Decius wrote:
This is from an official US Comptroller's report! Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.
what a load of crap
the only significant similarity is the way the US military is not drawn from a wide range of US society which reminds me of the crisis which led to the murder of Tiberius Gracchus from wikipedia Since legionaries were required to serve in a complete campaign no matter how long it was, soldiers often left their farms in the hands of wives and children. As estates in this situation went steadily into bankruptcy and were bought up by the wealthy upper class, latifundia or large estates, were formed. Furthermore, some lands ended up being taken by the state in war both in provinces in Italy and elsewhere. After the war was over much of the land would then be sold to or rented to various members of the populace. When the soldiers returned from the legions, they had nowhere to go, so they went to Rome to join the mob of thousands of unemployed who roamed the city. Due to this, the number of men with enough assets to qualify for army duty was shrinking as was the military power of Rome. In 133 BC Tiberius was elected tribune of the people. Soon he started to legislate on the matter of the homeless legionaries. Tiberius noted how much of the land was being concentrated into latifundia being held by owners of large estates and worked by slaves, rather than small estates owned by small farmers working the land themselves.
and i note the recent article on National Guard troopers whose jobs weren't kept open "declining moral standards" every generation has people who complain about declining moral standards the US has a lousy president but the parallels with Rome especially imperial Rome are thin
and as for Gracchus crisis -- he was murdered in 132 BC and Rome was sacked by Alaric in 410 AD
the political lesson of Rome is don't let the Republic fall and have a series of dictators who promise stability and do morally dubious acts "for the good of the republic" when the republic no longer really exists
the Republic fell because people chose short term stability over liberty RE: FT.com / World - Learn from the fall of Rome, US Comptroller warns | 
