The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Before I post the link for the book, this article which examines the parallels between what took place in Rome and America of today is both Succinct as well as being informative
Why did Rome fall? The Roman Empire during the period of Classical Antiquity (which pre-dated widespread Christianity, and was artistically most significant in the pantheons of the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses) was a very powerful and widespread Empire. The ruler was the Caesar (a line of 12 Caesars ruled the Roman Empire: the first was Julius Caesar, the last was Romulus Augustus); his rule was autocratic and absolute. In its essence, the Roman Empire in its heyday was a military dictatorship, heavily supported by a slave economy, and with arms out-flung to the outer reaches of Europe. There seemed to be, on the face of it, no outward reasons for this successful model of government and economy to cease to be successful. The inner reasons are speculative and numerous. Historians, including Mr. Gibbons, do not have the definitive answer. Here are just a few:
- Invasions by Germanic hordes of people
the coming of Islam
The sack of Rome
The general malaise of the people
the decadence of the ruling classes
the growing influence of Christianity
a collapsing and no longer workable economy. "The economy of the Empire was a plunder economy based on looting existing resources rather than producing anything new."
loss of civic virtue
Excessive taxation spurred by a huge and overweening military budget
A decline in agriculture; deforestation which led to drought; withdrawal of land from agriculture. Small farmers driven onto the dole; the elite who owned vast tracts of land tilled by slaves were exempt from taxation.
A decline in the production of exportable goods; discouragement of entrepreneurialism; discouragement of technical innovation
Unsound economic policies (maybe the most key factor)
The debasement of the currency
crop failures
disease
Look familiar?
Do any of the above reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire sound familiar? The unsound economy? The mismanagement of natural resources and agriculture? The overweening military budget? The elite sheltered from taxes while the small farmers are going under? The general malaise of the people; the loss of civic pride and civic responsibility?
I thought, very uneasily, yes, it sounds familiar. It could be America, today, instead of the Roman Empire at the end of the third century, AD. All except for the part about the barbarian hordes of Germanic people invading, of course.
I also came to realize that societies, countries, "empires," have a natural terminus, as well as individuals and businesses, do. The Bell curve is swooping upwards from the inception of the complex society (or individual, or business); the thing is growing all the time, reaching its maximum peak, its heyday. From then on, there is a natural reactive decline, until, in the end, the person, or society, or business...dies. Ceases to exist. Fades out completely, and is no more.
An American anthropologist named Tainter presented a theory in his book, entitled, "The Collapse of Complex Societies," which sounds a LOT like the anthropological version of chaos theory.
He says, in effect: there are diminishing returns to an increasingly advanced, increasingly complex, and increasingly technically sophisticated society. Societies become increasingly advanced, increasingly complex, and increasingly technically sophisticated at the expense of their resource base, to the point where the resource base can no longer accommodate the complex society and the society is no longer sustainable.
Once the complex society is no longer sustainable, it collapses into smaller, less complex units, which ARE sustainable with the available resources. And the cycle of increasing complexity begins all over again. This would explain why we, the human race, seem to be condemned to repeat history, over and over.
The collapse may be a violent collapse, or it may be a peaceful collapse. The collapse may be sudden, or it may be gradual. A case may be made for the survival of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire well into the European medieval period. It didn't officially expire until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
What does this mean for us? Where is America going, now? We have outrun our resources, as evidenced by the current debt crisis. What happens next?
https://soapboxie.com/us-politics/Paral ... of-America
The full version of the book can be downloaded here
https://gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/25717-h.htm
The abridged version can be accessed here
https://docdro.id/3VN3NM3
A rather interesting book well depends on the angle you look at it
Psychø Hårri 
