![Ben Nelson<br />Period 1<br />May 12, 2011<br />TT Reflective Essay<br />The Simple Truth: Successes, Failures, and Evolution of Past Civilizations and the United States of America<br />The simple truth is that if a civilization rises, or succeeds, it will eventually fail. Although citizens of each civilization do not want their civilization to fail, it will happen because there is no such thing as a perfect civilization. In order to figure out why civilizations succeed, evolve, and fail, the reasons for the successes and failures of civilizations in general must be analyzed. By analyzing the successes and failures of past civilizations, we can better understand the successes, failures, and the evolution of the United States of America.<br />Of all past civilizations, Rome is one of the best examples. Rome had many successes, some of which were the efficiency of its army, and its advancements in literature and science. Rome also had many achievements in architecture, such as its use of roads and the arch. However, despite Rome’s successes, it ultimately made failures, leading to the fall of its empire. Failures of Rome were that it was unable to drive off Germanic invaders and that its governing system was largely made for an empire smaller than Rome’s vast territories. The successes and failures of Rome were due to evolution of the empire, or lack of it. For example, during the time period from 25B.C. to 54A.D., there were many thinkers helping to improve various aspects of the empire and the empire was under the control of good rulers. However, during the time leading to the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a lack of cooperation between the people of the empire and there was a lack of good rulers. The lack of these things caused a lack of advancements, or a lack of evolution. Was it a coincidence that Rome fell after it stopped evolving? To answer that question, look at a civilization very different from ancient Rome- the civilization of Anglo-Saxon England. Anglo-Saxon England arose around the fall of Rome, on the Isle of Britain. It developed very differently from Rome, but the similarity was that while it succeeded, it was consistently evolving, but when Anglo-Saxon England started failing, there appeared to be a lack of evolution. A failure that may have helped bring the end of the Anglo-Saxons was its lack of military organization and cooperation between neighboring kingdoms. This failure made it easier for foreigners to invade, such as when William of Normandy took the throne by force from Harold Godwinson. This failure showed a lack of evolution that was the disunity of the Anglo-Saxon civilization. The quote, “Civilization is a movement, not a condition; it is a voyage, not a harbor” (Arnold J. Toynbee) perfectly shows that civilization needs to be moving, or else it fails.<br />The United States has had many successes, but it has also had its share of failures. As of now, it is difficult to determine whether the United States is successful or not, but to reach a conclusion on this, the extent of the successes and failures of the United States needs to be summed up. There have been many successes throughout the short history of the United States, but its major successes could be in its military and sciences. The military of the United States has had a major impact on its history, allowing for its first colonies to gain independence and allowing for the powerful country that makes up the United States today to remain a dominant world power. Its scientific advancements have allowed it to increase its military power with advanced weapons, have made medical procedures far more efficient and unlocked cures for various diseases, and have allowed the United States’ use of energy to be more efficient, to name a few. Early in the United States’ history, its government accomplished one of the greatest feats of that time, which was to make the U.S. Constitution, which serves as a model to democracies today.<br />Despite its achievements, the United States does have failures. Recent failures of the United States include financial problems and unemployment. The financial problems of the United States are due mainly to increased imports, lack of exports, decreased value of the stock market, and war costs in the midst of it all. Unemployment rates have driven up because of a population increase, automation of various companies, companies basing their operations outside of the U.S., and many younger people are taking up higher studies instead of taking up jobs. These recent failures could be compared to past failures of the United States, such as the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, unemployment rates skyrocketed, the United States’ manufacturing output fell by 54%, and the stock market collapsed. The Great Depression was partly caused by the government’s dependence on market forces to provide economic corrections to a business downturn. After the Great Depression, the government had to make many changes to its structure in order to prevent another severe collapse. Although in modern times, the failures of the United States do not have as severe symptoms as were seen during the Great Depression, the government of the United States will most likely treat these failures in a similar way. If the United States government reforms some of its policies to make the government and economy run more efficiently, then the country will start another path of success.<br />As shown earlier with the civilizations of Rome and Anglo-Saxon England, the successes and failures of civilizations depend on its evolution. Thus, this rule applies to the United States as well as other modern countries. In ancient civilizations, whenever their evolution of technology and way of life stopped, they started failing. If the history of the United States is looked at, whenever it evolved, it had successes. Examples of these successes are the creation of the Constitution at the very beginning of its history to the United States becoming the world superpower it is today. However, due to recent events, such as high debt and unemployment rates, there is probably a lack of evolution. In fact, these failures are arising because the United States is not evolving its government and economy enough to efficiently tackle its recent needs.<br />The failures of the United States don’t have to be dwelt on, because all civilizations, ancient and modern, have had their share of failures. All civilizations have had their share of successes as well. However, some of them have been more successful than others because the amount of evolution in a civilization determines how much success a it will have. For example, it is pretty obvious that Rome was more successful than Anglo-Saxon England because it evolved more and thus had more opportunity to have more successes and improve upon the management of its civilization. This evidence shows that the success a civilization is wound tightly around the evolution of that civilization. For modern day civilizations, it is difficult to determine whether or not the civilization is overly successful. However, if the history of the civilization is analyzed and sorted into successes and failures, and the history of advancements of the civilization are compared to whether or not the time period was successful, then it is possible to create a rough estimate of its success. For the United States, in its humble beginnings to its superpower status today, its successes are numerous. However, the United States does have failures. Despite the country’s failures in the past, it has always evolved to overcome them. Thus, after an extensive analysis of the United States’ successes, failures, and evolution, it is shown that the United States is generally successful despite its faults, and that it is continuously evolving to overcome the many obstacles that come in its path.<br />References<br />,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ttreflectiveessay-110525020410-phpapp02/85/Reflective-Paper-1-320.jpg)
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