The U.S. & the Roman Empire...

And I thought that the collapse of the Roman Empire was due to corrupt and inefficient leadership and an over-extended military...

A Brief History Lesson, by Gregory B. Dill
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The most disturbing similarity between the two empires are the ways in which the two have and are in the process of declining and ultimately dissolving altogether. In his timely classic, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon stated the many reasons that attributed to the demise of the Roman Empire, here are just a few:

Rapid increase of divorce.

An attack on the sanctity of the home.

Higher taxes while wasting public money.

A mad craze for increasingly brutal and exciting pleasure.

Gigantic armaments for war in the midst of internal national disintegration.

Decline of real religion as faith faded into mere formality.

These are all not to mention the many moral and political downfalls of the empire. Abortion was a common practice throughout the empire. The sex industry flourished, existing under the guise of Roman orgies and bathhouses. It was quite common to take another man's wife to have a rompous good time with her throughout the evening, fulfilling one's many sexual avarices. Homosexuality was tolerated and in fact was considered as an acceptable and normal lifestyle. Many of the empire's Caesars were, in fact, practicing homosexuals. Drunkenness and lewdness was commonplace. The emperors themselves were extremely corrupt, including murder and the many sexual escapades, yet still managed to be absolved from any political retributions and consequences. The Roman Empire was indeed a corrupt entity.

It wasn't until the 5th century A.D. that the empire had finally become so weakened as a result of internal strife, division, and corruption, ultimately resulting in the empires demise by the invasion and conquering from neighboring empires and tribes, namely the Germanic tribes such as the Visigoths and the Vandals.

Does this sound all too familiar? Are we that same empire today? Will we, like the once great Roman Empire, suffer a total demise and self-destruct as we slowly begin to crumble and fade away into non-existence?