Dr. Marc J. Yacht: The mighty always have fallen. Always.

Being a strong imperial power offers no guarantee of continued existence.  Ask any Mayan whose empire survived 3,500 years. They sit alongside the Roman, British, Spanish and Mongol empires. The French faced the revolution with Madame Defarge knitting while the People’s Court sentenced French nobility to death. One cannot ignore the Russian revolution and the end of the Romanov dynasty.

It happens and it can happen in the U.S.

The seeds of revolution begin with citizen unrest but governments may fall because of complacency, corruption and the underestimation of the enemy. God has little to do with the strength of nations, but the flight from reality in government policy can have much to do with the collapse of an empire.

U.S. politics is on a fast track for trouble. The signs are everywhere: the endless wars draining the treasury, political polarization paralyzing needed policy, rising public anger, and increasing community violence.  Add the lack of resources to address community needs such as health care, roads, bridges, public education, and mental health. Also include the growing hostility to the federal government, the increasing numbers of disenfranchised citizens, and increased extremist group activity. Americans are not happy and they’re worried.

The nation is pulling in too many different directions and the loss of confidence in the political leadership to solve problems is well documented through numerous polls. On top of the list of issues confronting the home front is the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Add to that a troubling erosion of the middle class and the seeds of potential anarchy are planted. Nobody will win should communities’ erupt and they have.

A blatant cry for unrestricted gun ownership suggests a mistrust of law enforcement to adequately keep communities safe. At no other time in our history has gun ownership heralded so much attention. There are more than Second Amendment right concerns on the plate. There is an underbelly of fear that neighborhoods and public places will become increasingly unsafe.

There’s a need for adequate safety nets such as medical services, housing, and transportation. This problem won’t go away but will continue to fester without resolution. It’s not a question of who is right or wrong, but how the nation agrees to heal the wounds of injustice.

Twenty-one percent of American children live in poor households. Other nations through their child welfare systems have better addressed this serious American problem. In spite of our very favorable Gross Domestic Product, when compared to the Europeans they seem to be doing a better job protecting their poor.

So many American parents with hungry children living in poverty pose a serious threat to the continued progress of the nation. Sadly, U.S. growth may have peaked and we are reaping the rewards of misplaced policies and inequity in personal income. Neither party has honestly addressed the need for a redesigned welfare system that provides basic needs more cost efficiently.

On one hand Republicans want to slash benefits and on the other Democrats want to protect the minimal benefits in place without adequate fiscal prudence.  Both sides need to sit down and stop the chest beating. The safety nets must be funded. How to do it is the conundrum.

Responsible leadership from both parties must forget the talking points and get down to business if the U.S. is to truly recover from the banking failures and economic downturn reflected by the markets. The recovery has not reached levels needed to reclaim the American dream. Nor are college diploma mills leaving hundreds of thousands of students in serious debt going to revitalize a damaged middle class.

If this nation is to survive it requires political leadership to own up to the country’s problems rather than spew out talking points for a successful election. If the Democrats and Republicans are not up to the task of moving the nation forward, a third party is needed for the U.S. to survive the century.

Marc J. Yacht, M.D., M.P.H. is a retired physician living in Hudson, Florida. Column courtesy of Context Florida.