[Texgreen] Uh oh: Signs That Your Empire Is Crumbling

[Roger Baker]

<http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0202-26.htm>

Game Over: Thirty-Six Sure-Fire Signs That Your Empire Is Crumbling
by David Michael Green


So. You=92ve built yourself an empire, eh?

Well, bully for you!

What=92s next, you ask? Well, now you=92ve got to do what everybody does =
=20
when they have an empire, of course. You=92ve got to worry about it =20
falling apart, mate!

But how to tell for sure? Let me see if I can be helpful. Here are =20
some rules of thumb to keep in mind, thirty-six sure-fire indicators =20
that your empire is falling apart:

You know your empire=92s crumbling when the folks who are gearing up =20
their empire to replace yours start blowing up satellites in space. =20
And then they don=92t bother to return your phone calls when you ring =20=

up to ask why.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when those same folks are cutting =20
deals left, right and center across Asia, Latin America and Africa, =20
while you, your lousy terms, and your arrogant attitude are no longer =20=

welcome.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you=92re spending your =20
grandchildren=92s money like a drunken sailor, and letting your soon-to-=20=

be rivals finance your little splurge (i.e., letting them own your =20
country).

You know your empire=92s crumbling when it=92s considered an achievement =
=20
to pretend that you=92ve halved the rate at which you=92re adding to the =
=20
massive mountain of debt you=92ve already accumulated.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you weaken your currency until =20=

it looks as anemic as a Paris runway model, and you=92re still setting =20=

record trade deficits. (Hint: Because you=92re not making anything =20
anymore.)

You know your empire=92s crumbling when =93the little brown ones=94 =
(thank =20
you George H.W. Bush =96 certainly not me =96 for that lovely =
expression) =20
in country after country of =93your backyard=94 blow you off and proudly =
=20
elect anti-imperialist leftist governments.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you can=92t topple those =20
governments and replace them with nice puppet regimes =96 like in the =20=

good old days =96 even if you wanted to. And you badly want to.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when one of their leaders comes to =20=

the United Nations and makes fun of your emperor, calling him the =20
devil, and joking about smelling sulphur where he just stood. And =20
though a few folks cringe, everybody laughs.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when just about your entire military =20=

land force is tied up in a worse-than-useless war launched on the =20
basis of complete fabrications, that every day is actually making you =20=

less =96 not more =96 secure from external threat.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when almost half the soldiers in =20
that war are high-paid mercenaries, and you don=92t dare institute a =20
draft.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you send soldiers into war with =20=

two weeks training and a lack of armor, and then you keep them there =20
for three, four and five rotations.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when a member of the Axis of Evil =20
can test missiles and explode nuclear warheads, and all you can do =20
about it is mumble some pathetic warnings about how they better not =20
do that again or there will be consequences.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you even think that there is an =20=

Axis of Evil.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when a rag-tag military hodge-podge =20=

of irregulars has you pinned down in an endless fight you can=92t win, =20=

but also can=92t lose.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you=92re too dumb to even ban =20=

Humvees as a first step toward ending your dependency on a foreign-=20
owned crucial resource.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you trade your prior moral =20
leadership on human rights issues for global disgust at your torture, =20=

=91extraordinary rendition=92 (a.k.a. kidnaping for torture) and the =20
dismantling of nine centuries worth of civil liberties progress.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you blow off international law =20=

that you once helped create, and undermine the institutions of =20
international governance that you once helped build.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when opinion polls confirm that =20
every month you=92re more and more despised throughout the world.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you can=92t even pull off the =20=

hanging of a tin-pot murderous former dictator without turning him =20
into a hero.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you=92re the richest country in =20=

the world, but nearly 50 million of your people don=92t have basic =20
health care coverage.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when the World Health Organization =20=

ranks your healthcare system 37th =91best=92 in the world, just above =20=

Slovenia, and just below Costa Rica. (And far below Colombia, Cyprus, =20=

Saudi Arabia and Morocco.)

You know your empire=92s crumbling when instead of making it easier for =20=

citizens to obtain a higher education, you=92re making it harder and =20
more expensive.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when your government gives tax =20
breaks to industries as a reward for exporting your jobs elsewhere.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when the so-called =91opposition=92 =20=

party can=92t even turn that obscenity into a viable campaign theme and =20=

use it to clobber the worst emperor in your history.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when your middle class has been =20
stagnant for three decades, while the wealth of the hyper-rich =20
continues to climb through the roof.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when your reaction to that is to =20
exacerbate the problem by enacting tax policies that massively =20
increase further still the gap between the rich and the rest.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when the predatory class has taken =20=

over your government and is stripping the country of everything not =20
bolted down to the floor. And then it sells the floor itself, as =20
well, to your rivals.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when you=92re spending tens of =20
billions of dollars you don=92t own on new nuclear warheads and space =20=

weapons that don=92t work, to be used against an enemy you don=92t have.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when one of your cities drowns and =20=

your government does next to nothing before, during and after.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when a massive environmental =20
nightmare is looming around the corner, and your emperor not only =20
ignores it, but claims it isn=92t real while taking steps to exacerbate =20=

it.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when your emperor is warned by a CIA =20=

briefer of an imminent terrorist attack of vast proportions, and =20
responds by remaining on vacation and dismissing the briefer with the =20=

words: =93All right. You've covered your ass, now.=94

You know your empire=92s crumbling when the same emperor drops =20
everything to fly across the country from his vacation home in order =20
to sign a bill intervening on the wrong side of a personal medical =20
drama involving a single family.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when gays and immigrants are used as =20=

diversionary issues to keep people from thinking about the pillaging =20
of their country and their wallets actually taking place. And it works.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when people are getting more =20
religious and less scientific, not the other way around.

You know your empire=92s crumbling when your political leaders start to =20=

be chosen by dynastic rules of succession.

And you especially know your empire=92s crumbling when the most idiotic =20=

child of one of the least accomplished leaders in its history is not =20
only crowned as the next emperor, but is even revered for a time by =20
most of the public as a great one.

Rome? Britain? Spain?

At this rate we=92ll be lucky to end up like Belgium.

David Michael Green is a professor of political science at Hofstra =20
University in New York. He is delighted to receive readers' reactions =20=

to his articles (dmg@regressiveantidote.net), but regrets that time =20
constraints do not always allow him to respond. More of his work can =20
be found at his website, www.regressiveantidote.net.