever disastrous candidate emerges victorious from the 2016 election? If the Roman Empire could survive 500 years can't the US survive Hillary Clinton? The truth is, I'm not sure, and I lean towards no...
Rome may have been a sophisticated empire, may have built thousands of structures that have survived two millennia, but make no mistake, the Rome that built an Empire and ruled the known world was a brute power. They survived by waging war on their enemies and taking their resources. As long as Rome was at war and winning, it was (mostly) strong. What's more, the Roman Empire was a dictatorship. The position of Emperor was usually passed from Father to son - sometimes adopted for that specific purpose - but there were countless coups where the resulting emperor was the man who controlled the most powerful legions or the one who bribed the Praetorian Guard. In essence Rome was a dictatorship that survived by taking the resources of its neighbors and supplicants.
But America is not that. Although the United States did grow partially by winning wars against the British, Indians, and others, geographically it has been largely static for over a century. We even gave up wide swaths of land – or more accurately, didn’t take them – after having won wars across the planet. In addition, the United States has never been a dictatorship. It has always been a nation where the leader has been elected by citizens, if indirectly. More importantly however, it has been a nation where the Constitution reigned supreme. From John Adams to Abraham Lincoln to Richard Nixon, the Constitution ultimately ruled the day. The limited government based on that Constitution is what has made America the most powerful and important nation in human history.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...
There will be an entity that calls itself the United States of America, but the Republic ceased to exist on Usurpation Day, January 20, 2009 when all of our elected and appointed oath takers failed to do their sworn duty to stop the Kenayanesian Usurpation.
Rome neither had nukes nor anyone as eager as Hillary Clinton to launch them.
Survival in a closing world is less preferable than prosperity and freedom.
Rome was over-run with too many uncivilized non-Roman 3rd world types, same as us.
The empire of Rome lasted about 1500 years, from birth until its death around 300-400AD. The death spiral started when Rome no longer depended on its homegrown armies of Roman soldiers...but rather made bad agreements with surrounding tribes and hordes to protect Roman soil. We...the USA are going exactly the same way....no army, no defense, no country. Russia, the PRC (China), India, Iran, Saudia Arabia, Pakistan, North Korea, etc. are waiting with baited breath for Hillary Clinton to become the USA POTUS
They have had a field day, dealing with the hate America group of Obama, Clinton, etc. Trump is right...if we do not destroy both the Republican & Democrat Establishment political parties, this coming Novmber.....the USA within twenty years, will cease to exist as a functioning world power!!! Ya know...folks...history does repeat itself!!! And...I can assure you...those who wish and work for our downfall will not be kind to Americans....when they take command and power!!! It’s coming!!! I agree with DJT...we have, but, one chance left. this cominf November!!! The good news for me...is that I will be pushing up diasies somewhere...when this unbelievable horror occurs!!!
It was nice participating with you all on this wonderful site. Thank you to the Robinsons. I’m sorry I’m too broke to donate. Using a 10 y/o hand-me-down laptop here.
Well, the question is would you prefer to live in ancient Rome or Orwell’s 1984? I’ll take Rome any day.
Why wait? Ask yourself if the US survived the Obama presidency.
Have we experienced racial healing?
Has terrorism been brought to a finish?
Do other nations respect our status as lone superpower?
Do we have cheap, universal healthcare?
Are we a nation-state or a republic?
Has income inequality moderated?
Are our borders secure?
Do we have a thriving economy?
Rome was blessed with weak opponents so they could afford stupid emperors.
However their weak opponents got better, but they kept appointing stupid emperors.
We don’t have that luxury. We used up our stupid passes in 2012.
Sorry, Charlie, but the Republic ceased to exist as far back, if not farther, as the Bush administration’s USSC ‘victory’ AKA Gonzales v Raich, which blew down any remaining barriers between federal government and the states.
It can be argued the Republic was killed off before Raich, but certainly wasn’t an Obama coup.
The Roman Empire fell.
The Sun is setting on the British Empire.
Sure, maybe Rome survived its many corrupt and incompetent Emperors, but many, many of its citizens didn’t.
Define “survived”. The Roman Empire eventually went belly up due to leftist polices and the Dole was a big factor in its demise.
At some point a Hillary presidency will bring the Russians to the First Strike Protocol. The Clintons, more accurately stated as Soros, Gore and The Globalist Oligarchy, were directly involved with looting the remnants of the Russian controlled Soviet Union. That was why Hillary gave them a reset button. Not because of GWB’s policies. Guess what the Russian word for revenge is Hillary ?
The answer to the question is no, the USA will not survive in it’s current form. The federal government will become ever more tyrannical, incompetent, and impoverished. Sooner or later some collection of states will go Scotland after having their legitimate grievances ignored and rebuffed for decades.
Yep. History repeats.
It’s repeating there, too: invading Muslims protesting with their posteriors in the air in front of the Coliseum (no doubt under the benign watch of the Jesuit Communist next door).
Bureaucracy Kills: A Lesson from Rome
https://fee.org/articles/bureaucracy-kills-a-lesson-from-rome/
Why history, the Classics, civics aren’t taught in public schools any more...?
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