Epic proportions is a term that could legitimately be used to describe issues that have major effects on our society — warfare, ecological concerns, global warming, to name a few.
However, epic proportions doesn't really begin to describe the effect on our lives that Rise And Fall of the Roman Empire issues could have. And such issues that could cease life as we know it will most probably revolve around our economy. Wall Street is hanging by a paper clip — namely, the untrustworthy arenas of the real estate market, unemployment rates, and inflation, recession and depression. Meanwhile, we continue to have the innumerable poor, old, sick.
Our venerable political system where only spenders and not cutters get elected has amassed a debt of more than $16.8 trillion and could just be the linchpin to eternal disaster.
Yet, people marry, spend their government handouts and continue to ask for more as though our coffers are bottomless. But they are not.
Unless we do a 180-degree turn soon, we just may be adding our name to the list of other free-falling countries: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain.
Stephen Lent
Albany
