Replies

from the article: "3) If You Stop Doing What Makes You Successful, The Success Won’t Continue Forever:"

"I speak as a Roman history buff; this is a very good summary."

"Those few of us left that studied REAL history, see the all-too-frightening parallels."

I love these analogies, but the bottom line is: it's all nonsense.
Sorry.

The Western Roman Empire did not fall for any of the reasons listed: not because their leaders were corrupt, not because their elites were decadent, not because their masses were indolent & dependent on government largess, and not even because their diverse ethnicities didn't assimilate.

How can I possibly know this for sure?
Because all of that existed for centuries before the Western Empire fell, and the empire always eventually recovered from any weakness or disaster.

So, what was it then?
Simple: the cost of maintaining enough legions on the frontiers to protect against barbarian invasions was more than the Western Empire alone could afford.
That's because the real wealth of the empire was in the East -- Egypt and Constantinople especially.
When the West was cut-off from the East's wealth, it slowly withered, became economically brittle and eventually bankrupt.

Is there a parallel with us today?
Oh, you betcha! Bigly!
The US was key to achieving WWII's Unconditional Surrender over Axis powers because we were then the world's economic power-house.
Today, not so much.

So, why do you suppose our President is working to restore the economic base on which our own military might depends?
Because he knows that, regardless of whatever other sins we are guilty of, just like the ancient Romans, the one sin for which there is never forgiveness is: weakness, economic or military.

You disagree?