Is The Amerian Roman Empire In Decline?

This is a casual discussion event open to all views and perspectives. Respect for others is a must (or at least try).

We will begin this event with a brief presentation by Arielle on the topic of the American Roman Empire and whether it is in decline, followed by open discussion. We may either stay on this subject or it could drift into other subjects. All views welcome!

As George Santayana (Spanish-American philosopher) famously said, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” External and internal stressors over time killed the western Roman Empire and it can be argued today that America is facing similar, if not the very same kinds of deconstruction. While Gibbons declared heretical Christianity and German Barbarians were to blame for the western Roman decline and fall, in America today one can easily see a comparison to Marxists or Fascists and illegal criminal aliens or terrorist cells. I give you Sydney J. Harris’ famous quote on how the pattern of history is similar, however, there are subtle changes like a virus that mutates over time. “History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done.”

Comparison and contrasting of Eastern and Western Rome will delineate the differences in both empires. Just as clear is the distinction between right (conservative) and left (progressive) in the USA. However, those differences will also give us solutions to the fall of empires both past and present. After the presentation I leave you with a few questions to ponder for the discussion:

• Is American hegemony in decline? Or are we rising again? Great again? Why?
• Are there clear parallels to Rome’s fall?
• What solutions do we have for our current decline?
• How do empires maintain hegemony?

What are your thoughts? Please join us and share your opinion with us.

Rule Of Etiquette: The goal is to have a productive free-flowing discussion, while also giving everyone a fair chance to participate accordingly. If you have any trouble getting a word in, please use the "Raise Hand" feature. We have a loosely enforced 3 minute timer but please be mindful of your time and the number of people waiting, and know that you can always put yourself back in the rotation for additional talking points. It is also encouraged to engage with others on your turn so that we can have more of a free-flowing dialog, rather than each of us just taking turns on our soap boxes.

Hope you can join us!