[CutePuppy]

VHEMT does seem like one of the many neo-Malthusian organizations which, in general, agree with Malthus on a “problem” but all have different flavors or proposed “solutions” (Malthus’ preferred solution was wars).

BTW, I assume you are no “relations” to VHEMT founder Les Knight ? :~)

http://www.amazon.com/Return-Malthus-Environmentalism-Post-War-Population-Resource/dp/1874267510
“The Return of Malthus: Environmentalism and Post-War Population-Resource Crises”

Re Romans, the bigger lesson of Rome is that they were undone essentially from within, way before finally succumbing to external forces. Unfortunately, we see something not dissimilar today in US.

[The Pack Knight]

No relation. My mother named me "The" for reasons that remain obscure. I tried calling myself T.P. Knight in college, but I stopped that for reasons that should be obvious.

And that is the big lesson of the Roman Republic. It really started when politicians began buying votes with other peoples' money, mostly through subsidized grain and state-mandated debt forgiveness. That should seem familiar to anyone posting here. It should be noted that this populist strain of politics led to the first recorded instance of political violence in Rome since the overthrow of the Tarquinii kings. This, of course, was the killing of the Gracchi.

The other major factor came with the Marian reforms, which replaced the citizen army with a professional army, but did not replace the politically appointed officers with a professional officer corps, a dangerous combination whose results speak for themselves. Luckily, we don't quite have THAT yet.