Empires

[onedomino]

Why have all great empires collapsed? Is there a fundamental reason? There are no exceptions. Every great empire has failed. Rome, Han, Inca, British, they are gone. America is an empire. Financially, culturally, militarily, and technologically: America is an empire. What will happen to the American Empire? Is it in decline, or still rising?

 

[RandomVariable]

Why have all great empires collapsed? Is there a fundamental reason? There are no exceptions. Every great empire has failed. Rome, Han, Inca, British, they are gone. America is an empire. Financially, culturally, militarily, and technologically: America is an empire. What will happen to the American Empire? Is it in decline, or still rising?

Very generally speaking, what is an "empire"? In particular what aspects does America have which qualifies it as one?

 

[kucing]

probably because there are too many smart people inside and there was a difference

 

[Unkotare]

Why have all great empires collapsed? Is there a fundamental reason? There are no exceptions. Every great empire has failed. Rome, Han, Inca, British, they are gone. America is an empire. Financially, culturally, militarily, and technologically: America is an empire. What will happen to the American Empire? Is it in decline, or still rising?

America is not an empire. You admit as much when you feel the need to add all those qualifiers.

 

[whitehall]

Countries dominated by the British empire have established their own independence and the British empire might have downsized but it is still functioning last time I looked. The problem is defining the word "empire". The US is a democracy in a republic and has never been defined as an empire.

 

[JakeStarkey]

em·pire [em-pahyuhr; for 8–10 also om-peer] Show IPA

noun
1. a group of nations or peoples ruled over by an emperor, empress, or other powerful sovereign or government: usually a territory of greater extent than a kingdom, as the former British Empire, French Empire, Russian Empire, Byzantine Empire, or Roman Empire.

2. a government under an emperor or empress.

3. ( often initial capital letter ) the historical period during which a nation is under such a government: a history of the second French empire.

4. supreme power in governing; imperial power; sovereignty: Austria's failure of empire in central Europe.

5. supreme control; absolute sway: passion's empire over the mind.

Empire | Define Empire at Dictionary.com

 

[jwoodie]

Should be moved to the Semantics forum.

 

[longly]

The United States is a Federation. A federation is form of government in which constituent parts, in our case states, form a whole and while retaining local sovereignty. In a federation the people hold ultimate sovereignty and delegate rights and responsibility to both the state governments and the federal government through some legal document. Neither the state government or the federal government is superior to the other; they are both subject to the will of the of the people or at least the is the way it is supposed to work.

 

[Againsheila]

Why have all great empires collapsed? Is there a fundamental reason? There are no exceptions. Every great empire has failed. Rome, Han, Inca, British, they are gone. America is an empire. Financially, culturally, militarily, and technologically: America is an empire. What will happen to the American Empire? Is it in decline, or still rising?

Considering our debt, our over reaching across the globe, not having enough troops here at home to protect our own borders, the decline in our public schools, being over run by illegals, yep, we're on the down slope.

 

[gipper]

All empires fail because at their essence, they are run by corrupt fools who think they know everything and have the right to impose their will on all the people.

America will fail too, if it does not return to a small limited form of government, free market capitalism, hard money, and a non-interventionist foreign policy.

 

[Politico]

America not an empire. There hasn't been one for hundreds of years.

 

[gipper]

America not an empire. There hasn't been one for hundreds of years.

America is most certainly an empire and it has been one for a long time.

 

[Politico]

Ok we'll go with that. It makes you feel better.

 

[Moonglow]

You may not believe it but you are living during the Golden Age of the American Empire, enjoy it while you can...

 

[Unkotare]

America not an empire. There hasn't been one for hundreds of years.

America is most certainly an empire and it has been one for a long time.

Wrong.

 

[Moonglow]

it's not an empire, just ask all those sovereign Native American nations inside it's borders...

 

[Unkotare]

it's not an empire, just ask all those sovereign Native American nations inside it's borders...

...and you fail at attempted political humor AGAIN...

 

[oldfart]

Why have all great empires collapsed? Is there a fundamental reason? There are no exceptions. Every great empire has failed. Rome, Han, Inca, British, they are gone. America is an empire. Financially, culturally, militarily, and technologically: America is an empire. What will happen to the American Empire? Is it in decline, or still rising?

All past societies have experienced decline; that's what we mean by past. It's a pretty good prediction that all current societies will experience decline at some time in the future. That's like predicting that all humans alive today will die at some point in the future. The relevant question is When?