Edward Gibbon's wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, publishing his first volume in 1776 the year The United States was founded. It seems quite prophetic that this book should be written the year a nation was born, for this nation has come to the place that it exhibits the same attributes that led to the decline and fall of Rome.

In Mr. Gibbon’s Book, he stated there were five attributes which marked the decline and fall of the Roman empire:

1. A mounting show of luxury

2. A widening gap between the rich and the poor

3. Obsession with sex

4. Freakishness in the arts masquerading as originality

5. An increased desire to live off the state

These five attributes which led to the fall of Rome are very apparent to even the most unobservant among us today.

Is it later than we think?