Pax Americana: The Decline and Fall....?

Over at London's Financial Times, Jeremy Grant reports that David Walker, comptroller general of the United States, has made a comparison of the US to Rome (the old Empire, not the Holy See). The article is interesting in that the specific areas of concern noted only find correpondence with pagan Rome, but also substantiate the warnings the Holy Father and others have been pointing out for years. Below are a few excerpts.

Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned
By Jeremy Grant in Washington

The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned.

...

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.

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“I’m trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call,” he said. “As comptroller general I’ve got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on.

“One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough,” said Mr Walker, who was appointed during the Clinton administration to the post, which carries a 15-year term.

...

“Our very prosperity is placing greater demands on our physical infrastructure. Billions of dollars will be needed to modernise everything from highways and airports to water and sewage systems. The recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a sobering wake-up call.”

To read the entire article, click here.

The full text of Mr Walker's speech may be found here.