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The United States has had an immense decline in morals and values, as well as in public health. Not only that, but it is competing with alarmingly high unemployment, much like ancient Rome was. The United States is defiantly not as stable as it may seem. As a result, it will fall. The decline in moral values in ancient Rome was much like the Unites States today. Crimes made the streets extremely unsafe and gladiator fights were exceedingly popular. This isn’t much different from what we see today. Crime rates in the U.
S are continuing to rise, and many people enjoy observing violence, such as gory movies, boxing, and video games that encourage fighting. There were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome, and there are more than 100,000 in the Unites States (4), as well as 551,000 Pedi files (5). As one can see, they are very similar. The fact that the Unites States has even more then ancient Rome did increases the negativity towards the situation. In a way, the U. S. seems to be supporting this kind of behavior by having strip clubs and pornography on television. In fact, prostitution is legal in Las Vegas.
Even though these things may not seem like an immense contribution to society falling, every minuscule thing makes a difference. Not only are these things available for everyone to see, but young girls do glimpse these things, and it sometimes causes them to loose respect and responsibility for themselves. This is very common today. Getting pregnant at a young age, such as ages 14-16 was not bizarre in ancient Rome (6) and continues to be common in the Unites States. Punishments for crimes in Rome were banishment, slavery, death and more (1).
The United States has a death penalty in some states, but it is rarely used. All we have in the United States is jail, which is most commonly used. Being in jail may benefit some people, but it cannot change what kind of person one is. The result will be a continuation of increasing crime rates and deaths. Ancient Rome and public health did not mix very well. It was not uncommon that people died before they reached the age of seventeen. Most died or got sick from the spread of blood from gladiator fights, water disease, or alcohol consumption.
Today, alcoholics are more common then they have ever been. People seem to be fond of smoking and drinking even though it contaminates their bodies. Additional factors that contributed to diseases in Ancient Rome were malaria, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever (2). Although these diseases may not be common in the United States, there are many others to take their places. For example, there are many sexually transmitted diseases such as Aids, and HIV. There is also swine flu, which is currently escalating and becoming more of a threat.
Much like the United States, in Rome, disease was most common from the streets and from people not taking care or themselves. Today, because people do not keep their bodies healthy, obesity and over eating makes these diseases even more common. As a result, this can lead to another kind of disease called diabetes, which can indeed result in stroke, heart attack, and even death (7). Rome went downhill when unemployment became a hazardous issue. It is assumed with the U. S having the same issue, things will be the same.
It all started when Latifundias dislodged farmers out of business. The Latifundias used slaves instead, causing farmers unable to produce cheap since they were actually paying men. Soon enough, farmers had their farms disinherited, or were pushed to sell them. This filled the city with unemployed citizens, which became the homeless, much like the Unites States today. The U. S. has a horrid economy resulting in delinquent home loans, vast amounts of banks closing because they ran out of capital due to loan losses, and unemployment.
Just like Rome, the count of homeless people in the U. S is increasing enormously, and unemployment is at an all time high. Six million U. S workers have lost their jobs since the fall of the economy (8), and this is expected to increase. All of this information is exceptionally imperative and should be put into consideration immediately, because decline in moral values, public health, and unemployment all lead to the downfall of ancient Rome. If these things are not secured, our civilization will cease to exist.