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antipode -> RE: Will USA fall like Rome? (8/3/2009 10:34:47 AM)
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quote:
Let's look back at Roman Politics.
Rome built an empire by conquering and taking over increasingly remote territories and tribal areas, and imposing its rule, much like the Dutch, the British, the Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Germans, the Russians and the Chinese did. The United States never attempted anything comparable to the old and ancient empires, but instead built an economic sphere of influence, paying its way. Even those countries it conquered and occupied at the end of WWII were never made vassal states, or U.S. territories. They are all independent and thriving democracies today.
Excepting Russia and China, all of those empires have disintegrated, the usual pattern being that once the vassals have learned to emulate the masters, they kick them out, as indeed the fledgling United States did with the British, and in many cases the inmates then take over the asylum. Russia is close to complete dismantling, China is in the early throes.
So I doubt the United States is in any danger of "falling". All that is required for the United States to remain important in the world is for it to acknowledge and act upon an understanding that its economical importance has been surpassed by both the European Union and the People's Republic, the first because it now has a significantly larger population than the US, and the latter because it has a much larger capital reserve, and is developing an affluence that will soon rival that of the United States. A recent headline in the New York Times had it that "the United States is negotiating with its banker", the banker being China - once the general American population begins to accept this is not a clever headline, but reality, we should be fine for a long while. Americans have become complacent in that they have gotten used to affluence and endless resources - the competition, Europe and China, are able to achieve results with increased efficiency, fewer resources and more innovation, and I for one doubt that we have any realistic chance of catching up, in that respect.
Almost fifteen years ago I boarded a shuttle aircraft from Singapore to Jakarta, Indonesia - a shuttle that left every hour. It wasn't one of the little Airbuses or Boeings that we use as shuttles, it was a full size 747, and it was packed. This was at a time when Indonesians still needed a travel permit to leave the country. I warned my American bosses then we were beginning to miss the boat, and was completely ignored, of course, there wasn't any way this could be an indication of anything. Today, Indonesians can travel freely, and that trend has spread into China. Traffic on just that route is more than five times what it was fifteen years ago, today.
Just some thoughts..
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