Lecture 4 - The Third Dynasty of Ur

It seems so odd to read of men suddenly proclaiming themselves king and being successful. Obviously they have backing, military resources, we read about that in history all the time. But it made me try to imagine someone doing that in America. Right now, Barack Obama is president, not the same as a king of course, but what would it be like if someone killed him and declared himself president? What would we do? Wait him out and see if he was worthy of the title? Arrest him? With military backing, he could be successful but what would we think of the character of someone who did that? If a president was really unpopular, would most of America back a violent usurper? I'm not really sure of the procedure, I hope we could oust an erring president democratically and lawfully. But in Ur III, like the empires before, once the king was dead, the empire fell apart. Would America fall apart into separate states or regions? There have been rumors of such but they've come to nothing unless they're in the background, still in the works...

I also wonder and worry about the increasing tightening of control in America. Isn't this central government that controlled all aspects of peoples' lives what led to the downfall of Ur III? Everything so interdependent and vulnerable to any disruption that it was unsustainable? Is there a line between being a united country and being a "slave-to-government" economy and society? If so, I wonder just where it is. Here is a discussion of America's coming role in the world by a former National Security Council member: The Autonomy Rule. Click on the words in blue at the bottom of the post to read the PDF.

Here's the link to Quizlet for the Scatter game and practice: Quizlet Ur III  The password for this one is 3Urshullec4.