I think we as individuals learn. The challenge is that individuals die and their learning and experience go with them. That leaves the next generation to learn the same things. Any learning obtained by experience, however, can't be passed down to the next generation, so ego and ignorance tend to relegate that wisdom to the dust heap of the ages - and more's the pity because if we learned from others' experiences (i.e. history) we wouldn't have to repeat the same mistakes umpteen times throughout history.

Ah, the arrogance of man...

As far as I know this still holds, even though this has resulted in a few of these abusing the privilege of armed forces training to join terrorist groups after their tour is up.

"The only thing remaining to be seen is whether or not we learn from Rome and take steps to prevent our fall."

Blair, you are fully aware that we never learn. No society ever learned from past mistakes in humankind's history. Not that I know of, but would be happy to consider examples if there are any.

The reason is politics. Politicians are not mindful of history. They have an attention span of 10 min. The result is decline, moving from the productive to the unproductive, and chaotic... (first law of Thermodynamics, enthalpy).

This idea of drawing parallels between the ancient Roman empire and the US pops up every decade or so, with the same conclusion that decline is inevitable.

It probably is but the US is not the only entity subjected to it.

It is a global phenomenon. With the world increasingly connected through economic, trade, social and financial ties, it is not possible for the US to change the tide singlehandedly, although we play a substantial role.

I think the clash is increasingly between global and national interests. The only course of action for the latter is to stay the course and don't yield an inch.

In some respects the U.S. has the same policy. Immegrants (not holding U.S. Citizenship) may serve in the military and successful completion on enlistment tour shortens the wait time and (it used to, not sure about now) fully qualifies you for Citizenship.
(Not sure if this option is still available or not. I know it brought in a lot of good people.)

There was another way to move up in Roman society: join the military. Once you had served a tour of duty (assuming you survived of course) you were automatically granted full Roman citizenship. If you became a Centurion or better, you basically could then draw military retirement pay the rest of your life.

There are many parallels. there are also many differences. The entire package (parallels and differences) must be considered in their entirety.
One of the biggest differences is The lack of mobility of the classes. By that I mean the lack of movement from the lower classes to the higher . It was extremely difficult, nearly impossible, for a poor person to move up in Roman society. the only was to go to the provinces and amass a fortune there, outside of Rome, and then return. You wore then looked upas a rich but not of the higher classes. the stigma of low class birth was essentially permanent with in Roman society.

+1