Empire Falls Summary

In “Empire Falls” by Niall Ferguson, written in 2006, Ferguson suggests the idea that the western empire may fall sooner than expected. Referring to The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Ferguson makes many supports to his claim. He does this by showing how the western empire is paralleling with the choices made by the Roman Empire before it had its fall by making the same choices.

Ferguson starts out by giving the audience background information about the fall of the Roman Empire and the explaining the discredit of Oswald Spengler's book Der Untergang des Abendlandes. Throughout the article, Ferguson recaps back to Gibbon’s book to make his points and show we are following the footsteps of Rome.

Ferguson compares the decline of Rome with the soon to come decline of the

Western Empire. He gives relates back to Gibbons book and then states and supports how the west is doing the exact same thing except of course in modern way.
First, Ferguson begins his initial dispute by stating the choices that led to the fall of rome in minute detail.

He then goes straight into his first support. Ferguson says that the west will decline because each person in power wants to be better than the last. This makes a separation in the branches of the government and it also had increased the debt so much that the economy is bound to struggle.

Ferguson also puts a point to the "elderly-dependency ratio." He shows statistics on how the ratio will grow and how that is going to have a large effect on the economy. Ferguson relates back to the money/debt issue when he points out that a majority of americans don't have retirement plans and will rely on the government's social security and medical. With the government in such debt, Ferguson states that will make the current debt "multiply by 37 million."

Also a point of deterioration is the military. Ferguson points out that much like the Roman Army, the US Army is decreasing in toughness. The military trainees are being in a way babied and the last point of deterioration in the military is that there are not enough people to"maintain law and order in conquered

territory."
Ferguson next points out the loss of our culture. He states that much like the romans who were entertained by "orgies and circuses," americans "substitute pornography and NASCAR." Though he states that our culture is indeed declining, he also says how some parts are still good. Ferguson concludes this point on more examples of decline specifically in our younger generations.
Next, Ferguson moves into the physical attributes of today's society. Americans are becoming larger and larger, in both height and weight. He says that "the percentage of Americans classified as obese nearly doubled." He compares our actual change to the romans metaphorical change and "Gibbon's argument against roman luxury."
The last big point Ferguson makes is that the empire is losing its religion. Less people are going to church and they are going about their day doing whatever they want. This loss of structure makes a bad turn for the society as a whole and leads the empire to a fall.
Being parallel with the Roman Empire, the Western Empire may be on the verge of falling. With support throughout the story from Gibbon’s book and pointing out the similarities, Ferguson states that the Western Empire will fall “sooner than we think.”