In its final centuries, late Rome used the "Foederati" system - outsourcing border defense to regional "vassals" because it couldn't foot the bill alone. Arrogance stayed high, but the money ran out. The result? The very people hired to protect the gate realized they didn't need the empire, marched inward, and smashed it open. Today, the Epstein class of a strained US under intense domestic debt & internal pressure pushes vassals like Germany & Japan to rearm and handle their own security burdens.
