Parallels Between Ancient Imperial Rome And The Oligarchy That Modern America Has Become

the biggest similarity to the roman empire is the almost constant effort to destroy our middle class through unfair trade and labor practices.we are replacing american workers with slaves in china,just as the romans replaced their yeoman farmers and craftsmen with slaves taken on the battlefield...

in addition to this,a larger and larger proportion of the costs of governing and existence are being shifted onto the people who can least afford to pay through unfair tax laws and pushing debts into the future.we'll be dead and gone.so future generations can worry about it and fix the problems that we created and left behind...

children of tomorrow live in the tears that fall today.show the world that love is still alive,you must be brave,or you children of today are children of the grave...

this is leading to our currency becoming fundamentally unsound,which like the romans will eventually lead to the point where people in one part of the country will not be able to interact with people in another part of the country and we will find ourselves devolving into a barter economy spread amongst several regional mini-countries...

the deliberately created,unfair and completely unnecessary class seperation.caused from our posession by greed and control.a mirror image of imperial rome.the rich elite play with eachother in their own world.while the struggling masses of common people drown in financial opression and sexual repression.millions are plunged into homelessness or drug addiction and commit suicide,only to become forgotten statistics and no one really cares...

religion played a very important role in the daily life of ancient rome and the romans.roman religion was centred around gods and explanations for events usually involved the gods in some way or another.the romans believed that gods controlled their lives and as a result,spent a great deal of their time worshipping them and so do we.

our come one come all immigration policies have become the barbarian invasions of the modern age...

our fanatical lust for war and violence.ever since the united states became a country.we have been involved in constant and continuous wars and foreign entanglements.the usa has boots on the ground in one hundred and thirty five countries and military bases in sixty three.just as the ancient imperial roman soldiers were all over europe and the middle east simultaneously...

there is always a convenient enemy lurking around every corner about to come over here and get us.during the era preceeding the start of the twentieth century.it was the indians and mexicans who were the bad guys.then during world war one,it was the germans in europe and after their elimination.the threat of world war two suddenly arose with germany again,italy and japan became the new bullies on the block and after they were thoroughly crushed.right away,the cold war with russia commences,the so called evil empire and along with it,the arsenals of nuclear mega death and as soon as that subsided,well who would have guessed,as if from nowhere,now it's the terrorists who are everywhere...it's unbelievable...

we oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies.all for a more kind and gentle machine gun hand and a better flavored gravy...

we buy admission and gather in our millions to cheer and praise the bloodied combatants on our playing fields and in our fighting rings.just like the ancient romans,with their unquenchable hunger and thirst for bloody death and destructive violence in their coloseiums...

marriage has been twisted and turned into a money making scheme and triple xxx sex of all kinds is beamed into every household and within every impressionable mind on a daily basis.any person of any age,who is able to manipulate a remote control,is capable of turning on the tv and has instant access to all sorts of pornography involving men and women,who perform any and all depraved acts,for drugs and a quick buck.abortion is birth control for over forty million women every year and of course the internet is fast becoming a world wide voyeuristic sex toy...

we churn out movies and video games about rape,torture,murder,war and mutilation and consider these terrible,sick and perverted things as entertainment and are happy and willing to pay to see others suffer and die...

we don't need eachother to survive anymore and love and honesty are being destroyed,in this push button world,by our fanatical obsession for money and the temporary satisfaction of materialistic gain.material objects that are only illusions,that will wither and fade,returning to the dust from where they came...

the future looks very bad.yet we continue to deny it and do not want to face it.we refuse to admit whats being done to us and what we are doing to ourselves.we continue to hide from reality,the truth.lost within our loveless,cold hearted,self centered,i,me,mine,arrogant and delusional electronic fantasy world and we have not seen the worst of it yet...

our civilized veneer is cracking and breaking away and we will have earned our deserved fate...

Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.

Here we go again.....

Before Caesar, ancient Rome was a republic ruled by the patricians whom made up the Senate and the plebians whom formed the People's Assembly.

The patricians were aristocrats who clung on their powers and priviledges jealously, never allowing it be taken away. The plebians were mostly tradesmen, but because of their love for prestige, often sold out to the patricians over legislations made.

But they were all xenophobic, and would never allow the citizenship of Rome be freely awarded to anyone, even to its italian allies, let alone conquered people. It was doomed to be another provincial village, kept that way by themselves, and used its superior intellect within that fellowship, discussions and sharing of ideas within the republic to create an army without parallel in the then world, that could subjugate millions with just a handful of well organised and equipped strategic legions, and ruled the world by tributes taxed from the conquered.

But the romans were not without problems of their own, as each sought to enhance his own glory, prestige and power, never allowing to be overtaken by anyonelse, and from time to time, civil wars broke out.

After Caesar, Octavius became Emperor Agustus Caesar. The Republic was no more after the civil wars were put down by him. Emperor Agustus was an enlightened ruler, in that he had brains and foresight. He was not a warrior, but a austure politican and knew economics well. Rome knew peace and a golden age under him. But when he died, True Rome ended as his sons and pretenders to the throne for the next several hundred years were only a bunch of scallywags that Atalia the Hun could easily frighten and rob them with ease.

The only similarity of USA being with Rome is in the Republic sense. Nothing else. America created its own history with its own people, and that page of history is still running, after 200+ yrs intact, with many far older civilisations or new political doctrines collapsing, and despite many whom claim the end of USA had already came, but yet, mankind still trust the ideal of America...

Probably because America has the socio-political-economic mechanisms to correct errors and make changes for the better, unlike other nations that were authoritarianly led or rather, misled. It's strong middleclass is loud and vocal and had never allowed themselves to be wiped out, come what may, or blood will be shed if they are ignored or ruthlessly put down.

"those who live without knowing what happened before they were born,remain perpetually a child"... marcus tullius cicero,106-bc - 43-bc

we will have earned our deserved fate...

Actually your parallel is valid to late Roman empire. And then charismatic Caesar and Augustus ,with help of public opinion, ended the republic and empire was created.
Roman elites at the time were corrupt. And Caesar played on that,with help and full support of majority of population.
However what replaced the republic in less then a century became much much worse.

Of course the United States has been a country for only around 230 years,thats all.And Rome existed for a lot longer than that,almost 1,500 years.With an aditional earlier 500 more years as a republic.The United States still has quite a few more spirals downward into hedonism and decay.We have not seen the bottom yet...

The Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanum) was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean.[5] The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor, Augustus. This includes from about 44 BC to 1453 AD.

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate. A complex constitution gradually developed, centered on the principles of a separation of powers and checks and balances. Except in times of dire national emergency, public offices were limited to one year, so in theory at least, no single individual could dominate his fellow-citizens.

Imperial rome became a death culture.Their common people were desensitized to the point that organized violence,torture and murder became their accepted and enjoyed entertainment and as their lust for inflicting misery,pain and murder grew ever more severe and viscious,they were imploding as a society and about to collapse as a civilization...

The writings on the wall for all of us too see and its written with the blood of modern day genocide and war,but most people dont want to read what those words are telling us...

And so living in denial while posessed by materialism has become the socially accepted norm for the overwhelmingly vast majority of modern day people...

reply to post by blocula


Maybe this guy was on to something?

Social cycle theory

Sarkar's "Law of Social Cycle" applies these traits in a theory of historical evolution, where ages rise and fall in terms of ruling elites representing one of the above mentioned traits. This "law" possibly connects to the earlier cyclical historical ideas of Sri Aurobindo, with a focus on the psychology of human development, as well as Ibn Khaldun, among other macrohistorians' ideas about cycles. However, along with a cyclical dimension — the rise and fall of ages — Sarkar's theory exhibits a correspondent linear dimension, in that economic and technological "progress" are considered critical in terms of meeting the changing material conditions of life. Ultimately, for Sarkar, true progress has to prioritize development in the spiritual dimension.

Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar

Exploitation and breakdown

 

To Sarkar, each age would run its course, with the social motivity going too far, causing much grief to the majority of people (Sarkar, 1967). The situation could go on unchecked for a long time, before things got so bad that a spontaneous revolution and overthrow of the system took place. In fact, as this was the reason for social change, it was clear that no single class of people could remain dominant indefinitely. Social power was destined to pass from one class to next in the prescribed order, or cycle. The 'age of warriors', which brings strict order to society and a return to fundamental values, essentially leads to excessive focus on strong man rule and warfare. It is followed by an 'age of intellectuals', which bring a sense of liberation in the mental sphere but soon replace that freedom with the yoke of newer ideas. Over time this age merges into an 'age of acquisitors', which brings progress in the material sphere, but this is soon replaced by increased physical and mental exploitation. The Servile Wars spelled the doom of the Roman Republic. Labour conflict could be the undoing of Capitalism, according to this theory. And so the cycle moves on its endless round, until the civilisation ceases to exist or is taken over by a superior or more powerful civilisation.

Law of Social Cycle