“Rome lived upon its principal till ruin stared it in the face. Industry is the only true source of wealth, and there was no industry in Rome. By day the Ostia road was crowded with carts and muleteers, carrying to the great city the silks and spices of the East, the marble of Asia Minor, the timber of the Atlas, the grain of Africa and Egypt; and the carts brought out nothing but loads of dung. That was their return cargo.”
Winwood Reade, The Martyrdom of Man
Sure sounds like Washington DC to me.
I remember reading somewhere that there wasn’t a farm within 100 miles of Rome. The taxes on land were so high within 100 miles of Rome, nobody could generate enough food to make a profit and thus pay the taxes.
So, anyone wanting to farm moved away. Food had to be carted at least 100 miles (figuring a horse pulling a cart of food 20 miles a day) which took a week to get to Rome, and that was just food grown “locally”… which drove up costs, which drove up taxes, which…
Not to mention being tactically and strategically retarded… made Rome easy pickings for Alaric…
Speaking of farms going out of existence…
Planned Food Safety Rules Rile Organic Farmers
Local growers are discovering that proposed FDA regulations would curtail many common techniques, such as using house-made fertilizers and irrigating from creeks.
Congress passed the landmark Food Safety Modernization Act amid alarming reports from public health agencies about widespread food contamination. Tens of millions of consumers are sickened by tainted food each year, and some 3,000 die annually as a result, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Parents of children who died from drinking contaminated juice or eating unsafe spinach rallied lawmakers with horrifying stories. Concerns about bioterrorism also played a role. The new rules are meant, in part, to make the nation’s food supply less susceptible to tampering.