No, we are not going down the tubes
Sorry this is a little long.
Is America in an irreversible decline? Specifically, are we following the same path as earlier great powers like the Roman Empire?
You might think so given the number of writers predicting our imminent collapse. As someone who was alive and conscious the last time there was major societal upheaval, the 1960’s, I have a different view based on that experience but also based on a lifetime of studying history.
The 1960’s included three major assassinations (John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy), and Vietnam, as well as riots that involved burning large sections of major cities. But the 60’s also included the race to the moon, the Civil Rights Act, the Miranda decision, and the Great Society.
Too often, prognosticators point to the decline and fall of Rome as if that is some kind of destiny that we can’t escape, a kind of historical gravity. But there are two things about Rome that they get wrong and hence have little predictive value.
First, the Roman Empire was an authoritarian state and to a surprising degree even minute aspects of daily life were controlled by an emperor or the empire’s apparatus. Freedom was limited and punishment was harsh, which made going against the grain risky.
