Excellent comparison. Not just for the way things are now, but the way that they eventually will be. Rome didn't fall overnight, it lost its greatness in tiny increments and essentially faded into dust over a long, drawn out period of time. A few hundred years ago, the thing that gave you a bond with others was where you lived. It was rare to travel far beyond the borders of your town or region. These days, people are united by thoughts, ideas and beliefs. A trader in Japan has more in common with his trader friend in Norway than he does with his next door neighbor. We will always have political boundaries and colors on the map, but I think that as time passes they will become more and more irrelevant. "To he who has much, much will been given. To he who has little, even what little he has will be taken away." This is a fair description of where our society is heading. Those with natural ability are able to leverage it in greater ways than ever before. Those with no advantage are falling farther and farther behind.