Dakota Beacon

America was no happy place in the Summer of ’23. Count the ways: immigrant invasion, inflation, rising crime, weak economy, billions of dollars for an unwelcome war in Ukraine, depleted US military forces, and all this capped by lousy political leadership.

Illegal immigrants flow incessantly across America’s borders. Since Biden became president 3.8 million illegals have entered the US. That includes 1.5 million so-called “gotaways,” i.e., people for which there is no accounting. They just disappeared into the interior.

Many Americans feel as though they are losing their country, or worse still, that it’s being given away by an elected elite. Citizens tried to register their frustrations at the ballot box, but the remedy has not worked. Our federal government allowed the influx to continue unabated and even curtailing any effort by border states to stop the invasion. Here is a brief summary.

            The federal government will not secure America’s border with Mexico.

            The State of Texas may not secure its border with Mexico.

            The federal government will not deport illegal immigrants.

            Texas may not deport illegal immigrants.

            The federal government can distribute the new arrivals to whichever states it wants, whenever it wants, as it sees fit.

            Texans must keep people who illegally cross the border in Texas.

In short, the federal government has aggressively rejected state sovereignty, and subordinated state governments to the whims of federal bureaucrats. Given these realities, what options are left for a state like Texas? It seems the only option for Texas beside rebellion is to accept the situation.

Could 2023 be our 1860? In 1860, a year before the War Between the States, Abraham Lincoln identified how the states that opposed slavery had exhausted every way to peacefully maintain the union. Today, mass illegal entry is against the law and the popular will in the red states. But it is ignored and abetted by the federal government and the blue states. That could stir conflict just like slavery once did. This enormous burden forced upon border states could be a flash point.

But wait! There is more to the story bringing up different issues. America’s situation parallels the Roman Empire’s collapse in many ways. America’s financial mismanagement has become so bad that some say our country’s decline is now inevitable.

America is moving in the wrong direction. New York City, a microcosm of America’s decline and a hotbed of leftist ideology, recently announced it would cut police funding to spend $12 billion more on illegal aliens. The streets may not be safe for U.S. citizens, but at least those here illegally will be comfortable.

Entire swaths of New York and other cities are now abandoned. Cities continue declining and leaving behind lawless communities. They manifest a two-tiered society with the lower class living in rising misery while the rich retreat into gated communities.

To fund endless foreign wars and wasteful domestic spending, Rome devalued its currency resulting in inflation thus foisting a hidden tax on its people.

Outrageous taxes drove commerce out of the Roman Empire while idle workers turned to government handouts for food.

Rome’s failure to decrease spending while at the same time strangling its own economy eventually turned the empire’s finances into a quagmire. Unsustainable debt rose at increasing rates.

With its decline, Rome doubled down on spending, borrowing, inflation, and war, using bread and circuses to tranquilize a furious and frantic population.

Foreign wars focused the eyes of the population on external rather than internal problems. Furthermore, wars were used to export unemployed men to fill the military ranks. Soaring military expenditures hindered financing true military readiness leaving the empire exposed to alien invasion.

As Rome’s unity faded, tribalism took over by grouping people based on traits and features. Assimilation became impossible. Unity, not diversity, had previously bonded the Roman Empire.

The financial and cultural decline of Rome holds lessons for us today, lessons to be gleaned not only from Rome but from other nations as well who have made similar mistakes.

“Fixes” have been apparent for a long time, but partisan bickering blocked those fixes. The federal government must ditch the power it has seized from the people in terms of regulations and taxes. Cutting government will shrink deficits that drive inflation. It curtails economic deterioration and gives small businesses and manufacturers a competitive chance. Finally, decreasing the federal government will cut down on cultural battles leaving the resolutions to states and communities.

Today, Americans are alienated from their government and divided from one another. Many people no longer believe in the rule of law or respect the civic culture. Instead, we get a two-tiered system of justice and authoritarian rule. So, which will it be? Which way do we go?

All in favor of civil war? Say “Aye.” Those in favor of a collapse like the Roman Empire? Same sign.

The “Ayes” have it. We are on the horns of a dilemma.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).