Transcript Fall of Rome Power Point fall_of_rome_disscussion_pp1

FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Similarities
1) Decline of Morals and Values!
* High Crime rates in major cities! (Rome)
Murders in USA in 2009 #16,204. (#9369 by handguns)
1out 4 a victim of crime in USA. Over 2 million in
jails.(Nationmasters.2009)
* Leaders had lavish /expensive parties. Lived a high
lifestyle (Rome)….Super rich (USA)!
* 32000 Prostitutes in (Rome) / internet pornography a
billion dollars industry.
* Violent games (Gladiators) …Video games, tv,
movies……….
* The average American child watches 8,000 murders and
100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary
school (marketreasearch.com).
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Similarities
2) Public health
* Alcoholism a problem…..Drugs and
alcohol in USA a major problem. 1/3
* Homeless.
* Diseases spread…. H1N1, Cancer,
AIDS, MSRA, Bird Flu, Mad cow…….
* Obesity is now consider the number
one health threat. 36.6% of
Americans are overweight and 26.5%
obese= 63.1%
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Similarities
3) Political Corruption.
* Assassination… 4 in last 120 years in USA (plots and attempts)
* Ineffective election system…Electoral college..
* Special Interest groups…..Tobacco lobbyist, Trial lawyers, gaming
industry.. (legal bribery)
* Supreme court ruling allowing PAC’s/Special interest groups should
treated as individuals when contributing to campaigns. Which
means they can unlimited amount of money. (They ruled as Free
speech.)
* Over the last several decades, the number of bills passed by
Congress has declined: In 1948, Congress passed 906 bills. In
2006, it passed only 482. At the same time, the total number of
pages of legislation has gone up from slightly more than 2,000
pages in 1948 to more than 7,000 pages in 2006. (The average
bill length increased over the same period from 2.5 pages to 15.2
pages.)
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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4) Unemployment
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Slave labor meant good business (r) ….. Outsources of
jobs to Mexico/China/India
Government hand outs (grain/Rome)
USA=bail-outs of failing businesses.
(Chevy/Dodge/Citicorp/AIG..etc) Tax breaks for the
rich.
Farmer sell goods cheaply, couldn’t compete/lost or
sold farms.(r) Wal-mart effect. .Cheap goods drive
biz’s out. Unemployment rise 9%. Economy in toilet.
Job competition is increasing. Companies are hiring
out of the country. Including skilled (computer
engineers, etc) and unskilled. 25% of all tech job now
from outside of USA.
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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5) Urban decay (cities.. falling apart)
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Crowded conditions in cities (slums) ---USA has slums too. 5%
Live in poverty. 1out 4 go to bed hungry in the USA.
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High crime rate /homelessness (Major cities)– Same as USA. Gov
has not invest $ in those communities. (Detroit)
Roman roads bridges disrepair. USA roads and bridges are
failing.. Infrastructure (roads/power systems) is old..
To fix our infrastructure, from dilapidated levees to congested
roadways and ports, the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) has estimated that the country needs to spend $1.6
trillion over five years. Only $1 trillion of that, the organization
says, has been allocated or promised. Accepting those numbers,
we need an additional $600 billion to reverse the slide of
infrastructure, a figure that seems as difficult to produce as it is
to comprehend ..
*
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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6) Inferior Technology
* Human and animal labor and failed to
develop new tech (R).
* Old ways still used in many industries.
New tech too expensive. (USA)
* Not adapting new tech (weapons tech).
(Losing its tech edge.. Not enough
computer science degrees. India/China
out pacing us..
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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7) Military Spending
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Massive military spending left few dollars for
other needs.. to defend borders (Rome) Over
1 billion dollars daily for USA. 13 trillion dollars
of debt. 2010 Military budget was $663.8
billion. This figure does not including
Afghanistan and Iraq operational budgets.
In Rome this leads to high inflation and
recession depression-era spending.. Same as
the USA.
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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8) Inflation
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Weren’t expanding therefore not getting
new revenue streams (gold) Gold was
then used in luxury item by rich Roman
coins had less gold so they worth less….
USA dollar worth less on the open
market.
Salary of workers went down prices of
goods went up….Same as USA
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Similarities
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Final Thoughts…………
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Differences (positives)
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Decline of Morals and Values!
Highest rate of church goers in developed world.
Largest contributor of charities in the world 8 out of
every 10 dollars.
Does our violent entertainment really reflect our true
values…It’s only entertainment???
All crime rates have dropped in the last 12 years.
(Most major cities crime rate decline 2008)
Very diverse and very family centered. (tolerance)
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Differences
Public health
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The best medical care in the world..
Highest survival rate for all medical
procedures.
Highest levels of specialist (Dr’s).in
world.
More options for types of care.
New medical tech coming from
USA.. Nano tech. Biologic’s.
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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Political corruption.
1.
New policies on spending/and political
action groups. (What it is…)
New laws to stop ear marks.
Watchdog organization that monitor
political action committee’s. (Media)
New movements in political arena. Tea
party/ populist / New wave of
Democrats.
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FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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Unemployment
If USA develops new tech in renewable
energy 2 million jobs created.
Shovel jobs … rebuilding instructure
(roads/bridges..etc) 3-4 million jobs
created.
The economy is recovering.. Which will
lead to more jobs. Retailers are looking
at the best season in the last 7 years.
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Differences
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Urban decay
1.
New growth in cities.. Office space
developed… New roads , new bridges, new
public transportation, new electric grid, new
sewers, new water line..
New technology being applied to urban
growth.
Rebuilding of our infrastructure through
stimulus package. Allocate one trillion over
next ten years to upgrade infrastructure.
300 million invested in Washington state for
new bridges and light rail.
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Inferior Technology
Cutting edge tech is still the USA main export. Military
and civilian tech.
#1 in all software production. (Microsoft)
Bio-tech fields.
Energy/ Alternative fuels being developed and mass
produced. Solar panels have drop in price by ½ over
last four years.
Military tech (65% budget to 15 % developing..) Still
advancing!!!!
USA’S Universities/college still producing many
important research /medical/technology
advancements. Many developing countries want their
brightest students to attend school in the USA. U of W
has 20,000 applications a year from ASIA.
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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Military Spending
Still investing enormous amounts of dough!!!!!!!!! Over
a trillion dollars every 2 years! $494 billion yearly. This
spending makes the US Military unmatched worldwide
as a military and global force.
Creates new technologies that will drive our economy
in the future. (Robotics, Medicine, aviation, etc)
Not going to slow down due to the unstable political
environment in our world. (terrorist…Large unstable
countries….crisis's) Is changing to meet these new
types of conflicts. (Stryker Brigade)
USA act as the world police! Need a flexible and Mobile
force.
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
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Inflation
Economic outlook better than Rome, More diverse
economy. Trade is not going anywhere. New
Technology’s being developed such as Bio-tech/Green
industries/computer software all are allowing our
economy to diversify and grow even in bad economic
times. (USA is competitive in global market place.)
New Economic policies will stabilize situations!
(Regulations on banks, mortgages, industries)
New Tech (renewable) will drive down cost of goods..
Transportation cost make up for 10% of cost. (New
alternative fuels)
FALL OF ROME/UNITED STATES?
Differences
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Final Thoughts…………