[R. Scott]

All nations eventually fall.

[AntiGuv]

I think you meant all regimes eventually fall or something like that. Some modern nations (e.g., China) have been around in some form or another since antiquity.

[what i think]

"All nations eventually fall."

yes they do. different types of governments can last longer than others, but sooner or later they all fall.
i believe we have done quite well for a demrocacy {200+ years} longer than most. i'm not sure where we're heading, but within the next 25yrs something is going to happen. if you think about it, we hang on by a very thin thread to our lifestyles. if water were to go out or electricity for more than a week it might be over for this type of civilization that we live in. i think freedom has to be taken away from us for awhile sometimes, for us to appreciate it again. i think this slow whittling away of our rights doesn't alarm people enough.
that's...

[guitfiddlist]

All nations eventually fall.

Hey! You stole my line. I always say that....just kidding.

But more seriously, whenever I said that the US is teetering, my father (an old CIA hand) always used to say "People've been saying that since the 50's". Which is also true.

But I remember saying, "I'll bet the Romans used to say 'Aahhh...yeah...we've always been hearing that sky is falling crap for three hundred years now'. And one day Rome DID fall."

And then he said something very interesting, concerning the longevity of an empire. The proper way to measure the timespan of a reigning empire is not with time itself - but with events. For example, a thousand years ago, a good war took a couple of years for the armies to meet each other. Now they can meet in hours and conclude in days.

And my thoughts are, with our accelerated pace, we've already achieved the decadence and decay that took the Romans the better half of a millenium to achieve.

[lmr]

Great Tagline!