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In my college government class we were talking about how every major empire in the ancient world has fallen. There is the old saying "Nothing lasts forever" would that still hold true with modern times? Just an interesting question that was brought up, and was wondering everyones input on the subject. Will modern america still be here a few hundred years from now per say, or one day simply be another story of a great empire that was on top of the world then fell? Didnt really know where to post this so i thought history...
Well the Roman Empire lasted about 1,500 years (in the east) so I think we are OK for now. But technicaly, the US is not an empire - politically or via geographical structure. We are a world power, but have been such for a relatively short period of time - basically since the end of WW2. I can imagince your pony-tailed college professor is spouting out about the fall of western civilization in an overdramatic fashion to an impressionable class. Take his pontification with a grain of salt.
But great nations ebb, sure. But they still exist - Portugal and Great Britain have had their golden age, but they still exist, have existed, as a national and cultural identity since almost the beginning of civilization. Certainly since the fall of the Roman Empire. Will we remain a world power is just as dependent on internal as external factors. Externally - nothing as dramatic as wars or global climate change is impacting us, it's more related to globalization, economic factors related to technology. Internally - it's more political, as the US seems to be choosing a leader that will step back from the world stage, intent on managing our fall from power to a "soft landing" type strategy. Sadly, maybe that's a wise approach - to accept the inevitable.
Most people are placing way too much emphasis on a single decade or two sliced out of centuries of global evolution. Economic dynamics are perhaps the most fluid of all the characteristics of a state, and many nations have gone through their ups and downs and survived more or less intact. How many times would you have written Argentina off in the past 75 years? What chance would you have given Britain in 1980?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bideshi
The answer to that question depends in great part on who wins the upcoming election.
This is the least relevant point of all. America is a hard-wired institution in which a single-minded philosophy drives us forward with virtually no peripheral vision. There is one political thought in this country, which is subscribed to by the only two partisan factions, who differ from each other only in trim.
"They warned me -- vote for Goldwater, and the Vietnam War will be escalated. Sure enough, I voted for Goldwater, and look what happened."
EGYPT lasted for a couple of thousand year..They were civilized..workers got paid- had a few months off every year- they had medical coverage.....and there was a concept in society where one person was responsible for the next..> AMERICA should last about 15 more years...20 max.
The demise will come suddenly...wait a second...I got that wrong....America has already suffered it's own demise...I think it happened right around the time some one said torture was acceptable. Or was it when they lost the high moral ground with the weapons of mass destruction invasion? Wait....could the demise have come when the VP for JFK was over heard in a drunken state saying "That bastard won't be causing us anymore problems"///
Or did the demise begin the moment Bill Clinton soiled the carpet in the Oval Office?
Or was it when some big shot American oil merchants with political connections turn away as the Saudis princes had a very sporting thrill filled hunt -bagging 3000 human beings in New York?
Considering that as a nation the United States has existed in its current form for 225 years, I find it rather amusing that people would be so quick to point at all of our current issues, which truly pale in comparison to many in the past and proclaim that our death is imminent. I'm not foolish enough to think that the US will endure forever in its current form or position of global power, it would be to ignore the vast lessons of history to do so. However, even a changed US in terms of power and influence is still the US. Even if our government was to be changed radically, the nation would still most likely be here in name. If the demographics changed, the nation would still be here in name. Look at the countless nations of the world, many of them are very different today then they were thousands of years ago, but they are still here.
Empires do rise and fall, but nations tend to not necessarily suffer the same fate. Our empire of global military, economic and cultural influence may be declining, but that doesn't mean the end of our nation.
The answer to that question depends in great part on who wins the upcoming election.
No.
It doesn't.
At all.
[and regardless of what happens on November 6, 2012, you'll probably be back on this thread in a few years issuing the same warning that the answer hinges on the November 8, 2016 election]
[and regardless of what happens on November 6, 2012, you'll probably be back on this thread in a few years issuing the same warning that the answer hinges on the November 8, 2016 election]
I think you are wrong and I think the poster that is concerned for this election is right. Problem is that we are in trouble no matter which way the pendulum swings.
Where are the normal thinking candidates--watching the other two run.
I recently looked up "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" and found the likeness to America right now alarming. Sports seems to be our God right now. I sat in church Sunday and listened while one person said he was going to the panthers game with a friend and no sooner was he gone then another person came through saying he was going to a child's soccer game in another town. I talked to my child Saturday and she was sitting on a fast pitch softball field. People just seem to worship sports.
You mention a town or see a person on a game show and they say their town and the next words out of their mouths is "Go _______." We certainly live limited lives and I hope I never get to the point that a ball team is the only thing that identifies me or my town. I think it is just plain crazy.
I think you are wrong and I think the poster that is concerned for this election is right. Problem is that we are in trouble no matter which way the pendulum swings.
Where are the normal thinking candidates--watching the other two run.
I recently looked up "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" and found the likeness to America right now alarming. Sports seems to be our God right now. I sat in church Sunday and listened while one person said he was going to the panthers game with a friend and no sooner was he gone then another person came through saying he was going to a child's soccer game in another town. I talked to my child Saturday and she was sitting on a fast pitch softball field. People just seem to worship sports.
You mention a town or see a person on a game show and they say their town and the next words out of their mouths is "Go _______." We certainly live limited lives and I hope I never get to the point that a ball team is the only thing that identifies me or my town. I think it is just plain crazy.
You're absolutely right. This was never an issue before Obama was elected.
On a more serious note I think that the USA will be around for a while, but some of the boundaries may change. Let's face it, many of our state and national boundaries do not reflect economic, geographic, and/or social realities. This, coupled with the fact that the world is becoming a much smaller place renders many of these borders irrelevant. I happen to believe that the concept of city-states makes a lot more sense.
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