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NPR Interview with Edward Watts, Professor of History
https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/01/11/america-rome-republic-lessonsEdward Watts, author of "Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny"
"I don't think that anyone, consciously, is thinking that the danger to the United States from having these budget shutdowns, and other political conflicts like we've been having, will accumulate in such a way that they create conditions for the republic to ultimately fall. Because our republic is old, and it has generally been successful. And there's a complacency that comes about from living in an old republic because it's hard to imagine what seems impossible. And it's hard to see how you'd reach that point. And I think the lesson that Rome provides is that a republic that is old and is successful can generate a special kind of complacency among citizens that ultimately can be as destructive as the cynicism of people living in a young republic who don't feel it's the right form of government for them at all.
