Ancient Rome vs. America: The Coming Economic Collapse

     The current state of government spending is leaving America on a direct path to destruction.  This type of national decline has happened many times in the history of our world, and yet we have not learned our lesson.  This paper will take a look at ancient Rome and show how we are following their same economic logic, and if we don't change course we will also cease to exist as a nation.

     The creation of money helped exponentially expand the world economy, but it has also led to many failed civilizations.  When greed and power overtake a government, it's not long before corruption, over taxation, and the destruction of the currency follows.  Rome was a nation such as this.  Jack Weatherford states the problem of the growing army and lack of finances when he wrote the following, "Despite its declining ability to produce revenue for the state, the army continued to grow in size.  Even during the third and fourth centuries, when the geographical size of the empire declined, the number of soldiers more than doubled from approximately 300,000 to 650,000."  When the government should have contracted its spending it increased it at even faster rates.  In fact, the government in Rome was growing at a rate inversely proportionate to its declining empire.

     The city of Rome itself had a population of approximately 1 million citizens, but there were not enough jobs to keep them all employed.  The Caesar's decided the best way to keep the mob under his control was to provide them with 'bread and circuses'.  Thus, Rome became the first welfare state on the planet.  Weatherford elaborates on this in the following, "When Julius Caesar first came to power nearly one-third of the people, approximately 320,000, received free wheat on the public dole, but through skillful maneuvering, he reduced the amount by more than half, to a still substantial 150,000.  After Caesar's assassination, the numbers started to climb once again, and the benefits increased."  The taxes that were imposed on the farmers and wealthy people of the country became an unbearable burden, and the Caesar's had to come up with another option.

     Coins in early Rome were made out of pure silver and gold and had a standard weight and size.  The infamous Nero was the first to exploit the purity of the money in circulation.  Before the devaluation of coins, a pound of silver made 84 denarii, but after Nero's decision, the same pound created 96.  So the actual amount of silver and gold in the economy didn't change, but the amount of coins in circulation greatly increased.  The unknown result of this action was hyperinflation, which caused the price of goods to skyrocket.  Soon this way of raising revenue began to fail and the government was forced to look for other ways to sustain its power.  Weatherford points to the socialist policies used when he wrote, "One simple method arose from the ancient practice of confiscating the property of anyone judged to be a traitor of Rome or, more accurately, to the emperor.  Soon the emperors used the accusation of treason as a ploy to confiscate the property of anyone rich enough to attract the attention of the emperor but not close enough to him to maintain his favor."  By the end of the 5th century the debasing of the coins led to the outright collapse of the Western Roman Empire.  This is the path America is currently on.

     America is widely considered to be the most powerful nation ever, but that distinction is coming to an end.  Our country's currency was once based 100% on the value of gold, which meant a citizen was able to take a 20 dollar bank note and trade it in for 20 dollars worth of gold.  It was when the government greatly expanded its power and size during the 1930's Presidential reign of the democrat F.D.R. that we embarked on the same path as the ancient Romans.  The President decided to take our country partially off the gold standard and our currency began to decline in value.  In the 1970's our government expanded its welfare position as it introduced food stamps and welfare, and this necessitated the need to take our currency completely of the gold standard.  The result of this has been felt and will continue to get worse as our current President continues to devalue our dollar.

     When our government overspends it increases our money supply, but it devalues our currency.  So every time our government has a deficit of a trillion dollars or more, other countries consider our dollar to be worth less.  The result of this is that middle eastern countries begin to demand more dollars for their oil, and China demands more for its goods, but instead of cutting the expense of our government we have decided to take the path of the Roman's.  Barak Obama has not only decided to keep spending where it is, but increase it to even higher levels by promising more 'bread and circuses' in the form of universal healthcare.  And just as the emperors of Rome did, the government is deciding to raise taxes on the wealthiest to keep the mob under its control.  The results are already becoming all to obvious as you see our wealthiest citizens renouncing their citizenship due to the higher taxes.  Eventually, there will be no more money to take from the wealthy and the government will begin to confiscate and slowly takeover the whole economy.  By this time we will be living under a tyrannical government, which in the end will fail as all other's have.  

     There is a small window of time in which we as a nation may be able to avoid this disastrous outcome.  We need to speak up loud and boldly and bring the truth to the public in a way that they can understand it.  We need to vote true ECONOMIC conservatives into office and do away with the two party system that is satisfied with the status quo.  If we don't take drastic measures soon the clock will run out on our free society and everything we value will be gone. 

America and It's Fall: Comparing American Mistakes With Past Empires

     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

Why Do We Mock God?

     Grant for me a second the fact that there is a supreme being that created and rules the universe.  For this discussion I will use Christ as the omnipotent God (since that is my own personal belief) that is in charge of every aspect of the cosmos.  With that said, I would like to pose a question to the reader.  If there are 4 to 5 billion people on earth who believe in a higher power, why do we consistently mock Him in our everyday living?  I ask this question in light of the meteor hitting Russia, North Korea expanding its' nuclear capabilities, and the Pope resigning.  

     When we look at the Bible and its' teachings on the end time it is clear that we will know the season of Christ return, just not the day or hour.  It states that we will see signs in the heavens (meteors, comets, etc.), rumors of wars (North Korea, Iran, and Russia), and one extra-biblical prophecy that the next Pope will be the last.  If one is alive and breathing it is apparent that there is turmoil all over the globe, but why do we still try to laugh it off and deny that quite possibly God may be trying to get our attention?  

     I was watching a clip of John D. Rockefeller IV address an audience that was in support of a one world government and I saw the most amazing act of defiance against the Creator.  He was mocking a statement in a book written by Pat Buchanan, in which he made reference to the widely help Biblical belief that any world government that man tried to form without Christ as its' head, would be doomed to failure and would be evil at its' heart.  Rockefeller IV's response was, "I ask you that you join me at the right hand of satan..." to build a one world government.  The audience erupted in laughter and applause.  While his intention may have a been an attempt at humor, the fact is he was shaking his fist in the face of God and challenging the He has set forth.

     The effects of the meteor hitting Russia is not fully noticeable as of yet, but the mocking has begun already.  There was one article on yahoo.com that stated, "Meteor...Not the end of the world." as if that writer was privy to the knowledge of the Most High.  The reality is that when the meteor struck people were terrified and thought Russia was at war.  So if people were so confident in their scientific approach to life and the cosmos, why would they immediately become so terrified and unsure?  The answer is that deep down inside we all know there is a God of the universe and if you're heart is not right with Him you will always have fear living just beneath the surface.

     I would like to ask every reader to search your own heart and see if you're confident in where your future lies.  We may be approaching the end times, or it may be a thousand years away, regardless you need to have that confidence that is found in Christ alone.  With Christ as your center you can face anything the world can throw at you!  And remember, He does ALL things for your good.  God bless.

By Jeffrey Brandon Lee