Author Topic: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.  (Read 2916 times)

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Offline worlder

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To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« on: November 09, 2012, 09:08:27 pm »
The right wingers think that the next four years will result in the Sick Man of North America.

I know violent revolution or a war can change the face of a country in mere months. But what would it take, in terms of government policies, to destroy a country as immense as the US in the span of a decade?

Now we know the Roman empire just faded out of existence over the course of centuries.The Soviet Union lasted around 70 years despite having poor planning for most of its existence.

Just how extremely left wing do future policies have to be to do in four years for what usually takes decades?
« Last Edit: November 09, 2012, 09:40:51 pm by worlder »

Offline armandtanzarian

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Re: To topple Rome in a blink of an eye.
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2012, 09:23:56 pm »
Well, if you read Atlas Shrugged you have a vision of how Right-wingers think America will be destroyed. Excessive regulation to the point of crippling entrepreneurship, limiting freedom of investment, freedom of operation, and freedom of movement. Paying people according to what they need not what they earn. Many of the things the USSR trotted out in communism, distorted, magnified and accelerated. Of course this won't happen because, not only does no one in government believe in outright communism, but if they actually did that even the vast majority of the Left (except the bunch they probably kicked out of the Democratic Party a long time ago) would resist it as well.

There is another way that could result in destruction, but its equally fantastic. The future reforms in the next 4 years create such a massive, inescapable fiscal hole, that the government is straddled with so much debt they must prioritize interest obligations before anything else. Hyperinflation would begin to manifest itself, OR the US would enter a period of severe stagnation ala Japan. And then to top it all off a foreign force invades the USA and chips off its land, and the military, crippled by lack of money to do anything, is powerless to fight back.

Again, that requires such a stretch of the imagination its impossible in today's world. The USA's size is, in many ways, its own protection; in order for any of the above scenarios to happen they must happen over many decades of slow, consistent decline. The US military is the largest in the world, its debt obligations by GDP is by no means the largest yet (aforementioned Japan takes the cake). The USA changing its politics every decade or so is also the key to its longevity; many of the fallen empires prior are marked with extended periods of one-party rule during the decline, and then destroyed (or renewed if lucky) in periods of internal infighting or civil war.

Offline Lt. Fred

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2012, 11:22:47 pm »
The US could (and should) disband the Army, Navy and ~90% of the Air Force and nobody could invade. Nuclear weapons are fun like that.
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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2012, 11:17:44 am »
Even if we didn't have nukes, the likelihood that a foreign power could take over is low. It's easy to take over a European country because they're so tiny. Even Afghanistan and Iraq are only about the size of Texas. With the exception of China, no foreign power could hope to invade without losing a lot of people very quickly because of how thinly they would have to spread their forces.

Offline mellenORL

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2012, 12:05:17 pm »
Hell, China only just now launched their first and only aircraft carrier....and it's almost Cute, it's so small.

Our economy is so frickin' huge and diversified, it would take something like the Yellowstone super volcano blowing up to end this country (and that of the world, from the dust cloud and poisons).
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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2012, 02:59:36 pm »
change the world.  Not end it.

Offline rookie

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2012, 06:57:49 pm »
With the exception of China, no foreign power could hope to invade without losing a lot of people very quickly because of how thinly they would have to spread their forces.

I really wish people would stop worrying about China's military. China will not ever invade the United States. Frankly, I'm not sure they can.
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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2012, 07:05:04 pm »
With the exception of China, no foreign power could hope to invade without losing a lot of people very quickly because of how thinly they would have to spread their forces.

I really wish people would stop worrying about China's military. China will not ever invade the United States. Frankly, I'm not sure they can.

Not sure? We're talking about a country that's so ass at amphibious warfare that they couldn't even take Taiwan. Even New Zealand would stand a better chance at taking over the US than China.

Offline Jack Mann

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #8 on: November 11, 2012, 07:14:47 pm »
The worst thing China could do us is declare war and then surrender.
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Offline rookie

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2012, 07:19:06 pm »
The worst thing China could do us is declare war and then surrender.

Ooh. Close. That's the (second) worst their military could do. (Worst being drawing us into a conflict in a country close to them.) They lack not only the military resources, but the logistical ones as well.

The worst China could do is dick with our currency. If you really want to worry about China doing something to us, worry about them engaging us in economic warfare.
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Offline wrongfrog

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2012, 07:19:28 pm »
With the exception of China, no foreign power could hope to invade without losing a lot of people very quickly because of how thinly they would have to spread their forces.

I really wish people would stop worrying about China's military. China will not ever invade the United States. Frankly, I'm not sure they can.
Not to mention that China's relationship with the US is mutually beneficial; they need us as much as we need them.

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #11 on: November 11, 2012, 10:55:30 pm »
The U.S. has to worry more about an invasion from Canada then they do from China. It would be physically impossible to sustain a trans-Pacific supply line large enough to sustain an invasion force since U.S. could very effectively interdict land and sea routes. This would be assuming China could even establish a beachhead in the first place which would be next to impossible.

Offline largeham

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Re: To topple Rome in the blink of an eye.
« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2012, 07:01:47 am »
Really, any country with a piece of ocean as a border is bloody lucky, e.g. the entire history of England.

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