The fall of Rome is a highly debated event in the academic arena. The first debate that ensues is: When did the Roman Empire actually fall? Was it when Rome was sacked by the barbarians in the 5th century? Or when the Byzantine Empire fell? Was the Byzantine Empire really part of the Roman Empire? Lucky for you and for me, we will not be discussing all of this on a technical level. We will be looking at some common sense reasons the Roman Empire fell. Rome started off a republic and became an Empire. The United States of America started off as a Constitutional Republic. I fear that our approach to government has been shifting in the last century to become more like an Empire. If we can pin point where the shifts of the Republic started to become an Empire then maybe we can save our country.
George
Santayana wrote, “Those who do not
remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. When looking back
through Roman history we see that they had a senate much like ours today, minus
the dresses. The people were able to vote and had people to represent them.
Rome began to grow. It had a healthy economy based on free market and sound
money. By sound money, I mean that it was based on gold, silver, and bronze
coins. These coins had a fixed worth based on the market and the government
only regulated the quality of the metal. Ludwig von Mises, Austrian School
economist, concludes that one of the causes of the deterioration of the Roman Empire was the introduction to fiat
money. In the 2nd century the Roman Empire
started to make impure coins, thus lowering the value of the coins. We do this
in America by using a system called the Federal Reserve (FED). The FED prints
more money and redistributes it to where the government or foreign governments
would like it to go. This devalues the people’s money and their investments,
thus crippling the economy. (For more on the Federal Reserve and how it works
click here)
As the economy was
struggling Rome continued its expansion. Through military conquest Rome
conquered most of Europe, a lot of the Middle East and all of northern Africa.
In doing this they created enemies, as does any military during warfare. As
they would go through their tours of conquering lands and bringing these
people under their rule they would have these people join their military and
the people started to fight in and among the Roman military. They fought
against the Romans on all sides. In the world today there are 195 countries,
the United States has troops in 150 of those countries. That is a whopping 76% of
the world in which we have our military. Not
all of these countries’ citizens love the idea of having a foreign military on
their soil. This year alone there has been massive protest in Japan, Bishkek,
Italy, and right now in the Philippines. This is not something known to the
average American, because we are told by our politicians and media that our military is
welcomed everywhere because we bring good tidings of the great joy of
democracy. This is not the case. Our military presence is creating more enemies
where ever they are present. The CIA calls this blowback. The term blowback “refers to the unintended
consequences of policies that were kept secret from the American people. What
the daily press reports as the malign acts of "terrorists" or
"drug lords" or "rogue states" or "illegal arms
merchants" often turns out to be blowback from earlier American
operations.” (Chalmers Johnson in Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of
American Empire)
The
third and final comparison is a combination of the two first points, an
Emperor. An Emperor is created when you live in a state of constant war. Even
the Constitution makes exceptions for times of war. “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or
naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or
public danger…”. War produces the need for a strong leader who can make quick decisions.
During war you cannot have people debating where to attack and if a place is
safe. These decisions have to be made by a person and they have to make
quickly. It is no wonder that in Rome the emperors were their top
military leaders. To contain this power, the founding fathers put into law that
congress was the one to declare war. War is supposed to be thought out and
the cost has to be counted. It should be a topic that is debated. Thus, the
congressmen that represent the people should make that decision. Now in America we
have the War Powers Resolution of 1973 which states that the president can now “declare
war” on a country. Congress has 60 days to decide if they agree and then after the 60 days
the president has 30 days to pull the troops. So if congress was to declare the
war unjust, the troops would have been fighting an unconstitutional, unlawful,
war for 3 months. In modern warfare, 3 months can make a whole lot of difference.
Thus, congress is obligated to continue the war in justifying the money and
lives that have been spent.
I write these as a warning to
America. If we continue on this path, as did the Romans, then we will end up
like them. The Romans had a great Republic, but they allowed their government
to ruin their economy in an effort to obtain more money. With this new money
they created a military that conquered the known world of their time. During
their conquest they gave an exceeding amount of power to one man and one man
cannot represent the people. The people need to have various people to
represent them or their voices will not be heard. In an Empire the people
cannot be heard over the roar of an Emperor. When this happens the people will violently lash out
against their Emperor. To stop this from happening in our country, we need to
focus on creating a healthy economy of sound money, reduce the presence of
military in the world, and consequently reign in the powers of the executive
branch.
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