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America vs. Rome

America began as a society led by aristocrats. Powerful and influential people lead the people to revolt against British tyranny. Much like the founders of the ancient Roman Republic, the founders of our country tried to create a government that was fair. They paid an enormous amount of attention to givng power to the people, to stopping tyranny, and almost none to making themselves powerful. In fact most of them served their country without pay. They were, without a doubt, great and honorable men and human beings.

As time passed, our founders died and, much like Rome, less able men took their place. As the country prospered, other interests found ways to chip away at the structure. Just like Rome, the practice of allowing outlying regions to govern their own affairs lead to outlying corruption. In its early days our nation had to struggle with corruption on a state level. Tammany Hall was a symbol of everything wrong with government. Much like Rome, America swelled and grew fat on the conquest and expansion. We now hold held islands in the Atlantic and Pacific, our armies are flung all over the world (like the Roman Legions), and we interfere with almost every nation on earth.

Like Rome, our government has become more corrupt, more attuned to listening to big business than to the small everyday citizen. Like Rome, the very offiicials elected to protect us from corruption are often found themselves to be corrupted. Like Rome, we are engaged in a seemingly unending series of small wars that serve mostly to antagonize those around us and drain our wealth and treasure. Yet the military industrial complex (remember Eisenhower's warnings) fatten their pockets at the expense of We the People. Often the Roman arms manufacturers had more influence in their Senate than entire segments of the Roman population.

Like Rome, the government defines new roles for itself on a regular basis. This despite the limits specifically outlined in the Constitution; i.e. all rights not enumerated therein should be reserved to the States and to the people. Like Rome, our government panders to the mob, saying what they want them to hear and believe much like Orwell's Ministry of Truth. It doesn't matter whether its a mob in ancient Rome demanding free bread, taxes on big landowners, and to fling the Germans out, or if it's a mob in America asking for more welfare, taxes on the wealthy, and deporting illegal aliens. Like Rome, America has become paralyzed and unable to fix anything.

There were those in ancient Rome (like the Grachii brother) who advocated more participation in the Senate by the people, more protections for the people's rights to own land and property, less restrictions on the people's travel, the right for redress against patricians, land reform, and smallermore responsive government. Being more hardcore than America, Rome simply murdered their opponents in particularly gruesome fashion. A series of strongmen ran the country running over the rights of the citizens, engaging in wars, and running up debts.

Then Rome collapsed. The Republic was replaced by an Empire led by tyrants. It all started so slowly that noone really noticed. By the time it was done, it was too late. Everyone had already become complicit in it.

Is America showing parallels to Rome, in the last days of it's Republic?