Once Upon a Time

By Mustang

Once upon a time, a kingdom became a Republic, and the Republic became an Empire, and then the Empire collapsed.  It took a little over 1,100 years to accomplish all that, but the end was sure, and no one was prepared for that future event until it arrived suddenly and unannounced.  Some say that Rome never died a natural death.  Others claim that it was a suicide.  People drank poisoned Kool-Aid for well over 1,000 years.  Suicide appears to be the correct analogy.  Let’s briefly discuss what happened —

“The Fall of Rome” by Always Curious is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

• The very barbarians whom the Romans assimilated to share their power with began to attack the state and ultimately, by chipping away at its institutions, caused Rome to implode.

• Arable land became a scarce resource. People starved, increased taxes drove millions into the poor house, the tax base eventually collapsed, and the only people who benefitted from Roman society were the rich and politically elite.

• The people grew distrustful of and unhappy with Rome’s institutions (government, courts, the military).  They initiated several civil wars, all of which Rome’s government brutally defeated, which led to people becoming increasingly and psychologically more anti-Roman.

• The decline of Rome, some argue, was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness.  Prosperity accelerated moral decay, the decay weakened the supporting mechanisms, and the edifice collapsed upon itself.

• Some even blame Christianity for the fall of Rome, preferring cruel religions based on murder and mayhem to love and tolerance.

But wait … are we actually discussing Rome or a more modern Republic?  We could be discussing the United States of America (or any other western society) if we simply substitute “barbarian” with “progressive,” and/or the attempt to assimilate people who are culturally anti-western.  Suppose we also replace “limited arable land” with our insane over-emphasis on the environment (at the expense of agricultural production), if we then carry forward widespread unhappiness, moral decay, and blaming Christians for the immorality of the politically elite — then yes. In that case, we could be discussing the USA.

How will Western civilization end?  How will America be destroyed?  Hmmm.