"We are doing what the Roman Empire did right before it Collapsed"

[King_Klonopin]

118. I don't think it was The Gay or The Christian

But we are following in the Roman Empire's footsteps, for sure.

1) The rest of the world either hates us, fears us, or both.
Our dismissive attitude makes their resentment and fear worse.
If I were a citizen of another country, I would be afraid of the
U.S. invading, placing sanctions on, or "droning" my country --
and then being powerless to stop it.

2) Our government is completely CORRUPTED by money and
special interest. The "public interest" does not matter anymore.

3) Our foreign policy has become too militaristic. We rule by edict
of the sword. Most of our taxes go towards funding the military.
We believe and act as though we are above the rule of international
laws. Empires always collapse under the weight of their own excesses.

4) We over-extend our reach and over-stay our welcome by the
interference and occupation in other countries and other governments.
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have wasted trillions of dollars and killed
many people.

5) The moral fiber of our society is rotting from the inside. Human life
has no value (e.g. the poor, working class, minorities, immigrants, etc.)
We glorify violence, warfare, and obscenely gluttonous wealth. We legalize
and legitimize the oppression of other people -- foreign and domestic.

6) Washington D.C. fiddles around while our country is burning.

The conflation of religion and politics in Rome (and in America) are symptoms
of the overall dysfunction, not the cause. Corrupted, amoral rulers use
religion in order to provide the pretense of moral authority and to manipulate
the masses. If Islam were the official religion, or Scientology, the results
would have been the same. The collapse was gradual and took time. This
country started heading south after Reagan was elected. That was 1980.