Why look to the past you might say? To avoid the pitfalls of history is the common answer. So, here is a quick look at why the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD (CE) and why it matters today. Keep in mind that we are looking for lessons that might help us avoid a similar fate.
I think we can safely say we won’t be overrun by Goths or Visigoths, but those were just the final nails in the Roman coffin. The reason the Western Roman Empire was vulnerable in the first place, predated that final event. First, Rome overspent on their military and got into a never-ending cycle of warfare. This drained the treasury. The emperors then devalued their currency which led to hyperinflation. Then they levied oppressive taxes crushing the middle class and saw wealthy Romans flee those taxes to rural fiefdoms. Are we seeing any parallels here?
Then Rome suffered labor shortages because their economy relied heavily on enslaved labor. The source of that labor came from military conquests and expansion that began waning in the 2nd century. The result was a labor deficit and agricultural decline. Today, the U.S. has relied on immigrant labor but, as we all know, that labor pool is being decimated.
Other factors mentioned in the fall of the Western Roman Empire were climate change that forced migration of Huns searching for relief and pandemics that diminished the population. There are even a few historians who blame the rise of Christianity which eroded civic values and shifted focus to the afterlife.
So, while we aren’t likely to face an invasion of “barbarian” hordes, there are still parallels. In Rome, the severe wealth gaps were the result of the middle class being crushed by taxes and inflation while the wealthy enjoyed life on massive tax-exempt estates. In the U.S. we also have a shrinking middle-class, record national debt, a tax-sheltered elite, and a shift toward a “financialization” of our economy. That term, financialization, refers to the economic dominance of financial markets and institutions with a shift away from industrial production and more toward financial profit.
Rome saw a breakdown of unwritten social norms that were called Mos Maiorum, or “the ways of our ancestors.” It was that breakdown that led to civil unrest and a wholesale erosion of trust in the Senate. In a mirroring of that historical context, we find a complete breakdown of our traditional process of legislative compromise brought on by extreme partisanship and institutional decay. The same events that prohibited Rome from solving its own problems, now dominate our headlines.
We started a new war, gas and grocery prices began to skyrocket, and the threat of terrorist attacks are rising while we have fired many of those who would prevent those attacks. Our TSA agents and inspectors are not being paid. Our defense budget has risen to nearly a $1 trillion to maintain our global influence. Like Rome, the military costs are beginning to outweigh the benefits.
Wealthy Americans are focusing on short-term luxury while long-term stability wanes. Meanwhile, those outside the luxury-class, are struggling with housing, education, employment, healthcare, grocery and gas prices, and are being forced to work long beyond normal retirement age.
While the city of Rome and the Roman Empire collapsed from infrastructure decay after 476 AD, the Catholic Church and Vatican emerged as the most stable and powerful institution in the West. The Church filled the power vacuum left by the collapsed imperial government. Without formal emperor leadership, the Church assumed the management of civic affairs. They distributed food, provided healthcare at monasteries, and Pope Leo I met with Attila the Hun to spare Rome. White Christian nationalists would like to see a similar shift in America.
The decline of the American Empire has been facilitated by an overextension of militarism, the extreme polarization of an unbending legislature, social distrust, and a domestic schism not seen since the Civil War. This has all been further exacerbated by an elite-driven corporatism. As Abraham Lincoln predicted, our downfall will be more of a suicide than a murder. The metaphorical “shining city on a hill” that could rely on American exceptionalism, has seen its shine tarnished as the hill erodes. Exceptionalism is a myth that relies on liberty and individual freedom, both of which are under attack.
While we work at regime change in Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, we are seeing a regime change within. The once great American democratic regime that flourished under a sovereign U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and relied on a separation of powers, is being replaced by an autocratic white Christian oligarchy. The Roman Empire lasted 1,400 years. We haven’t made it to our 250th birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment