>> Britains "height" of the Empire was about 1910 imho. <<
i disagree. i believe that britain thought they were at the height of empire just prior to world war one, but in actuality they had been in decline prior to that. the great war just proved to be the defining moment. perhaps 9/11 was america's defining moment.
most americans believe we are currently at the height of our empire. we overrun some two-bit third world country in the desert that's been ravaged and demolished by war for decades and people talk about our unprecedented military supremacy. blah, blah, blah. well our great nation has been in decline ever since the mid sixties. it's unfortunate that everyone is focused on terrorists as if they pose the most serious threat to the security of our country. only we can be the architects of our own destruction.
abraham lincoln said it best.
"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide" |
