A Shawn Ryan Preview Links 1913's Power Shifts to Ancient Rome

This preview from Shawn Ryan Show digs into 1913 as a hinge point in American history, then pivots into a conversation about Rome as a warning sign for where things stand today. A guest walks through three things that happened that year under Woodrow Wilson: the Jekyll Island meeting that led to the Federal Reserve, the 16th Amendment creating the income tax, and the 17th Amendment shifting Senate selection from state legislatures to popular vote. From there the discussion jumps to the Praetorian Guard literally auctioning off the Roman emperorship, and draws a line to how emergency powers in Rome, and in America after events like 9/11, tend to stick around long after the crisis passes.

Key points

• 1913 trifecta: the guest ties the Federal Reserve Act, the income tax amendment, and the 17th Amendment together as the year's defining shifts in power.
• Federal Reserve critique: he argues it is neither federal nor reserved, calling it a cartel backed by member banks and the Bank of International Settlements.
• Praetorian Guard parallel: he describes the Guard auctioning the empire and killing roughly 17 emperors when unhappy with them.
• Ordinary Romans: he says most regular people were consumed by survival, flooding, disease, and money, with no real view into imperial power.
• Permanent emergencies: he compares Rome's crisis-driven changes to modern shifts like the Patriot Act, arguing emergency measures rarely get rolled back.

Quick take

This preview is dense for its length, moving fast from banking history to Roman succession politics, but it lays out a clear throughline: centralized power tends to expand during crises and rarely shrinks back afterward. Worth a watch for anyone interested in how 1913's institutional changes get framed against ancient precedent.

Watch the full video: Shawn Ryan Show