Here's an op-ed that appeared in the LA Times yesterday, one that I think everyone needs to read. I have, on occasions, compared the U.S. to the Roman Empire. But the author of this piece takes it all a step further, in what I think is a brilliantly written and must read piece.
It's sobering, when you stop and consider what this guy says.
It's easy to take a lot of things for granted, we all do it. After all, we are all human. But when we seriously look at the great empires of the past, we simply must consider that we too, will someday occupy a place in history.
2 comments:
It is not a coincidence that Britain became and remained a great empire and while it created and maintained the world’s greatest Navy; nor should we be surprised to learn that the fall of the British Empire came at a time when it no longer believed that its navy was worth maintaining. Alfred Mahan argued successfully for the creation of a formidable United States Navy when he wrote, “The question is eminently one in which the influence of the government should make itself felt, to build up for the nation a navy which, if not capable of reaching distant countries, shall at least be able to keep clear the chief approaches to its own. The eyes of the country have for a quarter of a century been turned from the sea; the results of such a policy and of its opposite will be shown in the instance of France and of England. Without asserting a narrow parallelism between the case of the United States and either of these, it may safely be said that it is essential to the welfare of the whole country that the conditions of trade and commerce should remain, as far as possible, unaffected by an external war. In order to do this, the enemy must be kept not only out of our ports, but far away from our coasts.”
Thankfully, Theodore Roosevelt was listening carefully to Alfred Mahan — and even now, in considering the so called Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), even our present day admirals do not appear to be much concerned. I agree the question is not “will” the influence of the United States wane, but when. We today can prolong the inevitable through thoughtful and intelligent design, or we can shorten that period of influence by adopting liberalist programs (as did the British) that will demand greater expenditures on socialist programs, and less on the assurance that our nation will remain free and independent.
Mustang,
//I agree the question is not “will” the influence of the United States wane, but when.//
I think we are seeing some of the decline manifest itself, with the decline of the US Dollar. Not if, but when the Euro replaces the Dollar as the world trading currency, we will need to come to this realization, quickly.
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