Government is a necessary evil in any truly democratic society. What we as a country need to decide is how big should we let the government get, and what are the potential drawbacks or dangers of such a large and powerful body. If there is one true axiom in life it is that whenever a monarchy or governing body becomes too powerful it becomes fascist and eventually declines. So let's take a look at some of the 'great' nations of the past and see how they resemble and differ from our own nation at present.
Rome was one of the most powerful nations to ever rule the face of the earth with it power stretching from Asia to Africa to as far north as England. Its history is a fascinating one as there was a constant power struggle between the democratic senate and the power hungry Caesars. When the senate declined in power you ran into some of the most corrupt and evil rulers such as Caligula. In the end the Caesars figured out how to manipulate the public to maintain their own power. Something as simple as providing bread, protection, and gladiatorial games, proved enough to sway the masses. The mistake that the Roman rulers made was that they spread their empire too far and wide, and with only a secular government and army to keep the peace, the experiment was bound to fail. The empire was soon split into two with the Eastern empire's capital being in Constantinople and the Western's being in Rome. The one similarity we can see between this government is the expanding of the nations influence, and with that expansion, the need for an increase in taxation. In Roman times this led tributary cities to revolt and eventually caused the collapse of the empire. As for our own nation we can see the effects as many of the prominent wealthy citizens are revoking their citizenship and moving to a different country to escape the high taxes. Eventually, the government will fail just as Rome as the tax base continues to shrink and government continues to grow.
Mongolia was a nation that acquired even more land that the Roman's under the leadership of Genghis Khan. With a small army of highly trained horsemen Khan tore a path through the Middle East and most of China. This army effectively consolidated their power in China and became a minority ruling class that was unchallenged by the more numerous Chinese. The Mongolian rulers were able to put together one of the largest fleets the world has ever seen. They dominated the pacific ocean and even had ships go as far as the coast of Africa. This was a short lived dominance as the central government began to overspend and began a policy of seclusion. The ocean going ships were either destroyed or fell into disrepair and China became vulnerable to ocean attacks. With a lack of cultural connection one historian claims, "Corrupt government and incompetent administration resulted in revolts in different parts of the empire." and another commentator cites the over taxation of the public led to many revolts in which the Mongols were not numerous enough to put them down. The connection with our current government is the corruption and overspending that will someday lead to revolt. A truth that has long been true is that a people will not stay long under heavy taxation. One other similarity this failed government had with our own was the protectionist policies, which once led to a great depression in America.
ussia will be the last 'great' empire that will explored and compared with our own. The Russian people were a backward people that had long been ruled by the Czar's, but that ended in the grizzly murder of nearly the entire family of the Czar. The people had been frustrated with the ruling class and had become fascinated with the teaching of Karl Marx and the inspiration of people such as Lenin. The people were looking for the strengthening of the working class and the equality of all men, but what they got was far worse then what they had originally.
Joseph Stalin's rise to power was a brutal and tyrannical one. Stalin had a very difficult childhood in which he was forced to sleep above a stove, and at one point his family was in such a state of poverty that they had to make a choice of who to let live, Joseph or his brother. The parents had chosen Stalin to the detriment of the Russian people. Stalin watched as his brother slowly starved to death and it damaged him for life. With a cold heart and an iron fist he implemented the Soviet way of life. For decades the Soviet Union falsified the performance of its' economy as it tried to compete technologically and ideologically with the West. In the end the over spending, false economic numbers, lack of productivity, and over taxation of the Russian people led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many of these same mistakes are being made by the current administration as we overspending putting generations in the future into debt. With the overspending comes the destruction of our currency and our buying power is decreased. Also our government, along with the help of the liberal media, are reporting false economic numbers to help deceive Americans into thinking that the economy is doing well. We are told that unemployment is going down, but every week there are 300,000-400,000 new jobless claims and only 100,000-200,000 new jobs created. How can this lead to a decreasing unemployment number? There is a very deceptive trick used by the government when it comes to unemployment. When someone runs out of their 99 weeks of unemployment and they have yet to find a job what happens to them? The answer is they cease to be counted in the unemployment number and are considered to be chronically unemployed. The real estimate for unemployment is in the range of 11-18%.
The country has gone so far in the direction of previously fallen empires that I have little hope we can reverse the trend. The only way we can turn this thing around is to educate ourselves and use our voting power to its greatest extent. We need people in power that will cut the corruption, overspending, and immorality that exist now. If we don't do this we will end up going the way of the dodo bird. God Bless.
By Jeffrey Brandon Lee
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