FT.com's most popular story of the year reported a warning that the US is on a "burning platform" of unsustainable policies and practices. It came in an August report from David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of the US Congress.
In an Financial Times interview, he drew parallels with the end of the Roman empire. There were "striking similarities", he said, between the US's current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including "declining moral values and political civility at home, an overconfident and overextended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government". He condemned current US policies on education, energy, the environment and immigration as "unsustainable".
"It's time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American republic is the first to stand the test of time," Mr Walker said.
The report, which stayed at the top of FT.com's "most read" lists for days, was picked up avidly by websites and blogs from across the political spectrum. What follows is a sample of the reaction to the article.
Conservative bloggers, such as Rod Dreher at Beliefnet , were drawn to the moral aspect of Mr Walker's warning:
"How many politicians would get elected today by promising cutbacks in services, and a lower standard of living for the sake of living within our means? Not one. Liberals wouldn't vote for them. Conservatives wouldn't vote for them. Nobody would vote for them. If we are unwilling to sacrifice comfort for the greater good of the present-day generation, as well as our children and children's children, then we are decadent."
This view was echoed on Digg , one of the web's most popular community news aggregators, with user OswaldKenobi commenting:
"The US populace needs to turn its attention to itself. Overspending is a trait of all Americans, not just the federal government. Complacency is displayed by citizens, not just the leaders. Production losses are the fault of the workers, not the legislature. If our country collapses, everyone is to blame."
There was a clear thread of opinion that Mr Walker had articulated an underpresented view, with MadSquirrel, also on Digg , saying:
"It is interesting that so few people want to talk about what will happen when the Baby Boomers retire."
Kim, a user of social networking website MySpace , and who professes little interest in politics, wrote:
"It's interesting that such an authority figure is saying what various ordinary people have been alluding to for years."
Some took an apocalyptic tone, such as Earl1940 on Stumbleupon , a community aggregation website.
"Walker is talking as softly as possible here and yet giving a serious warning. Other analysts outside of the government have been louder and blunter, and for some years already. Showtime is approaching rapidly."
According to Garland Bradshaw of Warren, Ohio, in a letter to the FT, Mr Walker may have actually understated the problem.
"The means of decline and destruction are so much swifter and more powerful than in Roman times."
However, Rosario A. Iaconis, of the Italic Institute of America, argued in another FT letter that the comparison with Rome flattered the US.
"The vast expanse of Rome's power was underpinned by the empire's most enduring achievement: the rule of law. America can only dream of such a legacy."
For Dark Wizard, on the Do No Evil blog at propeller.com , the conclusion was simple:
"It boils down to our government not operating in our best interest."
Paul B. Farrell, on MarketWatch.com , extended the Rome-US analogy:
"Wall Street is a metaphor for the Colosseum where Romans fought not just individual duels, but fought a much deeper battle for the heart and soul of the republic - and lost. The Colosseum was symbolic of their obsession with wealth and material excesses, destroying its values and exposing its vulnerability, until eventually Rome was overrun by outsiders."
Yet not all thought the future was so bleak. Mohamed Marwen Meddah, an IT worker from Tunisia, who describes himself as Muslim, Arab and proud, as well as "pro-peace, anti-war and open-minded", wrote on his blog subzeroblue :
"There's no doubt about it that the US is our modern day empire, and it is true that some of the unmistakable signs of decline could be starting to show. But there's still a long way to go, and just looking back and learning from the past should be enough to avoid the fall of this empire."
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