Campbell
Banned
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2013
- Messages
- 2,138
- Reaction score
- 473
- Location
- East Tennessee
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
Na what's scary is that they have a what low 20's approval rateing? If that?
Which means that around 80% or higher of people DO NOT like the job there political representives do. But a good most of them will be relected anyway.
Na what's scary is that they have a what low 20's approval rateing? If that?
Which means that around 80% or higher of people DO NOT like the job there political representives do. But a good most of them will be relected anyway.
Guess What?
Right now the average bill passed in our congress is 600-1000 pages long filled with special gifts from our taxes to the biggest companies and special interests in the country. In the 30's, 40's and 50's the average bill was 30-50 pages long. Our entire political system has been taken over and is being run by professional lobbyists who walk the halls of the capitol building in $1000 Gucci shoes and $2500 suits. In the 40's 3% of our ex congressmen took a job as an influence peddler. Now 46% of ex house members move to K street and 50% of ex senators. What goes up must come down. Our empire is no different.
They own most of the press and all of the congress so what can we expect?
Guess what? Comparisons of the US to Rome have no real basis.Guess What?
And for the 109th Congress (2005-2006), the average was around 15 pages. If it's gone up in the past few years, it's mostly because the Republicans have decided to grind the legislature to a halt.Right now the average bill passed in our congress is 600-1000 pages long filled with special gifts from our taxes to the biggest companies and special interests in the country. In the 30's, 40's and 50's the average bill was 30-50 pages long.
That kind of influence has been around almost since day 1. It certainly wasn't any weaker in the early 20th century, and yet we somehow seem to survive.Our entire political system has been taken over and is being run by professional lobbyists who walk the halls of the capitol building in $1000 Gucci shoes and $2500 suits.
That's disappointing! I was hoping for a discussion on Gibbon, the Crusades, Byzantium and the Palaeologi, the Ottomans and Mehmet the Conqueror. What do we get? Grubby shenanigans in DC. Boo!
Guess what? Comparisons of the US to Rome have no real basis.
There are numerous theories about why Rome fell, few of which have any parallels to the much shorter-lived US. Which, by the way, isn't an empire.
And for the 109th Congress (2005-2006), the average was around 15 pages. If it's gone up in the past few years, it's mostly because the Republicans have decided to grind the legislature to a halt.
By the way, the "1000 page bill" was Obamacare. That's not typical.
That kind of influence has been around almost since day 1. It certainly wasn't any weaker in the early 20th century, and yet we somehow seem to survive.
It's also worth noting that populism constantly bubbles to the surface, and the government does often (though not always) bend to the will of the public.
The US doesn't hold a candle to Rome, at pretty much any point in its history, in terms of "letting the wealthy run roughshod over government." The Senate was composed exclusively of aristocrats (patricians) and men whose comparative wealth has no equivalent today. The Tribune was the voice of the plebians, and had a decent amount of power; but the role eroded over the years, and was essentially ended by Augustus (the second emperor).
And the fall of the Roman Empire, whatever its cause, was characterized by the losses of remote holdings throughout Europe and North Africa, a process that took a few hundred years and still left a very large empire in the East, which we now call "Byzantium."
So. Care to run that analysis past us again?
The fall of the Roman Empire can be largely attributed to the practice of storing wine in lead lined vats.
They found that even a bad vintage could be made to taste sweet when stored in lead. Lead oxide has a sweet taste to it.
Lead poisoning brings on brain damage, irritability, memory loss, mood disorders and loss of cognitive skills.
Many contend that the Romans poisoned their minds with excesses when in fact they poisoned their minds with ... poison.
If the US isn't an Empire why does it spend such incredible sums on arms and occupy so very, very many countries?
We do have some imperialist tendencies. However, nothing the US does compares to Roman control of its provinces. E.g. post-WWII Britain, France, Italy and Germany were all US allies and sovereign nations; the Warsaw Pact nations were all thoroughly under the thumb of the USSR.If the US isn't an Empire why does it spend such incredible sums on arms and occupy so very, very many countries?
And which "barbarians" are those? Which American territories abroad are being invaded repeatedly by these "barbarians?"Frankly, the scary thing here is that there are plenty of parallels to be made between the situation of the later Roman Empire and the modern West without needing to address congressional politics at all. The "barbarians" are already more or less at our gates.
There should be no question that however friendly the Saudis are to the US, Saudi Arabia is without question a sovereign nation that almost always does whatever it wants.This country put companies and their high paid employees in Saudia Arabia in the 1930's.
And which "barbarians" are those?
When the Vandals invaded North Africa, they choked off a major source of grain. Which modern-day vandals threaten the US food supply?
Do we see locals giving up on the art of politics, refusing to or losing the ability to communicate with Washington? Do we see Texans giving up on being American, and swearing loyalty to Mexico instead?
Is there an equivalent to the upheaval due to Rome's conversion to Christianity? Or should we ignore all claims that the strains of such a major cultural change like that placed on the empire?
Why isn't the parallel to Britain, which only recently lost its empire -- and has continued as an economic and cultural powerhouse anyway?
The only similarity here is in the minds of the declinists, who find it convenient to paint a dramatic narrative to suit their own ends. Seriously, we've been hearing this "the US is doomed!" stuff since the 1970s. The idea that the US is falling apart is practically an ancient belief by now. :mrgreen:
We do have some imperialist tendencies. However, nothing the US does compares to Roman control of its provinces. E.g. post-WWII Britain, France, Italy and Germany were all US allies and sovereign nations; the Warsaw Pact nations were all thoroughly under the thumb of the USSR.
And which are these "very, very many" countries that the US occupies? Putting a small base on Okinawa hardly qualifies as "occupying" Japan.
So, the world was a better place when the British ruled India, the Spaniards controlled South and Central America, and Europeans were carving up Africa and the Middle East for their own ends?I can think of Latin America, India, East Asia, and the Middle East, to name just a few. They are rapidly catching up to the old Western powers in terms of economic power and technology, and they already outpace us by a significant margin where population size is concerned.
Yes, I can see how rising economic prosperity, stronger sovereignty, improved education, and political freedoms in those nations would be a huge threat to the West.None of this really bodes well for future Western power.
1) "Our" supplies? As in what, the US has a trans-national right to all natural resources anywhere in the world?Countries like Iran already threaten our supplies of essential materials like crude oil
Sure, if they want to throw their own economy into a total tailspin. At this point, they need consumers as much as we need producers.China could very easily send Western economies reeling by denying us access to their manufacturing sector or financial investment.
Or, it's an understanding that the adoption of Christianity was a major upheaval for the empire, which eliminated the cult of the Emperor, and undercut the basic structure of Roman society...That argument is little more than a lot of bogus unsubstantiated conjecture that some quack of an historian happened to pull out of his rear end one day....
Germany = 4th largest GDP in the worldI don't really consider the UK, or any European nation, for that matter, to be that much of an "economic and cultural powerhouse" anymore either.
Troop numbers are down to 175,000. I.e. not sure of your source here.Like I said...the last time anybody surrendered to us was 1945...
Exactamento!
This country put companies and their high paid employees in Saudia Arabia in the 1930's. They've been there in number ever since. Add to that the invasions and slaughters which this country has been responsible for ever since and WTF!
Now all the benevolent Christians in this country have declared war on Muslims. I have an idea if armed troops had been strung out in nearly every one of the 50 states we might be a little pissed too. How would the "so called" Christians feel if foreign troops were all around us waiting for one of us to make a move they didn't agree with? We have troops in 170 countries and the last time anyone surrendered to us was 1945. Get Real Sport's Fans.
So, the world was a better place when the British ruled India, the Spaniards controlled South and Central America, and Europeans were carving up Africa and the Middle East for their own ends?
Does it make sense to compare a combination of the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany --
nations that only stopped fighting each other 70 years ago -- to the Roman Empire?
Yes, I can see how rising economic prosperity, stronger sovereignty, improved education, and political freedoms in those nations would be a huge threat to the West.
1) "Our" supplies? As in what, the US has a trans-national right to all natural resources anywhere in the world?
2) Did you not notice how Iran hasn't been selling its oil to the US since the 1970s?
Sure, if they want to throw their own economy into a total tailspin. At this point, they need consumers as much as we need producers.
Or, it's an understanding that the adoption of Christianity was a major upheaval for the empire, which eliminated the cult of the Emperor, and undercut the basic structure of Roman society...
Germany = 4th largest GDP in the world
France = 5th largest GDP (and permanent member of the UN Security Council)
UK = 7th largest GDP (and permanent member of the UN Security Council)
Italy = 8th largest GDP
London rivals any city in the world as a financial center. The UK has a vibrant contemporary art scene, world-class theater, a huge music industry. Yes, clearly Europe has no international influence at all....
Maybe the proper takeaway is that a nation doesn't need to be "Top Dog" in order to wield influence, protect its citizens, procure necessary resources and maintain a national identity.
Or perhaps it's that there really aren't a lot of good parallels between the US / West today, and the enormously different Western Roman Empire.
So, the world was a better place when the British ruled India, the Spaniards controlled South and Central America, and Europeans were carving up Africa and the Middle East for their own ends?
Is Mexico's declaration of independence equivalent to the Vandal seizure of North Africa?
Did the Romans have a multi-million-Solidus trade deficit with the Huns?
Does it make sense to compare a combination of the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany -- nations that only stopped fighting each other 70 years ago -- to the Roman Empire?
Yes, I can see how rising economic prosperity, stronger sovereignty, improved education, and political freedoms in those nations would be a huge threat to the West.
1) "Our" supplies? As in what, the US has a trans-national right to all natural resources anywhere in the world?
2) Did you not notice how Iran hasn't been selling its oil to the US since the 1970s?
Sure, if they want to throw their own economy into a total tailspin. At this point, they need consumers as much as we need producers.
Or, it's an understanding that the adoption of Christianity was a major upheaval for the empire, which eliminated the cult of the Emperor, and undercut the basic structure of Roman society...
Germany = 4th largest GDP in the world
France = 5th largest GDP (and permanent member of the UN Security Council)
UK = 7th largest GDP (and permanent member of the UN Security Council)
Italy = 8th largest GDP
London rivals any city in the world as a financial center. The UK has a vibrant contemporary art scene, world-class theater, a huge music industry. Yes, clearly Europe has no international influence at all....
Maybe the proper takeaway is that a nation doesn't need to be "Top Dog" in order to wield influence, protect its citizens, procure necessary resources and maintain a national identity.
Or perhaps it's that there really aren't a lot of good parallels between the US / West today, and the enormously different Western Roman Empire.
We do have some imperialist tendencies. However, nothing the US does compares to Roman control of its provinces. E.g. post-WWII Britain, France, Italy and Germany were all US allies and sovereign nations; the Warsaw Pact nations were all thoroughly under the thumb of the USSR.
And which are these "very, very many" countries that the US occupies? Putting a small base on Okinawa hardly qualifies as "occupying" Japan.
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