Lawrence Reed on modern parallels to the fall of Rome
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- The greatest civilization of ancient times expired more than 1,500 years ago but the lessons to be learned from its experience are eternal. In this lecture, Mr. Reed focuses on the Roman Republic-the key features, personalities and events that defined its rise as well as those that caused its decay in the First Century B.C. into an imperial autocracy. Many of the trends of our day echo those of the ancient Republic, which make its lessons all the more relevant, even pressing, for us now.
Lawrence W. Reed became president of the Foundation for Economic Education in 2008. Prior to that, he was founder and president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan. He also taught economics and chaired the department of economics at Northwood University in Michigan from 1977 to 1984. He holds a B.A. in economics from Grove City College and an M.A. in history from Slippery Rock State University.
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” Frédéric Bastiat
... looks like it defines the Congres, does it not?
Thus spake the great _prophet_ Bastiat. So sad that he's remembered more for his economics.
@@TheVetusMores Agreed!
That reminds me of Mohammad when his bandits wanted to know if it was ok to rape woman in front of their husbands, he consulted Allah and Allah said sure why not rape away.....
Wow, talk about prophetic!
“Laws were most numerous when the republic was most corrupt”. Tacitus, speaking of the Roman Empire
They need something to do in order to justify their exorbitant pay, and life time benefits after serving 1 term.
Minor detail, he said commonwealth, not republic. But otherwise, agree with your emphasis. Crazy that thousands of years of experimental data can still lead to stupid power-hungry politicians. If they don’t ever listen to the right voices, the right data, or the right lessons, they’ll end up exhibiting the same human foibles.
I'm talking about flat out disregard for existing very simple laws like perjury, illegal sanctuary cities, Hillary Clinton ignoring State Dept rules multiple times to have her own unsecure email server at home so she could rin her Pay to Play Operation.
I'm talking about basic right and wrong behavior.
@@mktwatcher
It is Funny that you stopped there...
Most of Trump's Administration has been caught using private servers... And it doesn't make a News splash...
Corruption isn't one Party.
But is the lack of accountability, and no Transparency.
The thing that he misses is what kind of Laws were they?
With History we can see if those Laws are because of Corruption, or Complexity.
With Rome they added more Laws to provide for the Commonwealth.
Then about 6 Families took Control of Government. After that, because they were set so much into their positions, because they started to enact Laws to Benefit Families for Generations.
What I would call most of the Collapse is the Birth of Feudalism. Because their Republic went generational, lend to the Civil Wars. And those corrupt familes in government, ended the Empire. And were the Local Powers that leads to Charlemagne's Court...
At the end to be able to say as Paul said: "I fought the fight. Finished the race. And kept the faith."
I stayed true to my principles, kept fighting even when all seemed lost, and finished my appointed tasks. The essence of character.
Amen 👍
Stephen Carter Thank you for that. I try to live like that or I would like to think so at least. It’s not always easy.
@Rob Basque
Rob,
We may be looking at the same issues from a different prospective. I agree there are those who are naturally evil, I can't give you reasons why. There are those who aren't evil but have mental issues, I can't tell you why. I can tell you the fall of man from Grace is why we have such issues in general. It's not for us to decide who is and isn't redeemable, that's God's call. So our different prospective may be the belief in God. If you don't believe in God, I could never convince you He exists, and you couldn't convince me He doesn't. In my opinion A. I. is man's feeble attempt to gain what we lost given to us by God. I know that's hard for a non-believer to except. That's just my opinion, I certainly don't have the answers to such things but I did want to respond to you. 😊
@@tyrannyresponseteam9534
With you there conserning ai. Giving tech a way to learn worse behavior. As in who writes the algorithms for the program, what is good/evil to a machine? Maybe some day in the far off future, but no way ready for it now. FB, YT, instaG, twit, all examples of what ai knows when those who think they're right create the code. Didn't believe it a 1st but then a whole load of people & their shows deleated, banned, blocked or censored. It's already way out of control...and getting worse. My take on it
@Rob Basque
God's Speed to you my friend.
a superb talk ... Reed's remarks on Power are excellent. Thank you. "Power tends to attract the already corrupted" -- brilliant!
Due to the fall our nature without Christ washing our hearts is carnal, sensual, devilish, one of the reasons satan fell from before God because he sought to destroy the agency of man that God gave us.(moses4:3) So power is enticing if the inside of cup is not clean (matt23:26)
There is a paramount necessity for having lecturers like this one more and more on the public stage. Thank you. We need to know the true narratives of history, the importance of human traits of people we put in power before voting for or against them. We don't know the future, but we have to be truly responsible Citizens and knowledge is a very helpful tool in any humans’ social and private affairs.
Our most serious problem is overload of information (intentionally). Very few have resisted television. Our ability to think replaced by canned jello.
John Burman I agree. 99% of television is bad for the mind. There's a good reason so many thinking people have stopped watching it. The entertainment content has become degraded and vile.
The most serious problem is a society that has become too wealthy will inevitably collapse from within, especially after the economic engine has run its course and those in charge, raid the coffers for them and theirs... but it crony capitalists or slothful vagrants leeching off of the ever fewer producing members of so the society.
An excellent presentation. Thanks for posting content of this quality.
If this is the quality and substance of your work then I’m hooked. Just notified two friends of mine about you.
I will check out your other talks too.
God Bless from Australia
And while you're at it read Glen Beck's "Agenda 21."
Lawrence i appreciate the sentiment to instill moral reprehension in the people to dirwct them to unfunded liabilities but the whole point of your lecture, character being responsible for the fall of Rome, is exactly why when I use that tactic they don't care. It just simply doesn't bother a lot of people that younger generations will be enslaved by their forebearers' debts. They are perfectly fine with getting theirs
"Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?" (Groucho Marx).
Nobody believes me when I say we are the modern day Roman Empire.
I agree 100%.....the USA is a clone of the Roman Empire....
@@thylacine1004 what about china
Robert Hood I've been saying it for some time. We're actually at the demise of it. Reality TV emulates the circus with ever increasing demeaning attitudes between the contestants. QE emulates the Dinari which went from solid silver (Gold Standard) to, I believe, 0.5% silver, which is still better than our FIAT currency. The indicators are there. Even climate change emulates the period. Perhaps advancing technology, in whatever period, leads to the collapse of society. It's advancing faster than we are so we're trapped in a period marking our oblivion. Cycles. Yet no one looks at history to see the parallels. Now I must watch the video.
j w China was once isolated but now emulate Western values of Capitalism. It's unlikely capitalism and communism can coexist for much longer. Putin, cleverly, maintains a communist society pushing exemplars of Western Capitalism out of the view of the majority, maintaining the state and balance. China has a vastly different people with a positive mentality whatever the conditions. However the new generation blinded by Western ideas and ideals aren't going to tolerate communist philosophy for much longer, the protests in Hong Kong being the tipping point.
I do. I clock it to Rome, A.D. 408. Rome fell in 410 A.D.
Clever man , easy to listen to and will educate us as we listen .
Who might be the barbarians at the door? Those you can't criticize.
H Healy - yeah, those damned barbaric leukemia kids ;)
Owen Morris haha.
I mean the barbarians had blonde hair and blue eyes.
Voltaire said the people who you can't criticize are the actual rulers....nevertheless both might be applicable, there is also the " who benefits" squid coke bro thing.
Oy vey.
Well Acton Institute, this outstanding lecture has earned you a new subscriber.
We need more people looking for solutions that don't involve tearing down the productive people. This man is definitely trying, and I'm glad of such!
Thank you Professor. Very insightful and interesting presentation.
Glad it was helpful!
Rome had more than "some" slavery. At one point, slaves made up a third of the population.
@Alma Loretto they are the result of everyone being poor AF and cognizant of that fact and an unwillingness to drive themselves further down in the hole
The population of Rome had a majority of manumitted slaves or their descendents
@@garybulwinkle82 apart from the minor contribution they make by providing new human beings at frequent intervals....
@@blumpkin69ish no. Look at the population increase in America. It is overwhelmingly coming from the poorest among us.
@@matthiasthulman4058 What about abortion numbers by income bracket..?
I for one, have had the same view about Rome & USA...thoroughly enjoyed your lecture, even though the truth is difficult to digest as it's unfolding in front of us.
May God help us all.➕➕➕
+GodBless America - God will be just as effective in saving the USA as Jupiter had in saving the Roman empire. Sad to say, non-existent invisible Men in the sky simply don't exist.
You obviously do not have a spiritual soul or you would know God does exist. Thanks for your viewpoint. ➕➕➕➕➕➕➕
What’s with this god thing? Leave gods out of it.
@@godisincontrolamerica972 I love how the church sells an invisible product and ppl believe it. Anyways Luke 12:33( sell all your possessions and give it to the poor)You're not going to heaven.
"It is known among historical scholars that in the decades before the Collapse, America suffered from the sickness of racism and “cultural identity.” Everyone wanted to be seen as special. Every group had to be “equal” to or preferably better than it’s neighbors, and fought to protect its “special” rights. If anyone had something that someone else wanted, they were painted as racist, sexist, elitist or worse. This divisive “me first” attitude eventually tore the fabric of American culture apart and caused it to self-destruct in a fireball of competing ideologies, none of which truly recognized each other’s validity. Diversity led inexorably to anarchy."
--- Written in 1988 rulebook for the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020 ---
Paul Joseph Watson did a video about that book.
@shethinksliberty Yes, that's what historians fail to attribute to Rome's demise --grand conspiracy theories.
I fear there is a lot of truth in what you say and we will continually bear the cost of sanctimoniously exalting diversity with its fractious ethos to our ultimate demise.
Great job everybody we've figured out Armageddon is around the corner now WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO?
Put to death the notion that gamers are brain-dead, slack jawed time wasters.
Overwhelmingly excellent lecture with lots of things to think about.
A few minor flaws, not worth mentioning.
Except, the logic of "You'd better be an optimist, or we'll beat you up!!!" does not convince me.
When you can vote yourself money, you've reached the beginning of the end.
No truer words. Welfare state. visualized
Sounds like hr 6666 in us congress. right now.
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy,(which is) always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From Bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage."
Tytler's cycle
something is either growing or dying, it is never standing still.
Other than a rock ...
When it comes to Rome, Mr Reed may want to revisit Joseph Tainter's "Collapse of Complex Societies" (1988). Instead of the humanistic point of view which focuses on character, Tainter looks more at the "flow" of energy, materials and information within a society in response to challenges faced by the society. I like Tainter's stance as a more comprehensive approach to the degradation of a civilization rather than the romantic notion of character and morality. Character and morality morph in response to the state of the civilization and where it is in its trajectory of collapse.
Wow. Character and morality are romantic notions? Wow. Darkness parading as light...
Gary Marson As a person thinks in the heart, so goes the person. Character and morality drive the civilization and not the other way around.
The bible says "Righteousness exalts a nation " thats based on character.
Freedom without self-aware responsibility to the common good is immature, ineffective and leads inevitably to destruction....✨💖✨. We can’t have individual character manifest easily in the world with so many in survival mode while others are glutted with power, privilege and more than enough, not realizing that they are in an emotional survival mode, even while their physical needs are way beyond supplied. Maslow....
Thank you Mr. Reed.
Great lecture!
Excellent talk! Thank you Acton Institute? Thank you Lawrence Reed.
Ah, one of my heroes - Marcus Tullius Cicero. A truly great man, great orator, great writer.
the puppet of the corrupt optimates. he was only beaten in court a couple of times. twice by young julius caesar before he went into politics and the army.
I would love to take a course from this man on this topic. It is however extremely depressing. I just met a woman today who was lamenting the current tax hike in PA on licenses. I asked her how else is the government going to pay for all the programs they are initiating. It seemed I had to remind her that the government itself does not have any money. All the money they have was once ours. I think she was genuinely surprised by this fact.
Mary Sisak governments have lots of money you are completely wrong.
The us government took in over 4 trillion in taxes and revenue last year.
They make money on all sorts of things, investments, bonds, rental, running infrastructure... etc etc.
You women are the cause of the ultimate ending of Rome. Giving you rights is always the last thing a government does before it starts collapsing.
@@thehurricane218 Took in 4 trillion and spent 5 trillion. The US government doesn't "make money" because they don't produce anything. Government run operations are taxpayer subsidized. They also don't make money on bonds, they are paying out money on bonds.
Trevor B the us federal government owns property, manages locks, rivers, bays, and other bodies of water. It then charges these fees onto the tax payer.
The us government makes money on patents.
The us government makes money off of tariffs.
The us government makes money off a lot of different things.
You keep repeating yourself but you really don't understand the financial system.
@@thehurricane218 There is a difference between charging fees and making a profit. Governments charge money for you to ride the train or bus. Do they make profits on those services? Absolutely not. There are almost no public transit systems in the world which are profitable. Tariffs are taxes not products. Governments don't produce goods and services, they collect money from their citizens.
Trevor B stop moving the goal posts. Without the government we would not have the TVA, the hoover dam, The interstate system, Apollo program, the university system or the freaking Internet! The government made these investments into the country, one of the few things it does legally. Get out of here with your libertopian nonsense.
my gosh how history repeats itself in so many ways 😖
The positive is that, it means the way forward and out of this collapsing society, should also be the same…
If you read any Nietzsche-specifically (Genealogy of morals), the argument in his first essay is how our morals change when the Roman Empire had its downfall(Judeo Christian values). Listening to Lawrence talk about character change being a major impact is kinda piecing everything together.
Excellent lecture.
Great scholarship.
Fascinating and learned
Excellent talk. Obviously I need to learn more about the history of ancient Rome.
What a great teacher
"HISTORY TEACHES US THAT MAN LEARNS NOTHING FROM HISTORY" (Hegel)
The question about social services during Rome's decline was fucking hilarious, asking about IUDs lol.
Those who know the past are wise to not repeat it!
Outstanding! We get some Victor Davis Hansen tempered by a little Jorden Petersen. Thanks for the upload!
What a great lecture! Thank you for this video!
great talk
the human condition is exceedingly treacherous and the hypocrisy of mankind knows no bounds. add to it some position of power or authority and mankind is doomed. have a nice day?
Adam Jacobs We have narcissism growing in the Millennial generation and that brings their assertion that they're more connected than ever before in their urban paradise. Within that urban world they segregate, much as racism, but this is ageism. Their places have no community bar the one that allows them to display their status. The elderly are excluded by either price or that they're not welcome. This generation moves further up in the hierarchies of power in companies. What attitudes are they likely to inflict? They subscribe to the idea of community and volunteering but only so far as it benefits their own career aspirations. Companies like the community angle but do little to cater for anyone other than their bright new employees. It's apparent in hierarchies that whoever is there at the time was promoted rather than the best being searched for externally and that backside covering dominates within these hierarchies promoting incompetence and inefficiency. This isn't new however the exponential increase in its application is. Feminism has given rise to screwing your way up through favouritism and protecting your incompetence likewise. Our new super wealth display is, when analysed, merely cheap credit or vast overvaluation creating paper wealth that's virtual but easily leveraged. Profit is a vanity when the future through a glass ball dominates companies valuations. And of democracy? In the U.K. it's dead. Even our election is a farce where one policy will dictate the government for the next term. Doomed? You bet!
Excellent !
What I'm catching is that through the guise of "compassion" and other compensatory actions through *government* instead of the *individual or immediate community* being the one for such an impulse it will eat inside out any nation that begins it. If there are three people and two meals impulse would be, for most, to give a bite from the two and make three but in short over time this will kill all three and you find the moral dilemma. Who eats... who doesn't...
Re social media, it also exaggerates and inflates aggressive behavior. Good answer, only an increase in character, accountability, and basically religious sensibility can correct it.
It feels like the "dark ages".....ie the time in history after the collapse of Rome.....
I loved the historical perspective and the quotes.
The speaker makes no mention of what led to the masses of people clamouring for free bread
until asked.
Just as one may wonder how the USA would have looked if Robert Kennedy had not been shot,
one wonders how Rome would have developed if the Gracchi had been successful in their efforts at
moderate land reform. Dan Carlin has a wonderful podcast series on the fall of the Republic.
Highly recommended.
A true analysis of an empire's decline which is relevant today is John Glubb's Fate of Empires.
Brilliant!
26:02 -- "There is nothing that is more often clothed in an attractive garb than a false creed."
Livy, Histories, 39: 16.
Here's a good documentary on the secret societies of the New World Order, a Zionist-Jesuit cabal of warmongers: ua-cam.com/video/Is64dsv5Glc/v-deo.html
Kevin Byrne As soon as I heard that phrase I thought of Climate Change science. Another of his quotes brought that to mind on crushing others opinions. Some see it as an economic surge financed through government subsidy and cheap money that'll lead to little real change. In combination the historical precedents do in fact exist for the economic situation we're in but economists only think in terms of statistics rather than historical parallels. It's not even a science. It's just guess work masquerading as expert opinion. With technology our collapse will be faster. Centuries of descent occurring in decades. Since the fifties we've been on this decline. Utopia promised to appease the masses through advertising lifestyles. The middle class expanding to despise both those below and above them. And the chaos of rule to meet their wants.
And anyone who believes this is by accident is a fool and seriously misguided.
Interesting
as a matter of historical fact, The Sept 11 attacks did not, in any shape or form originate in the country of Afghanistan. Yes, he is not an expert in foreign policy, but if a historian is so completely wrong about something that happened just 20 years ago!
Taliban, Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda......in Afghanistan?
Americans should look at the Decline and Fall of The British Empire and the Decline of the Uk
The Roman Empire is to distant !
All Empires fall it’s how they fall
Britain could have handled her decline differently and better than she has done!
Both inform of different lessons. Rome largely fell due to internal issues...over-centralisation. British Empire largely fell due to peer pressure...from the USA.
America isn't an Empire, but faces the same potential threats. Rome shows how the US will fall apart if power moves from the States to Washington, while Britain shows the type of external threat from a rival world power...will that be China? Europe?...some as yet unknown power group..in the Middle-East for example? Personally I suggest it will be Europe, as the threat from an otherwise friendly source is the most difficult to see coming, where as the US is likely to remain on guard against the more obvious competitors.
Britain didn't anticipate the US being the one to end the Empire, and of course, Britain was already broken by WWII, so the timing was important.
US just has to hold strong and remain a strong democratic Republic, and that will enable it to withstand any foe...foreign or domestic...but if the US becomes socialist, state-ist and centralist to a degree that weakens it...external powers are poised to take advantage.
@@lonewanderer3456 The British Empire wasn't sustainable during WWII. Britain couldn't protect it's own Empire. Roosevelt knew Americans didn't want to go to war in Europe and Asia to protect Britain's Empire. The Indian's wanted independence and probably would have fought for the Axis if they weren't promised independence. Ireland also cooperated with Germany because they wanted their independence. If Britain hadn't withdrawn from many areas it controlled it would have had continuous battles on its hand. It was inevitable.
@@ppumpkin3282 I find myself in agreement with all you have said P. Pumpkin....my only point was that the Roman and British Empires teach a variety of lessons, appropriate to their point in history. God Forbid that the US Republic falls anytime soon...but if it did it is unlikely to be the 'British way' (an erosion from without more than within), more likely it will be due to American self-inflicted injury (damage from within more than without) from veering increasingly to Left wing, Federal policies and increasing social-democracy rather than adopting more Individual freedoms and capitalism. I'm optimistic that Americans will in the end, shun socialism, and see through it's false promises.
it is important to note that roman istorians and commentators contemporary to these times called the struggle between the optimates and the populares(between the rich upper class and everyone else) the class war or the social war.
One can go back further than Rome for precedent. The division of power happened in ancient Egypt too.
I remember my mother telling me how distressed her dad, my grandfather, was at the butchering of 1000's of cattle during the Roosevelt era.
oh really? How did they react to the Lynching of Black men and women?
What's that got to do with what the man was talking about?
@@RandyFelts2121 your comment was about how your parents felt about harming cattle and my comment was about harming people. But you still did not answer my question.
A better choice of word to describe the point I think you were trying to make would be destroying rather than butchering.
My grandmother told a similar story about a dairy farm near where she grew up. Government told him he had to reduce his herd of milk cows. He tried to fight it but they threatened to confiscate the whole dairy and put him in prison. Realizing he had no choice he told everyone to come and get a free milk cow. The government sent soldiers and heavy equipment to dig a big trench. They shot the milk cows and dumped them in the trench and buried them.
Now I dont know how much of that story is factually correct, but that was what happened as she understood it. Sounds a lot like the more recent "cash for clunkers" fiasco. If you want to know more about what led to the destruction of perfectly good livestock and crops look up the government program AAA Agricultural Adjustment Act
@@EarthAngel504 why would you assume that feeling distressed at the pointless slaughter of cattle would preclude any distress at the monstrous oppression of human beings? Must we preface EVERY mention of ANY kind of evil with "of course its not as bad as institutionalized racism" or some such?
Actual talk starts at 2:51
Ignorance and pride from Universities. Excellent Talk Mr. Reed!
"You HAVE to be optimistic!" Well, that says it all!
I trust "positive thinking" people as much as I trust "born again Christians".
This video has 134,000 views. The future of American and the world is in the balance and some inane cat video has 50,000,000. Exactly why civilization is crumbling.
Eeeeeeeeexactly. Exactly Right. I see this all over UA-cam. Thomas Sowell will have 400k views on a grand-slam homerun video, and some idiot jumping his bicycle into a wall has 10 million views.
What will they say of us in the future??? “God, those must’ve been the most selfish, narcissistic, short-sighted, spoiled, stupid humans to ever live.....”
And I can’t even blame them for thinking that...
@@TwinTalon01 ...the most selfish, narcissistic, short-sighted, spoiled, stupid humans to ever live...Well said and spot on.
Finally got a glimpse into the power that controls R and R.
"When the LAW no longer PROTECTS YOU from the CORRUPT, but PROTECTS the CORRUPT from YOU, YOU know your NATION is DOOMED." -Ayn Rand
36:15 "Triple A of 1933" What is he referring too?
Agriculture Adjustment Act
40:00 Very true of today
No society can last forever, it will destroy itself out of boredom eventually, like Malcolm Muggeridge predicted.
I really enjoyed this gentleman's talk. Very well presented, relaxed, and informed.
I think the breakdown in society is most dramatically seen in the way people publicly slam the president, which in this case happens to be Trump. Although I didn't vote for him, I strongly believe that, in the very least, some modicum of respect must be given him if for nothing else but respect for the OFFICE. But this disturbing problem stretches far beyond mere politics, but a general breakdown in humanity in general. I fear that we are turning into nothing but a mindless, out of control mob. My only question is, where will it end?? I think we are truly approaching the last days of the American Empire, exactly like Rome, and like Rome, we are simply too far down the road to turn back.
On the subject of "Character," here is the best definition of the term I've ever heard: "Character is doing the right thing when doing the right thing is the most difficult."
ADDENDUM: The ONLY thing I vehemently disagree with is Mr. Reed's belief that our invasion of Afghanistan was "justified." That is ludicrous. After 18-years of continual US occupation and bloodshed, that war torn country is worse off than before we came, with ISIS becoming stronger than ever, the same terrorist group that the CIA itself helped create. Only two months ago, the commanding general in Afghanistan finally admitted that our incursion there "was a total failure," giving Reed's comment even less credence. We invaded Iraq to steal their oil. BUT AFGHANISTAN DOESN'T HAVE ANY OIL. The ONLY reason we are in Afghanistan is to protect the opium poppy fields for eventual manufacture into street heroin, then eventually into the opiate drugs that are now killing and addicting American citizens in record numbers, and you won't see THAT on the six o'clock news.
But is Trump civil and respectful? No, he breeds and foments uncivility towards the very real possibility of the breakdown of democracy. Further, political speech is legally considered to be among the most valuable right in the bill of rights. The president sets the tone, and Trump has set it on a mission to destroy. Even a coup de état . What else will follow? A smarter, less lazy copy cat who gets the job done?
@@protocolodeabyayala1588
I didn't vote for Trump, although I would have just to stop Hillary Clinton, part of the worst crime family in American history. I liked many of Trump's policies, however its primarily his DELIVERY that I found offensive.
Almost as good as mike Duncan's awesome hist of Rome podcasts. Good lecture.
Lawrence Reed clearly equates the positive things of early Rome to conservatism, and the negative things of late Rome with liberalism. This implies that if Rome had just stuck with the original moral character of its founders, then it would not have fallen. But my opinion is that great changes in the overall character of Rome were occurring that had nothing to do with the binary opposites of conservatism or liberalism. It had everything to do with overall change. Philosophical beliefs had changed and the traits of the early Roman character had gone into decline through both the conservative (Optimates) and liberal (Populares) sides. Not one over the other. Reed is looking at Rome with the modern lens of today, which is splitting apart. People are either vehemently conservative or vehemently liberal and the opposing side is considered evil. We should not look at history through one side over the other. We should look at history as a whole. It's this type of subjectivism that stains so many historians as being biased.
All nations or individual ppl that exalt themselves in their hearts & make themselves a light is founded on a lie . Mankind because of the fall can't merit anything from himself. We're still in the wake of the tower of babel debacle & it's various cycles & variances with one another generation to generation. What happens when we seek to "let us make us a name" ( genesis11:4) instead of calling on the name of the Lord. Pride comes before the fall (proverbs16:18)
8:30 But who was "they"
Did they themselves limit their own power? Who limited the consuls powers before they existed? Did the soon-to-be consuls draw up what they could or could not do?
3 things that took place in the Roman Republic's last century that caused its decay:
(28:31) - The costly wars and foreign adventure. Rome wasn't always conquering to expand an empire.
(29:51) - The rise of the Roman welfare state. Abandonment of personal responsibility in so many walks of life. Acceptance of the notion that the government's role isn't simply to be peacekeepers but to also provide things without working for it. Vote for a living, instead of working for one.
(30:19) - A willingness to cut corners in government institutions. The constitution was a dead letter and rulers can do whatever they pleased. The respect for institutions that kept the government limited and the freedom of individuals solid was increasingly cast aside. A government that was a fountain of goodies for those who were the noisiest.
The 1 event that marked the end of the Roman Republic:
(33:55) - The assassination
of the Republic's last great defender Marcus Tullius Cicero in 43 BC. He was a friend to liberty and enemy of the state. He delivered 14 speeches in the senate now called the Philippics denouncing Mark Antony as an enemy to the Republic and a tyrant in waiting ... who then ordered Cicero's assassination.
The 3 causes of decline during Rome's Republic continued in its Empire:
(36:09) - Expensive wars, increasing doles, and successive tyrants who increased taxes to pay for the costs.
(37:04) - Higher taxes weren't enough so they devalued their currency to print more.
(37:58) - Emperor Diocletian issued an edict in 301 A.D. ordering price controls on all types of commodities, and maximum wages for all occupations. Businesses disappeared and there was a scarcity of every good. Even when the edict was repealed, Rome never recovered. Barbarian invaders were not opposed.
Reads just like Western Capitalism spreading across the world pushing its tentacles into third world markets to increase its stranglehold till nothing of any significance remains. The invasion has been economic. The Roman Empire and Western Capitalism are one in the same. Even Communism has succumbed to its allure. The Romans were far too advanced to ever fail. We're far too advanced, too, so can't possibly fail. History tells us otherwise.
I see the same but in the other way.
Like the Titanic, so many are willing to say, "we're too big to fail, hail socialism!"
This presentation warns us that we're not too big to fail and socialism can be the very engine of our destruction.
The only time capitalism should be checked is when it prohibits entrepreneurs from fairly competing.
If people are greedy and consume too much to become the plague of everything around them, that is a cultural problem, not a capitalist one. Only respect for morals and the study of ethics can stop a cultural plague. (also, government cannot legislate morals = jihadist)
dragonhold4 Capitalism became a culture through the medium of advertising. Wants were transformed into needs in the fifties and we haven't stopped wanting since. Oliver James terms it Affluenza. It's the total deviation of a moral ethical society through consumerist ideals of value. Whether we can turn back or turn around I don't know. But I know the cracks are showing and to not contemplate it seems unwise.
i would've upvoted this if you included a "video starts here" timestamp
for future searchers , video starts at 4:10
Number of versions of history = number of historians
Thank you for a most interesting talk, I learned something today.
The British were another nation that pretended to 'accidentally' gain an empire.
Yes! And I think they are not our friend; far from it.
@@onekerri1 Why do you thin the current day United Kingdom are not friends of the USA? Do you mean the government or the people?
As a Brit' and a Scot...I can say that my experience is that the people are fierce allies of the Americans, my estimate...80%+....and at least an element of the political elite....the Conservatives...are staunch allies of the USA.
There is an element of socialist/communists led by the current Labour Party that is opposed to the US, and sadly they are gaining ground among the younger generation,...anyone under 25 seems to forget the evil of socialism and communism...but still a minority would declare themselves anti-american outside of the nasty political elite on the Left.
another ridiculous far right pretense this speaker parrots. the romans themselves did not stoop to such sophistry. they conquered because they wanted to expand their wealth, land and control, and they openly said so.
@@lonewanderer3456 I think @Kerri means the Rhodes-Milner Circle, the Anglo-Israelites and the bizarre occult circles which seethe around Westminster. The ruling caste.
@@paulvonhindenburg4727 LOL, "occult circles". Blair's New Labour Liberal Elite are bad enough without those extra labels. Don't make the mistake of letting the real people in charge off the hook by following some 13th century anti-Semitic mumbo-jumbo. If the anti-semites in 'Red' Labour get in power, then you'll see some really bizarre and evil behaviour. Focus on the real enemy.
Greetings from Rome 🇮🇹
Regarding wage and price controls.
Do not think there is any chance of fair trade if they are imposed again.
Corporations have a "suggested retail price" which is most often higher than what a person will pay for an item.
Do you know anyone who will pay MSRP for a car or furniture or even food items.??
No
But if wage and price controls are instituted.... Wages will freeze but prices will be allowed to rise up to the MSRP of goods.
For nearly 50 years now the companies have been prepared to "outwit" the consumer in such an environment.
Did he get rushed off the stage at the end?
Only an American could interpret opposition to the glorification of a military empire by alleging accusation of racism
Sounds racist.
How many of those who are viewing this noticed the number of "thumbs down" ? How sad that these must represent the very corruption L. Reed is exposing. Two quotes - Whom God would destroy, He first makes mad; Who ever hates God loves Death.
Professor Reed, at about 36:00 you refer to the burning of half the vineyards as sounding like triple A. Did you me AA, Alcoholics Anonymous? Excellent talk.
Yes. He was guilty of "A Inflation".
I believe he was referring to the Agricultural Adjustment Act from FDR’s New Deal.
I would be very interested in Mr. Reeds comments about breakdown in regard for law. For instance large municipalities have declared themselves Sanctuary Cities, Political Leaders committing perjury and many other laws.
Very interesting . Just a correction: the population of Rome was the largest till London in the xixth century. In fact Bagdad around the 9th century grew to a much larger size.
How big?
@@TheJeremyKentBGross 10 millions. But i Will check again to make sure.
@@TheJeremyKentBGross I checked and could not find the exact population, because I no longer remember the reference. However, to give you an idea. Bagdad was founded in 760 and grew so fast that by 768 it has reached a size of 10 Km by 9 Km, i.e. larger than today's Paris (within the ring connection). It is considered ba historians, at its time the largest city in the world. You can find a detailed description in (sorry it's in french):" L'islam dans sa premiere grandeur" by Maurice Lombard). More can be found under: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad#Foundation
The unfortunate oversight about our modern culture is implicit in its failure: inability to produce discernable unification. Part of this is from the "the great melting pot" mythos. While the United States absorbed more peoples and their cultures than arguably any country in the history of mankind, it simultaneously engendered the disintegration of its constituent cultural pieces, replacing ancestral traditions and mores with cheap gimmicks and unrestricted consumption. Yet there is something distinctly "American" about this, and I think what we're seeing now are the symptoms of losing what replaced our shared heritage. We cannot salvage what we do not own; we cannot alter what is outside of our domain. Cultural rot is a symptom of a much more serious problem viz., a declining republic.
So is the Republic going to do away with those unneccessary trappings like the Congress and Senate, be replaced by an hereditary monarchy, with the incumbent anointed by God? I get the impression that there are a lot of people who would like things that way. Other factor in the fall of Rome was the that the rich wouldnt pay their taxes and the poor couldnt pay them leaving the people in the middle to get squeezed
Disunity has been the norm throughout--survivor bias by way of the written record. Historically unity comes when it has to. The modern west will not fall like rome, modernity comes with a collection of specific technologies that make total collapse unlikely. The state may fade against an emerging corporate culture but it will not fall to war or famine or rebelious religion. Thats my best take on it
@@joshphilips9919 Well said Sir!
@@bobarmstrong4403 No. The United Nations is going to do Agenda 21. Get a copy of Glen Beck's novel on this and read it now.
@@bobarmstrong4403 No. The United Nations is going to do their Agenda 21. Get a copy of Glen Beck's novel by the same name and read it now.
....AH, a fond topic of mine...
Very disappointing he doesn't focus on parallels concerning moral, sexual and artistic decadence preceding fall of Rome.
I’m not disappointed at all. We’re all too familiar with the discussions.
Apparently you missed the beginning concerning 'character.'
Hastur of Carcosa I answered the question, “greed”, but “character” is more inclusive. I’m old. And I miss my grandparents who showed me what it was to have character. That generation was the last great American generation, IMO. The American republic won’t survive 300 years.
@@Mrs.TJTaylor I think all civilizations rise, fall and are remade by survivors who rediscover forgotten lessons. In many ways our lives are too long in the trauma of discovery and too short in the imparting of wisdom. One easily identifies unmentored youths disconnected from communities as a major problem in any age. A lack of morals proceeding into bad character has such a corrosive effect on nations.
@@Mrs.TJTaylor Personally I doubt the average person knows much about those parallels.
The bottom line is that the US is toast. There is no possible way to turn all that corruption around. Future generations are going to be in some hard times. But maybe they'll come up with a better system.
Brilliant stuff, spot-on. But....too late now, and the end is inevitable. Besides, not enough people are aware/listening.
The are not aware of the U.N.'.s "Agenda 21." Read Glenn Beck's novel.
This was spot on until 51:35.....
Re national debt, every year w/ the income tax assessment from the gov't it should say if your taxes owed is 6,000, a sub-total shd say what portion of that is going to pay debt payments, ie 2,500. Or if you're getting a refund, what portion of that is added to the debt.
The speaker says that no city would have a population equivalent to that of Imperial Rome until London in the 19th century. This is not true: Chinese cities of the Middle Ages housed several millions of people, a Marco Polo makes very clear.
They had small government under the monarchy, so if that is the problem, then the Republic itself was part of the problem. That's just one contradiction on that talk. The "sovereign individual" and the common good are also opposites and contradictory, so either the Romans were confused, or the speaker is confused. I don't think the Romans were confused, they were running on the common good, just like the Greeks. That's why they chopped off Cicero, he wasn't sovereign, nor were the kings of old.
Star path academy sent me.
Interesting lecture. Not sure I would agree with his conclusions.
He mostly blame the gov't and the little people, when actually, at the end of the rebuplic Rome was undergoing significant social and economic changes which made the powerful richer than ever and the poor worse than ever. The grain doll was not a tool plucked out of thin air.
Rome was always a place where power was sought and fought for, but they used to be austere and lead simpler lives
As an aside, I really recommend reading "The storm before the storm - the beginning of the end of the Roman rebuplic" by Mike Duncan
An excellent presentation. And also unsettling, in that the parallels to where we are now are all too obvious.
The author he mentions is linked here. I think the book is called "Unimaginable". www.amazon.com/Jeremiah-J-Johnston/e/B013XNPR9O/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 I did not hear a discussion about the increasing privatization of military operations in the Roman Empire using the various barbarian hordes of Europe. The mercenaries did not like getting stiffed, nor did they appreciate the lack of leadership roles they were promised by the Roman government (as if the romans would have ever put barbarians in charge of the Roman Army).
What a great video. I studied ancient history (Rome and Greece) and classical languages (Latin and Greek) at university.
I educated myself by reading the Roman historians including Julius Caesar.
@@theresewalters1696 And now read Glen Beck's "Agenda 21."
Then you will enjoy reading my sci-fi novella "Adam" where in chapter 10 the full history and the agenda of the NWO/the Fourth Reich is revealed. Here is the link: www.amazon.com/dp/1704689155
If the U.S. Republic is to survive it must establish reasonable term limits such as 12 years for members serving in the House and Senate. Anything beyond that and they are simply building themselves an empire. Also, the idea that "corporations are people too" with regards to political contributions can be simply answered with "corporations can't vote". Why then should corporations effectively be given the power to destroy one candidate or political party while paving the way for another simply because they have the money and thus the power to do so utilizing the media? What volume of such corporation "contributions" are actually delivered resulting from a perceived or real threat of extortion and revenge by a political entity which will ultimately have regulatory or governmental contracts power? This is a recipe for corruption, pure and simple. But yes, we are currently VERY corrupt.
Wow, where are the viewers?
@madwtube He's quoting first hand accounts from the era.
Where are the viewers you ask, there over here dealing with important issues..../sarcasm
The fact this person has 23 million subscribers is frightening.
ua-cam.com/video/9MoDGIkAudI/v-deo.html
The viewers that should watch this dont have the intellect to understand it.
So mass viewership equals quality of content? Quotes are typically reference points and footnotes. No one thinks in a vacuum especially historically. Maybe you think he should just make it all up and that would make him ‘smarty pants’.
The End Times countdown started after the Second World War when mankind got the ability to wipe himself out and the state of Israel was set up, triggering the birth of the messiah to prepare mankind for Judgment Day truthofexistence.weebly.com The Mark of the Beast is the sign of the cross, calling on the Three Unclean Spirits, the false gods of the Antichrist Pope Francis, leader of the pedophile cult in Rome. There is One God not three. Idol worship is forbidden, praying to statues and images of people. The Catholic church is the Beast, a den of thieves, the mother of harlots, the Synagogue of Satan. Jesuits are explained here: ua-cam.com/video/Is64dsv5Glc/v-deo.html
Civilizations are built on "going through the motions", they decline and fall apart when the motions do not do what it once did. When the mind dies the body follows.
22.5 Trillion in debt in August of 2019...now in January 2021, over 27.5 Trillion in debt. This country is toast.
Owned by China
mankind's fate is sealed. who knew? who could have possibly known? have a nice day?
Wasn’t Cicero a Slumlord?
This man should run for president