Is America still exceptional?

Nice mug shot of the three stooges.

I agree Dumb, Dumber & stupid. You choose which name fits who.

...HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF...

Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire...??? Ask yourself, do the reasons cited below sound familiar? If they don't, then you are most likely a part of the problem, and not a part of the solution.

There were many reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Each one intertwined with the next...

1. Decline in Morals and Values

Those morals and values that kept together the Roman legions and thus the empire could not be maintained towards the end of the empire. Crimes of violence made the streets of the larger cities unsafe. Even during PaxRomana there were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome. Emperors like Nero and Caligula became infamous for wasting money on lavish parties where guests ate and drank until they became ill. The most popular amusement was watching the gladiatorial combats in the Colosseum. These were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on.

2. Public Health

There were many public health and environmental problems. Many of the wealthy had water brought to their homes through lead pipes. Previously the aqueducts had even purified the water but at the end lead pipes were thought to be preferable. The wealthy death rate was very high. The continuous interaction of people at the Coliseum, the blood and death probable spread disease. Those who lived on the streets in continuous contact allowed for an uninterrupted strain of disease much like the homeless in the poorer run shelters of today. Alcohol use increased, as well adding to the incompetence of the general public.

3. Political Corruption

One of the most difficult problems was choosing a new emperor. Unlike Greece where transition may not have been smooth but was at least consistent, the Romans never created an effective system to determine how new emperors would be selected. The choice was always open to debate between the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's's private army), and the army. Gradually, the Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new emperor, who rewarded the guard who then became more influential, perpetuating the cycle. Then in 186 A. D. the army strangled the new emperor, the practice began of selling the throne to the highest bidder. During the next 100 years, Rome had 37 different emperors - 25 of whom were removed from office by assassination. This contributed to the overall weaknesses of the empire.

4. Unemployment

During the latter years of the empire farming was done on large estates called latifundia that were owned by wealthy men who used slave labor. A farmer who had to pay workmen could not produce goods as cheaply. Many farmers could not compete with these low prices and lost or sold their farms. This not only undermined the citizen farmer who passed his values to his family, but also filled the cities with unemployed people. At one time, the emperor was importing grain to feed more than 100,000 people in Rome alone. These people were not only a burden but also had little to do but cause trouble and contribute to an ever increasing crime rate.

5. Inflation

The Roman economy suffered from inflation (an increase in prices) beginning after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the Roman economy decreased. Yet much gold was being spent by the Romans to pay for luxury items. This meant that there was less gold to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins decreased, the coins became less valuable. To make up for this loss in value, merchants raised the prices on the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter to get what they needed. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables.

6. Urban decay

Wealthy Romans lived in a domus, or house, with marble walls, floors with intricate colored tiles, and windows made of small panes of glass. Most Romans, however, were not rich, as they lived in small smelly rooms in apartment houses with six or more stories called islands. Each island covered an entire block. At one time there were 44,000 apartment houses within the city walls of Rome. First-floor apartments were not occupied by the poor since these living quarters rented for about $100 a year. The more shaky wooden stairs a family had to climb, the cheaper the rent became. The upper apartments that the poor rented for $40 a year were hot, dirty, crowded, and dangerous. Anyone who could not pay the rent was forced to move out and live on the crime-infested streets. Because of this cities began to decay.

7. Inferior Technology

During the last 400 years of the empire, the scientific achievements of the Romans were limited almost entirely to engineering and the organization of public services. They built marvelous roads, bridges, and aqueducts. They established the first system of medicine for the benefit of the poor. But since the Romans relied so much on human and animal labor, they failed to invent many new machines or find new technology to produce goods more efficiently. They could not provide enough goods for their growing population. They were no longer conquering other civilizations and adapting their technology, they were actually losing territory they could no longer maintain with their legions.

8. Military Spending

Maintaining an army to defend the border of the Empire from barbarian attacks was a constant drain on the government. Military spending left few resources for other vital activities, such as providing public housing and maintaining quality roads and aqueducts. Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire. The empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or worse from foreign counties. Such an army was not only unreliable, but very expensive. The emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently which in turn led again to increased inflation.

9. THE FINAL BLOWS

For years, the well-disciplined Roman army held the barbarians of Germany back. Then in the third century A. D. the Roman soldiers were pulled back from the Rhine-Danube frontier to fight civil war in Italy. This left the Roman border open to attack. Gradually Germanic hunters and herders from the north began to overtake Roman lands in Greece and Gaul (later France). Then in 476 A. D. the Germanic general Odacer or Odovacar overthrew the last of the Roman Emperors, Augustulus Romulus. From then on the western part of the Empire was ruled by Germanic chieftains. Roads and bridges were left in disrepair and fields left untilled. Pirates and bandits made travel unsafe. Cities could not be maintained without goods from the farms, trade and business began to disappear. And Rome was no more in the West.

A Reader's Response To The Above Article, Below...

"I have actually asked the question several times, "Which civilization in history most mirrors our own right now? And, I have gotten the Roman Empire in its latter stages in response most times that I have asked...

Our country has enormous potential to be a world leader for centuries to come. However, that is not the direction that we are headed... We can either sit back and blame it on someone else (as Democrats and Republicans and their ardent supporters do all the time) or we can face the challenges and do something about it.


My Own Response To The Article Above…

“IMVHO, we have lost sight of what made this Country that we live in so great... We spend trillions of dollars fighting a war in Iraq, but the greatest war is at home. Daily, we witness the decline of our youth because of the cancer known as DRUGS. As has been chronicled many times, DRUGS know no social boundaries. Our government is not doing enough to stop them from destroying good and decent families. All of the arrests that are being made are minuscule in proportion to the size of the problem. I, too, subscribe to the theory that we are going the way of the Roman Empire, not only because of drugs, but for all of the other reasons penned in this article -- i.e. political corruption, greed, & the decline in morals & values. Also, the national media sensationalizes & subscribes to every bad thing that happens. TV programs that are heavy with foul language, explicit sexual encounters, violence & fornication are being seen by our youth without censorship. The youth of our country and the next generation is being brainwashed into believing that if it's on TV, then it must be socially acceptable, and o.k. to follow the trends that they are being exposed to... Technology in the form of computers, the internet, cellphones, and the like give them a sense of ownership that doesn't exist in reality. Bottomline -- America is falling form grace.

To prove your point about corporation having no regard for the well being of the individual read this:
The last thing someone who is unemployed needs to be told is that they shouldn't even apply for the limited number of job openings that are available. But some companies and recruiters are doing just that. Employment experts say they believe companies are increasingly interested only in applicants who already have a job."I think it is more prevalent than it used to be," said Rich Thompson, vice president of learning and performance for Adecco Group North America, the world's largest staffing firm. "I don't have hard numbers, but three out of the last four conversations I've had about openings, this requirement was brought up." Some job postings include restrictions such as "unemployed candidates will not be considered" or "must be currently employed." Those explicit limitations have occasionally been removed from listings when an employer or recruiter is questioned by the media though.

Thank you #2.1.2 from 2.1. You are spot-on, as #2.1.1 absolutely missed the message that was being conveyed in that piece. Sure... Progress has been made over the years, but if a person can't see the similarities of what we're going thru in 2010 with what caused the Roman Empire to fall, then that's a real scary thought, and is right in line with the original article regarding -- "Is America Still Exceptional?"

"The Ideals the US was based on were exceptional but only to white males. Everybody else was a secondary citizen at best"

and may i remind you that this is how the most powerfull country in the history of the world was built.the country that brought freedom to every corner of the world.the country that lead the world in technology.

but as soon as it became popular to blame the white man for all the worlds problems look what you have now.a country that is in turmoil,broke,all of its inner cities are third world countries,a country that elected someone with no experience what so ever to run it,a country that rewards the lazy and punishes the productive,and on and on and on

you dumb a** - you just want something for nothing. you sound like an ordinary freeloader. if the way things used to be were only for white males then maybe we should go back to the past. the lazy who are to sorry to earn something have all but destroyed the usa. and all the politicians think they can stay in power by giving the country away, the pitiful part is that those politicians are twice the scum of the freeloaders. those white males you speak of have done everything possible to give you america the land of opportunity and you all took that opportunity and trying to turn it in to land of the lazy and worthless. you've f***ed up america as she once was. jefferson talked about taking from those who would to give to those who won't and that is exactly what is happening now. these unfunded social programs need to go. and if you don't pay in you don't get nothing out.

people like that ain't american. they are blood sucking leeches who need to be burned off the blood supply.

I love my President:):):):)!!!!!!!!!

now thats funny right there. LOL LOL LOL LOL true but funny LOL LOL LOL

Yes, Go Go obama to Mexico