is America the new Rman Empire?

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

From this list of reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire
Now substitute Illegal Aliens for Slaves.

And still, you have to pay them. Or else word gets around and you don't get anybody looking for work. I'd say calling them "slaves" is stretching the term unconscionably. Remember that "unfair treatment" differs considerably in definition from "slavery," for slavery is a mere subset.

Now the big thing that keeps us from being a new Empire is our country's fundamentally anti-imperial mindset. We remain in that habit, and have a certain, inchoate understanding that imperial conquest does not serve our trade interests, which we set first in priority -- fundamentally, it's that wealthy trade partners, not being tapped for tribute nor constrained in their own markets and trade, trade more, and the enrichment becomes mutual.

Capitalism, basically, is what keeps us non-imperial. The logic of empire was based on a mercantilistic economic model, which we rejected in the 1770s and -80s for good and all, having been on the short end of that stick.