[YouTube] The Truth About The Fall of Rome: Modern Parallels

[Freedomain]

 

Western civilization hangs by a thread - to rescue it, we must delve deep into the past to find out how to save the future. The fall of the Roman Empire closely mirrors the challenges currently facing Europe and North America – toxic multiculturalism, rampant immigration, runaway feminism, debt, currency corruption, wildly antagonistic politics – everything we need to know to save everything we love is written deep in the history of ancient Rome – all we need to do is look!

Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, takes you on a journey deep into the philosophical, cultural, economic and political causes of the decline and death of ancient Rome. Once you understand what happened in the past, you will never again be confused by what is happening now - and never be more certain about how to change what is to come.

Freedomain Radio is 100% funded by viewers like you. Please support the show by signing up for a monthly subscription or making a one time donation at: http://www.freedomainradio.com/donate

 

Please have a browse through these sources, since I have gathered a wide variety of thoughts, arguments and ideas into one presentation. In particular, the argument that barbarians are analogous to terrorists was written about by Morris Berman in 2001. The four stages of Empire was written about by Sir John Glubb in the mid 20th century. He also wrote about the possible role of feminism in the decline of Empires. I hope that this presentation inspires you to examine the Fall of Rome for yourself, and that the sources provided turn out to be a useful starting point.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307700763/?tag=freedradio-20

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire by Simon Baker
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1846072840/?tag=freedradio-20

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer
http://www.amazon.com/dp/039305974X/?tag=freedradio-20

The Rise of Rome: The Making of the World's Greatest Empire by Anthony Everitt
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812978153/?tag=freedradio-20

A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0871404230/?tag=freedradio-20

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1400078970/?tag=freedradio-20

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195325419/?tag=freedradio-20

The Twilight of American Culture by Morris Berman
http://www.amazon.com/dp/039332169X/?tag=freedradio-20

The Fate Of Empires by Sir John Glubb
http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf

Additional Reading
http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/the-lessons-of-the-roman-empire-for-america-today
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-01-26/stop-comparing-the-u-s-to-the-fall-of-rome
http://www.mintpressnews.com/how-inequality-diversity-and-empire-brought-down-the-roman-republic/188498/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/oct/06/books.guardianreview5
http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-reasons-why-rome-fell
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/fallofrome_article_01.shtml
http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf
http://atlassociety.org/commentary/commentary-blog/3976-the-founders-father
https://mises.org/library/inflation-and-fall-roman-empire
http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/1994/11/cj14n2-7.pdf
http://www.ancient.eu/article/835/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/fallofrome_article_01.shtml
 

[Anuojat]

Brilliant Stefan and Mike!

 

This is a perfect introduction for so many people whom come in recently to watch FDR, it is a great hook and great way for them to connect with more of the philosofical side of this conversation.

 

I foudn this perfectly combined the current crisis, past and future that is going to be good and peaceful only trough steady rational principles.

[shirgall]

Please have a browse through these sources...

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307700763/?tag=freedradio-20

 

...

 

[barebones]

I refer you to UPENN Phila and Ragini Verma et al. and an MRI study revealing thought pattern differences between males and females. Post-pubescent female thinking changes (due to  hormonal expression?) by diminishing left hemisphere processing and increasing right hemisphere activity. This may account for female clustering around 100. It would seem then, that women are less represented in the higher IQs, but thank you, there are fewer female idiots!

 

Consider Sweden and Germany and the reluctance of rape victims to file a report because the muslim offenders are so pathetic! 

 

Consider the US pre-19th, female enfranchisement (and eventually driver's licenses) and the increase in emotionally promoted legal considerations and entitlements.

 

Don't read me incorrectly, Ladies are wonderful and are sometimes innovative problem solvers, but human dimorphism exists for a reason.

[barebones]

So, the US "sandwich coin" was the funding for L. B. J.'s great society! Just caught on!

 

In 1964, when I was driving cab in Boston, I experienced Greshem's law first hand with US "sandwich coins"..

 

When I was a kid, I had a G. C. Merriam that 'most always opened to Greshem's Law - Recto bottom right. I paraphrase: When there are two coins of equal extrinsic value, the one with the greatest intrinsic value tends to be hoarded!

 

Who'd 'a thought ........ Gresham's Law twice in a lifetime!

[Magnetic Synthesizer]

What caused a decline in birthrates? Black widows and company is my guess.

[FreedomInk]

The question posed concerning women in power and the decline of civilization is a little tricky for me. As a women disinclined since childhood to have children, I always felt I was meant for something different than rearing children, as well as something exceptional. To be clear, I recognise the child-bearing/rearing effort as a tremendous undertaking, just not one for which I am personally suited. The following is anecdotal, which I realise is not an argument, but here goes. My maternal grandmother lost her husband to heart disease when my mother was only eleven years old; what followed is that she successfully ran both a farm and a household, with my mother's help. In addition, she made sure my mother received a school and music education. As a young woman, my mother married an exemplary man, and raised his children while he did little other than work overtime to provide. She volunteered at our private school, kept an immaculate home for us, and gave us the same music education she had received. Once my sister and I were of an age of semi-independence, she went to work, and eventually she and my father started a business. Her side of it was the production (bringing in the resources), and his was more supportive, roles which precisely suited them. Given my history of watching strong, hard-working, successful women get it done, it is difficult for me to see women in leadership roles as negative. In my family experience, nothing could be further from the truth. My parents would have straight-up kicked my ass had I ever gone on welfare. They are firm believers in maximising one's own utility for maximum reward. I believe firmly in hard work, merit, and taking responsibility for acquiring what one wants in life. I once heard Ann Coulter state that women shouldn't be allowed to vote; I agree more with her father on that one: non-taxpayers shouldn't be allowed to vote. (Note that would edge out a plethora of single mothers who vote the wrong way.) To the point of women in positions of power, I do not believe leading women are the problem; I think it has more to do with state-sanctioned methods like affirmative action. I in no way believe a woman with superior qualifications should be disqualified for a job because she is a women, but rather that those superior qualifications should earn her the job in spite of being a woman. I guess you could call me an egalitarian. I suppose what I am saying is that any person chosen for any position - be it some job or the presidency - should be chosen on the basis of merit, and not some nightmare social engineering project. I believe things would be different if merit was the only factor considered. This is my theory on the subject.

[Weatherford]

Fantastic!!

Do you ever publish as pdfs the notes you show on the screen as you speak? Would be helpful, I think. (Of course, you may do this and I simply haven't found the link yet... )

 

Thanks!!!