Is The United States In Trouble?

[Dill]

(06-22-2023, 02:14 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: The average empire lasts 250 years.

They normally collapse due to things like problems within the empire to become unstable and then it's usually invaded by outside forces.

I share your concern that things are not going well with the nation. It's a worthy topic.

Just curious where you got this information. 

I don't see how anyone could create such an "average" from the historical record we have so far. Does average mean 'mode" or "mean" here?

Rome was founded as a Republic in the 5th century BCE and became an effective dictatorship/empire by the 1st century BCE. It was divided at the end of the 4th century CE, and while the Western portion "fell" in the 5th century, the Eastern endured until 1453. That's about a thousand years of continuous administration, some 800 as an "empire." 

The Tamil Pandyan Empire was arguably much longer. And the Ottomans stretch from the 13th century to WWI.  
 
I'm wondering how "empires" are defined and counted. If enough were effectively defined and averaged to a mean of 250 years, that wouldn't make the 250th year of any empire especially concerning, would it? 

Much better to look at the kind of thing which undermines great nations. I know that is what you are asking about here. And there may be some good answers to this question. We could very well be in trouble, but not because there is some natural 250 year cycle, the end of which we are nearing.