By Bob Hoye ——Bio and Archives--June 24, 2020
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"A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within. The essential causes of Rome's decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars."– Will Durant, The Story Of Civilization III, Epilogue, 1944. The above quote circulates as such, but it is a synthesis from his Epilogue Why Rome Fell?. Based upon this writer’s independent review of the collapse, it is an accurate summary. And the collapse was due to the bureaucracy intruding and spending money until, literally, it was all gone. As with today’s great experiment in authoritarian government, it began with immense wealth. In Rome’s case accumulated through conquest.

The following cartoon was published by the Chicago Tribune in 1934, when it was a great newspaper. Then the inspiration to intrude was to “fix” another great depression. The points made in the lower left are by a character that looks like Trotsky. Included are “Junk The Constitution And Declare A Dictatorship”.
By election time, will enough ordinary citizens be able to see through the blatant promotions to save America’s republican form of government? One by and for the people, not for unaccountable control freaks and their destructive mobs.
One of the bureaucratic issues in the 1930s was that too many people had hunkered down and were not spending enough money. And the then Deep State condemned those as “hoarders” and went out and spent their money for them.
The political process of intrusion has continued, and today’s hysteria seems extreme. Perhaps ending action? View Comments
Bob Hoye (BobHoye.com) has been researching investments for decades, which eventually included the history of financial and political markets. He considers now to be the most fascinating time for both since the Great Reformation of the 1600s. Bob casts a caustic eye on all promotions and, having a degree in geophysics, is severely critical of the audacity that a committee can “manage” not just the economy, but also the temperature of the nearest planet. He has had articles published in major financial journals and, as a speaker, has amused assemblies in a number of cities, from London to Zurich to Tokyo.