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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;manny9655, post: 14254832, member: 112417&quot;]Tell me we&#039;re NOT going down the same road as ancient Rome!!!&nbsp; </p><p>Rome&#039;s government was constantly threatened with deficits and bankruptcy and no statesman could find a way out of the difficulty. The cost of its huge military program was only one of its headaches. To encourage industry in her satellite nations, it attempted an unrestricted trade policy, but this nation&#039;s working man was unable to compete with the cheap foreign (slave) labor and demanded high tariffs. When the tariffs were passed, the satellite nations were unable to sell their goods to the only nation that had any money, which was Rome. To break the deadlock, the government was finally forced to subsidize the working class to make up the difference between their &quot;real wages&quot; (the actual value of what they were producing) and the wages required to keep up their relatively high standard of living. As a result, many lived on this subsidy and did nothing whatever, sacrificing their living standard for a life of ease.</p><p>The wealthy class owed their riches to great factories where cheap labor produced enormous masses of goods via assembly line methods. The dispossessed farmers and unemployed workers demanded the government to &quot;soak the rich&quot;. The government responded by increasing taxes year after year on the rich but there was a point beyond which even the government dared not go. Attempts were made to abandon the cheap (slave) labor in the factories but the free workmen&#039;s demand for short hours and high wages had grown to the point where only the cheap labor could be used economically. Also, the big factory owners were politically powerful and fought every effort to break up their holdings by bribing senators, hiring lobbyists, and securing the support of unscrupulous labor leaders. The factory owners found it far more profitable to spend small fortunes in such practices rather than lose their cheap labor force. And the average citizen would far rather have his dole and his sporting events than work for a living.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rome fell from within, folks.&nbsp; So will we.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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