A local columnist’s friend has been sending him emails and YouTube videos arguing that the United States is in a period of decline similar to that of the Roman Empire in its last days. The columnist explores this idea, looking at the problems that plagued the Roman Empire, such as corruption, high national debt, inflation, and the inability to defeat enemies.

A Unique Nation

America, on the other hand, is an invented nation with a unique government structure embodied in the Constitution. The Constitution is a document created to avoid the extremes of dictatorship and anarchy. The columnist notes that America has endured many tribulations, including the Indian wars, the Civil War, the Jim Crow Era, World Wars I and II, the Great Depression, the Korean War, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Despite these challenges, the US has emerged, chastened and changed by its experiences, yet stronger each time. The columnist attributes this ability to adapt to the checks and balances created by the Constitution and the natural geographic blessings of the continent, including vast natural resources, a temperate climate, and two oceans that isolate and protect the country.

Modern Challenges

However, the columnist notes that these natural advantages are being threatened by climate change, which has brought twenty-year droughts, rivers drying up, wildfires, hurricanes, and melting ice that now threatens coastal cities with flooding. Additionally, the national debt is nearing $40 trillion and increasing yearly.

The question is whether the US will emerge from this time of political, economic, social, racial, technological, and demographic changes, or whether it will succumb to the inevitable decline of all previous empires. The columnist concludes that the answer will be determined by the resourcefulness or discouragement of the American people.

Original reporting: Renton Reporter — read the source article.