4 ms·
Shame. I wonder where we fall in the saga of the collapse of the Roman Empire?
by rpmisms 7y ago
Shame. I wonder where we fall in the saga of the collapse of the Roman Empire?
- hprotagonist 7y agoand here i was thinking that a falling birth rate spoke to a more sustainable future in the face of climate change.
- Accujack 7y agoIt's not all of humanity. Just people in industrialized nations, for the most part. The third world has babies as much as they can as often as they can. So many of our "first world" problems wouldn't happen if we'd just help out the third world with education, opportunity, and other basics. Too bad living in the industrialized world doesn't mean one can't be foolish or racist.
- lkramer 7y agoThis is not really true. Except for some parts of Africa, the birthrate across the world is declining. The worldwide average is 2.4. Likely the world's population will start decline in actual terms some time in the 2nd half of the 21st century: http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/total-fertility-rate/ http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/total-fertility-r... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E
- Accujack 7y agoOther than in general terms, there's no comparison. The birth rate declining is normal in terms of industrialized countries... people educated enough to use birth control and who have availability tend to have fewer kids. The rest of the world hasn't caught up yet, and probably won't in time to avoid problems. The birth rate isn't declining because "America is in decline"... it's declining because people are choosing not to have children. The wisdom of that choice is open to discussion, of course.
- rpmisms 7y agoRichness becomes childlessness, which becomes poverty, which becomes death.
- dougmwne 7y agoRight now I'm reading: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6415185-lost-to-the-west https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6415185-lost-to-the-west There's a strong argument to be made that the Romans existed as a political entity for 2000 years and that the final end wasn't until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The last thousand years are mainly a story of slow decay which is why they get lopped off in all the simple narratives about the fall of Rome. If there's anything to be learned from Rome, it's that an advanced civilization can survive almost anything.
- lizardking 7y agoThere's no reason to believe we fall anywhere in said saga
- rpmisms 7y agoSo far every past civilization has fallen. Why are we so different?
- mensetmanusman 7y agoRome never died, the U.S. was founded as an extension of the empire :)
- sojmq 7y agoI think we are falling in the saga of the Weimar Republic instead.