The path for this nation’s decline began with the civil war. Up until that time, people were citizens of their respective states first, and citizens of the United States second. This was truly a republic as stated famously by Benjamin Franklin when asked at the end of the Constitutional convention whether we had a republic or a monarchy answered, “A republic if you can keep it.”

The concept of the republic was built upon the states having clear checks on the actions of the Federal government. This vanished with the end of the civil war when the then national government asserted full control over the states of the confederacy, abolished local elections, put the states under the rule of the United States Army and denied Southern States the right to representation in Congress. The concept of a limited National government had ceased to exist.

The remaining check the states had on the National Government was the Constitutional requirement that members of the United States Senate be elected by the state legislatures. The seventh amendment to the Constitution erased that important check by the states on the national government.

Today, the Tenth Amendment is simply a curiosity and the interstate commerce clause has been stretched beyond recognition. What has this meant – we now have approximately 300,000 American members of our armed forces stationed in more than 150 countries around the world. This does not include Navy personnel at sea supporting the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. as well as those ported in foreign bases such as Yokohama. We are no longer a republic, but rather an empire. I know we like to think of this as the benevolent nation, giving and demanding nothing in return. The rest of the world does not see us that way.

The United States today is an empire. Like any empire we are close to having an emperor – our President. President Obama is not an extreme example of this, but following the examples of his predecessors, he has no qualm about committing us to an open-ended war without even consulting with Congress beforehand or even today.

We have not been able to keep our republic. The United States is now an empire and close to becoming a monarchy. Rome was glorious for years having abandoned its republic for a monarchy. The end was not pretty either for Rome or the Western World.

To correct what is happening, we need to starve the beast. Cutting off the national government’s ability to spend with its open checkbook will be more than difficult – it may be impossible. But if we cannot do it, do not be surprised when the barbarians arrive and assume control.

I do recommend reading Gibbons for those of you who have not done so. His account of the end of the Roman Empire is too close to what is happening today to dismiss.