View Full Version : Are We Doomed?
Doc Safari
07-08-16, 11:48
Once upon a time there was a song in the Sixties by Barry McGuire called "Eve of Destruction". He detailed all the political and social unrest in the world, and taunted his unnamed friend in the song for not believing that we are on the eve of destruction.
Surprisingly, the lyrics to that song could almost have been written today.
What do you think? Are we on the "eve of destruction" or will we survive what's going on in the world just like we always do?
I've voted that I don't know. The country... and humanity/the world for that matter... have been in much worse times in the past; many times over. And yet we plug along.
I think until the day folks start lobbing nukes indiscriminately, we will keep on truckin' on. Maybe for better, maybe for worse. Who knows.
But we ain't anything close to that bad yet. Spoken as someone who can recall the Watts riots and lived through the same in Sacramento.
Perhaps the United States as we know it is circling the drain. Living out where I do, being in "prepper" is part of normal operations. I've got all the water we'd ever need, plenty of meat and we can grow a lot of our own vegetables (a ranch that has a big garden area). It can all go to Hell and we can survive out here 70 miles from town. So, my family plans to keep on going no matter what.
It's a cycle, and I'm convinced we're headed toward a "Revolutionary" or "Civil" war defined by which side you're on. I think that in the end Liberty will prevail, but it's going to be a tough row to hoe.
It's a cycle, and I'm convinced we're headed toward a "Revolutionary" or "Civil" war defined by which side you're on. I think that in the end Liberty will prevail, but it's going to be a tough row to hoe.
Unless you're on the side with the high tech weaponry, it will be a bloodbath.
Moose-Knuckle
07-08-16, 13:09
Rome wasn't built or destroyed in a day.
Things have been in motion to subvert America's sovereignty ever since we kicked the Crown's ass off the continent.
"Noting new under the sun".
Stay the course and keep your powder dry.
Well, yeah, we are all going to die sometime.
But as to civilization, something will survive but not sure what it will look like. Hopefully better.
Moose-Knuckle
07-08-16, 13:16
But as to civilization, something will survive but not sure what it will look like. Hopefully better.
Meh, read my sig line.
Outlander Systems
07-08-16, 13:27
Rome was a Divinely Ordained Civilization. As was Great Brittain.
We're moving into Banana Republic territory. If you've got kids, explain to them that the Constitution meant something, and whether the parchment's still around or not, put those ideals into future generations, so Liberty's torch isn't extinguished.
ColtSeavers
07-08-16, 13:28
Voted Don't Know. Probably should've voted a cycle though. I'd love to get philosophical, but the reality is that I will continue to be an American, an upstanding Human being and a good Father for my family while equally preparing for the worst.
Doc Safari
07-08-16, 13:31
Food for thought. It's not being covered by the MSM, but apparently the US and NATO are poking a stick in the eye of the Russian bear and Putin's anger and rhetoric seem to be inching closer and closer to a nuclear confrontation. A couple of people have said that this time is more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis, but are we being told about it? No, we are being shown the usual fluff about celebrities and what outrageous thing someone said on the campaign trail.
This information comes from many sources and not just one specific link if you want to read more about it.
Voted Don't Know. Probably should've voted a cycle though. I'd love to get philosophical, but the reality is that I will continue to be an American, an upstanding Human being and a good Father for my family while equally preparing for the worst.
Amen Colt.
Even just a wee youngin like myself, without Kin to call my own, I strive to live the path you've directed.
One day I will have Kiddos, more likely sooner than later, and I can only hope that I can follow that path still when they're here.
But, regardless of Hope, I will always Try.
Unless you're on the side with the high tech weaponry, it will be a bloodbath.
I wouldn't be so confident it'd be a one-way street. Outgunned and out-teched sandbox occupants have given us fits for the last 15 years, and that's not even in the very backyards of the gunnies and techies. ;)
Let's hope we never have to find out.
Doc Safari
07-08-16, 13:43
I wouldn't be so confident it'd be a one-way street. Outgunned and out-teched sandbox occupants have given us fits for the last 15 years, and that's not even in the very backyards of the gunnies and techies. ;)
Let's hope we never have to find out.
Just remember that motivation is a powerful weapon in and of itself. Many a military force has won with superior motivation when the rest of its weapons were inadequate.
brickboy240
07-08-16, 13:58
Didn't the Viet Cong and Irish Republican Army prove that even small, lesser equipped forces can be a huge problem for larger, more advanced armies?
I think they did.
Motivation, anger and a "nothing to lose" attitude go a long ways.
Didn't the Viet Cong and Irish Republican Army prove that even small, lesser equipped forces can be a huge problem for larger, more advanced armies?
I think they did.
Motivation, anger and a "nothing to lose" attitude go a long ways.
But to take it further, the VC and IRA were in their own backyards, not the backyards of their opponents. Makes it even more difficult to control when the powers-that-be have no safe haven because "bad guys" can be all around. Hah, where do you take your 2 week R&R to when the danger is in your backyard? Iraq?
Unless you're on the side with the high tech weaponry, it will be a bloodbath.
It depends. If it's an insurgency type civil war, even a comparatively small number of individuals could wreak havoc on operating and maintaining all the big military weapons systems.
It's really just a matter of the ratio of military and/or police capable of performing on the ground operations, taking and holding territory, vs the land area that must be taken and held. The US is a mighty big place with lots of very vulnerable infrastructure in it. Hard to chase insurgents when the combat troops are tied up in NYC, Chicago, etc etc keeping the peace because the power has been cut, or something similar.
I worked the math one time and assuming you only have to secure half the territory in the US, and that all military remain loyal to whoever is claiming central gov't power, and assuming all of those are capable of being combat ground troops, that's right under one soldier per square mile of territory. But really not all those troops can perform ground ops. Neither the Navy nor the AF is particularly suited for that in vast majority. That's over 930K troops you subtract right there. Even assuming 100% loyalty, with a 30/70 tooth/tail ratio and all ground troops, that's one soldier for every 5 square miles. The number just gets bigger when you factor in some of those "teeth" are tankers and chopper pilots.
On top of that, all the issues we had/have in Iraq/Afghanistan in maintaining logistics lines are transported here, except spread out over a much wider area with an insurgency that has a much larger population to draw from.
You'll gain some effectiveness with combat aircraft, surveillance aircraft including drones, etc etc but even then you run into the problem that compared to the size of the US, we just don't have a lot of those.
Bottom line is that any civil war on US soild is going to an ugly, nasty, bloody business for EVERYONE involved because it's gonna go old school in a hurry....
Doc Safari
07-08-16, 14:07
It depends. If it's an insurgency type civil war, even a comparatively small number of individuals could wreak havoc on operating and maintaining all the big military weapons systems.
It's really just a matter of the ratio of military and/or police capable of performing on the ground operations, taking and holding territory, vs the land area that must be taken and held. The US is a mighty big place with lots of very vulnerable infrastructure in it. Hard to chase insurgents when the combat troops are tied up in NYC, Chicago, etc etc keeping the peace because the power has been cut, or something similar.
I worked the math one time and assuming you only have to secure half the territory in the US, and that all military remain loyal to whoever is claiming central gov't power, and assuming all of those are capable of being combat ground troops, that's right under one soldier per square mile of territory. But really not all those troops can perform ground ops. Neither the Navy nor the AF is particularly suited for that in vast majority. That's over 930K troops you subtract right there. Even assuming 100% loyalty, with a 30/70 tooth/tail ratio and all ground troops, that's one soldier for every 5 square miles. The number just gets bigger when you factor in some of those "teeth" are tankers and chopper pilots.
On top of that, all the issues we had/have in Iraq/Afghanistan in maintaining logistics lines are transported here, except spread out over a much wider area with an insurgency that has a much larger population to draw from.
You'll gain some effectiveness with combat aircraft, surveillance aircraft including drones, etc etc but even then you run into the problem that compared to the size of the US, we just don't have a lot of those.
Bottom line is that any civil war on US soild is going to an ugly, nasty, bloody business for EVERYONE involved because it's gonna go old school in a hurry....
And it's going to be like Yugoslavia coming apart rather than a "North vs. South" or something out of the original US Civil War.
And it's going to be like Yugoslavia coming apart rather than a "North vs. South" or something out of the original US Civil War.
Look at a county by county map of the last presidential election. Where blue meets red is where your battle lines will be. Much more urban vs rural....
ETA
And adding to the population size issue, the US has around 340 million people in it. If 1/100th of 1% got pissed off enough to take up arms, that's 340,000 insurgents. The classical troop ratio to defeat an insurgency is 10:1 so you'd need a minimum of 3.4 million combat capable troops to snuff that out....
Doc Safari
07-08-16, 14:10
Look at a county by county map of the last presidential election. Where blue meets red is where your battle lines will be. Much more urban vs rural....
I used to joke with a deceased friend of mine that I'll start worrying when I see "technicals" rolling toward my ranch in their pickup trucks with AK's.
I don't think the joke is funny anymore.
Bottom line is that any civil war on US soild is going to an ugly, nasty, bloody business for EVERYONE involved because it's gonna go old school in a hurry....
And that is why we should all fervently hope it never happens. I kinda like life as it is now!
And it's going to be like Yugoslavia coming apart rather than a "North vs. South" or something out of the original US Civil War.
You are most likely correct. There will be no Bull Run's or Gettysburg's, just a thousand bloody pin-prick, cutthroat engagements with LOTS of retribution and paybacks. Americans have a mean streak they are capable of and vengeance is a hallmark of our thinking.
Think about it: a LOT of Americans support the death penalty, and while it officially is about "justice" and "deterrence" (yada yada) deep down the reason it is supported is to make that motherfvcker pay for what he did!
Moose-Knuckle
07-08-16, 14:15
Didn't the Viet Cong and Irish Republican Army prove that even small, lesser equipped forces can be a huge problem for larger, more advanced armies?
I think they did.
Motivation, anger and a "nothing to lose" attitude go a long ways.
The Afghans have proved this again and again whether it was the Greeks, the British, The Russians, and the US and our allies.
Outlander Systems
07-08-16, 14:15
The only thing I like more than Air Conditioning is Ice Cream.
And that is why we should all fervently hope it never happens. I kinda like life as it is now!
I used to joke with a deceased friend of mine that I'll start worrying when I see "technicals" rolling toward my ranch in their pickup trucks with AK's.
I don't think the joke is funny anymore.
It damn sure ain't. The thing about complex societies is that they're very efficient but they're also very fragile. We need the peak of civil order to maintain our society. Really won't take much to tip us over down the hill.
And that is why we should all fervently hope it never happens. I kinda like life as it is now!
You and me both. For my children's sake if nothing else.
The only thing I like more than Air Conditioning is Ice Cream.
This time of year I'll take AC > ice cream!
Doc Safari
07-08-16, 14:26
Sure. As long as the trains run on time, the beer is cold, and the Dallas Effing Cowboys win the Super Bowl, it's all good.
Meh.
I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
Outlander Systems
07-08-16, 14:34
Hahaha! Roger that!
Whenever I have a long hiking/backpacking trip, the first thing I find myself freaking out over is ice cream. Chiggers, Mosquitoes, sweaty nights...meh. I just want that ice cream.
This time of year I'll take AC > ice cream!
Sure. As long as the trains run on time, the beer is cold, and the Dallas Effing Cowboys win the Super Bowl, it's all good.
Meh.
I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
Don't mistake reluctance for unwillingness compadre! ;)
Doc Safari
07-08-16, 14:41
Whenever I get in these discussions I start asking, "What would R. Lee Ermey do?"
To answer the OP's question......while I did live through the turbulent 60's it was as a little kid (born in '65) so my recollections of it were not as a grown, functioning member of society. However, based on everything I have read and watched TV specials on, as well as talking to folks who were adults then, if we can survive the shit-storm that was the 1960's we can overcome anything. That song the OP mentioned, "Eve of Destruction", was fitting for those chaotic years and the BS going on now harkens back to those dark days in our history.
I have to go with to soon to tell. Past cycle recovery (Civil War, Great Depression) has left us less free with more centralized government power. Coupled with the precipitous decline in church membership, steep increase in government dependency, failure of K-12 education, kids without fathers, and self-identification of so many as disparate victim groups, I am not optimistic for not just the USA, but all of western civ.
Personally I am still cheerful. The good book doesn't say the world is on the road to Utopia, but has a great ending.
I have to go with to soon to tell. Past cycle recovery (Civil War, Great Depression) has left us less free with more centralized government power. Coupled with the precipitous decline in church membership, steep increase in government dependency, failure of K-12 education, kids without fathers, and self-identification of so many as disparate victim groups, I am not optimistic for not just the USA, but all of western civ.
Personally I am still cheerful. The good book doesn't say the world is on the road to Utopia, but has a great ending.
This pretty much sums up my opinion. My personal life (family, friends, quality of life) is great, but I worry about what my toddler will face when she's an adult. Without my personal attention to her education in life skills, morals, citizenship, etc, I have little faith that she will learn anything meaningful from schools or even our friends. Many of the people we know are decent folks, but I think they are already indoctrinated into sheep mentality. I don't even bother trying to discuss politics with them...so many times I've been told government is responsible for protecting us, and as long as we as individuals have nothing to hide, email/phone tapping is fine, gun ownership is barbaric, Islam is peaceful and we owe it to the Middle Easterners to provide a home, etc...
this !!!!
same as Europe as I say they are not putting people in ovens again yet !
but look at what Europe lost in freedoms the dutch resistance would not exist today !
if when we come out of this mess I am not sure its going to be what we think at all and any and all of the middle class will be wiped out of existence those with money and those without
the power will be not from income but from political power and placement in the society and what family is in control etc..
example of any 3rd world country that we are becoming and I really dont want to live in any of those without some serious backing and surely dont want my kids growing up in those places ! as a adult sure no problem but like others with kids teen and pre teen I worry for there future
only thing I can do is prepare them as much as I can and hope they have a solid base to stand on
even places like Europe I would not want to live in !!! recent Swedish(or somewhere) music festival saw there was only 40+ sexual assaults by immigrants !!!! OH how nice glad those wrist bands are working out so well for them !!!!
I have to go with to soon to tell. Past cycle recovery (Civil War, Great Depression) has left us less free with more centralized government power. Coupled with the precipitous decline in church membership, steep increase in government dependency, failure of K-12 education, kids without fathers, and self-identification of so many as disparate victim groups, I am not optimistic for not just the USA, but all of western civ.
Personally I am still cheerful. The good book doesn't say the world is on the road to Utopia, but has a great ending.
turnburglar
07-09-16, 13:18
I believe history will show these just to be the growing pains from the Industrial Age into the digital age. The power dynamic between the rulers and people will have to be restructured, but this is hardly 'the end of days'. In many ways this world is a much better place than it was even 30 years ago.
As optimistic as I am about humanity: I still carry daily.
I guess how one looks at better ?
sure more kids have cell phones yet cant go ride a bike without a helmet without getting a ticket ? the days of camping as kids in the woods is almost gone if caught parents get in trouble ?
kids raping other kids in gradeschool !!!!!
race issues are at a all time high and you cant say certain things now without getting in trouble !
you have to do things for gay people even if you do not want to homophobic !
blacks now can do things you cant and say things you cant but hey that is your freedom OH WAIT NO ITS GONE you are racist !!!!!!
ahhh muslims again another protected class dare you say what the truth is you are islampahobic
food IMHO has gotten worse over time and more unhealthy the way its grown processed etc..
and we cant fish the way we used to or hunt the way we used to
go 4x4 OH WAIT not so fast proper tags proper areas OH the lefties closed all those areas down for some fake reason
yeah we have some cool tech that sadly means we count our friends online and not when where we meet them
Europe rape capital of the world ?
the US IMHO is now so overly sensitive to everything and so over PC its going to be the death of us as
the world now seems to back pedal to make people from the 11th century who wipe there butts with there finger rape goats and children and kill OH WAIT those are awesome people who are the true peaceful ones dont you dare say anything against them just like the rape victims in Europe OH she was not drunk enough to have it rape ! even here OH its OK the dad killed the daughter and mother its there culture etc..
the world in whole is not as safe anymore do to such problems of criminals getting away with things
border cities used to be great places to go for the day ! NOW not so much
yeah I don't see it as better sadly
growing is moving forward not backwards !!!! we are moving backwards
I believe history will show these just to be the growing pains from the Industrial Age into the digital age. The power dynamic between the rulers and people will have to be restructured, but this is hardly 'the end of days'. In many ways this world is a much better place than it was even 30 years ago.
As optimistic as I am about humanity: I still carry daily.
MountainRaven
07-09-16, 14:56
I believe history will show these just to be the growing pains from the Industrial Age into the digital age. The power dynamic between the rulers and people will have to be restructured, but this is hardly 'the end of days'. In many ways this world is a much better place than it was even 30 years ago.
As optimistic as I am about humanity: I still carry daily.
This.
If you read your history you'll find all sorts of doom-and-gloom as bronze gave way to iron. As iron gave way to gunpowder. As artisan craftsmen gave way to industrialization. As industrialization ends serfdom and slavery. And plenty of violence to accompany the changes as old traditions - and those who cling to them - give way to the new.
Humanity will survive. And life will pretty definitely be better for almost all those who live to see it.
But there will be casualties - there already have been hundreds of thousands of them - and the capricious, violent nature of some human beings regardless of what societal changes are occurring around them are reason enough to carry a gun.
Boba Fett v2
07-10-16, 01:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozaznvyh74s
Moose-Knuckle
07-10-16, 03:16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozaznvyh74s
That is an outstanding clip, I had never heard of that movie before until I saw that scene posted on FB.
Didn't the Viet Cong and Irish Republican Army prove that even small, lesser equipped forces can be a huge problem for larger, more advanced armies?
I think they did.
Motivation, anger and a "nothing to lose" attitude go a long ways.
"...because I am aware of what tremendous feats human beings are capabile of once they abandon dignity."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozaznvyh74s
"Inconceivable!"
I'm rooting for an asteroid...
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq169/bbossman1/Asteroid-Earth-545992_zpsebvkqwuc.jpg
We've been doomed since the first creature decided to walk on land millions of years ago or since the world was created 10,000 years ago by God.
Whichever you choose to believe.
Cagemonkey
07-10-16, 11:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozaznvyh74sOutstanding video. Pretty much nails it. Read The Creature From Jekyll Island. Since this Movie is from 1981/Cold War Era, add todays Geopolitical Environment and Technology. Things unfortunately are only going to get worst. I'd like to believe the Internet could help Educate and Enlighten the Masses, but Technology is a double edged sword. People need to quite getting their feelings hurt and hurl labels at on another. Its time to do some soul searching and open are minds before its too late. If I didn't have two beautiful young daughters, I wouldn't care. Sometimes it sucks to have a stake in the game.
"Inconceivable!"
I caught that. :D There are quite a few parts of that video that I agree with too.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/Razor24/Funny%20Pictures%20and%20Smilies/Inconceivable2_zpsdtbdpdrt.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Razor24/media/Funny%20Pictures%20and%20Smilies/Inconceivable2_zpsdtbdpdrt.jpg.html)
After watching grown ass adults run around downtown DC playing Pokemon go and nearly getting hit by cars because their not watching where they are going, yes we are doomed.
No, if you look at long term data trends on major metrics like education levels, democracy in the world, violence, poverty, infant mortality, and life expectancy, we have never had it better. I understand this goes against the narrative that we all love and hold dear and causes cognitive dissonance when compared to what the media empire feeds us, but the numbers are just facts.
I think humans have a proclivity to fantasize about Armageddon. Just look at how prominent that theme is in entertainment.
This.
As industrialization ends serfdom and slavery. And plenty of violence to accompany the changes as old traditions - and those who cling to them - give way to the new.....But there will be casualties - there already have been hundreds of thousands of them - and the capricious, violent nature of some human beings regardless of what societal changes are occurring around them are reason enough to carry a gun.
I believe if we take that a little bit deeper and think about the rapidity of the population shift which industrialization and the end of slavery begat, followed closely by the civil rights movement, and again, followed closely by the constriction of America's industrial might, you will see the roots of the problem: 1) collapse of manufacturing jobs resulting ingenerational unemployment; 2) large segments of an ethnic population (black) in urbanized areas which have never climbed the rungs of the socioeconomic ladder; 3) occurring within a time frame of less than 100 years.
After the post-Civil War Reconstruction period ended in 1876, white supremacy was largely restored across the South, and the segregationist policies known as Jim Crow soon became the law of the land. Southern blacks were forced to make their living working the land as part of the sharecropping system, which offered little in the way of economic opportunity, especially after a boll weevil epidemic in 1898 caused massive crop damage across the South.
After World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, industrialized urban areas in the North, Midwest and West faced a shortage of industrial laborers, as the war put an end to the steady tide of European immigration to the United States.
Around 1916, when the Great Migration began, a factory wage in the urban North was typically three times more than what blacks could expect to make working the land in the rural South.
By the end of 1919, some 1 million blacks had left the South, usually traveling by train, boat or bus; a smaller number had automobiles or even horse-drawn carts. In the decade between 1910 and 1920, the black population of major Northern cities grew by large percentages, including New York (66 percent) Chicago (148 percent), Philadelphia (500 percent) and Detroit (611 percent). Many new arrivals found jobs in factories, slaughterhouses and foundries, where working conditions were arduous and sometimes dangerous.
Aside from competition for employment, there was also competition for living space in the increasingly crowded cities. While segregation was not legalized in the North (as it was in the South), racism and prejudice were widespread. After the U.S. Supreme Court declared racially based housing ordinances unconstitutional in 1917, some residential neighborhoods enacted covenants requiring white property owners to agree not to sell to blacks; these would remain legal until the Court struck them down in 1948.
Rising rents in segregated areas, plus a resurgence of KKK activity after 1915, worsened black and white relations across the country. The summer of 1919 began the greatest period of interracial strife in U.S. history, including a disturbing wave of race riots. The most serious took place in Chicago in July 1919; it lasted 13 days and left 38 people dead, 537 injured and 1,000 black families without homes.
As a result of housing tensions, many blacks ended up creating their own cities within big cities, fostering the growth of a new urban African-American culture. The most prominent example was Harlem in New York City, a formerly all-white neighborhood that by the 1920s housed some 200,000 African Americans.
Black migration slowed considerably in the 1930s, when the country sank into the Great Depression, but picked up again with the coming of World War II. By 1970, when the Great Migration ended, its demographic impact was unmistakable: Whereas in 1900, nine out of every 10 black Americans lived in the South, and three out of every four lived on farms, by 1970 the South was home to less than half of the country’s African-Americans, with only 25 percent living in the region’s rural areas.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/great-migration
Many black Americans have been casualties of that; just as the middle class are rapidly becoming casualties of the rise of the ruling class.
None of that excuses lawlessness, but the fact is poverty begets crime. The simple answer favored by many - black = bad/lazy just doesn't do the totality of the problem justice.
plus a resurgence of KKK activity after 1915, .
.
Most of what I have heard and read indicate the KKK most think of today was a northern creation(Indiana/Illinois iirc) with little in common with the Nathan Bedford Forrest version from decades earlier in the south.
After watching grown ass adults run around downtown DC playing Pokemon go and nearly getting hit by cars because their not watching where they are going, yes we are doomed.
Oh man theres a story there. If it's too OT you gotta PM me the deets.
You know....despite all our race issues over the years...
We're really not as bad off as some countries.
And I can take a young black girl out to dinner with no double takes. Despite some rockiness, we're faring better than some places where everyone looks the same (to me anyway) but because they are part of the wrong tribe/sect/whatever...they will be killed.
We, as a Nation, made some pretty bad moves to people we conquered or enslaved but....yet aside from a very vocal minority and people trying to stir a pot; most folks get along better than other places that had a lot less oppression.
Maybe It's me and maybe I'm spoiled but I can go to an all black area and not feel at all out of place or conspicuous.
I have some rough edges at times but...and I don't mean anything negative by this....but if I don't see at least a few black folks a day, I actually feel uneasy. Like if the birds aren't singing or something.
Per race, While I consider myself an unlikely Confederate-American...I've known people from like Upper midwest or New York state who hit their N bomb limit with me way too soon and too obstreperously and I have to tell them that they have it all wrong. My state is pretty much 50/50 and my area is predominately black. It really doesn't behoove one to be all negative and uppity. And I've had no issues in my personal side like ever.
Kind of a tangent but I think falling on race is kinda lame. Aside from political discussion, observation or so forth, I really don't think about it.
Averageman
07-10-16, 19:03
No, if you look at long term data trends on major metrics like education levels, democracy in the world, violence, poverty, infant mortality, and life expectancy, we have never had it better. I understand this goes against the narrative that we all love and hold dear and causes cognitive dissonance when compared to what the media empire feeds us, but the numbers are just facts.
I think humans have a proclivity to fantasize about Armageddon. Just look at how prominent that theme is in entertainment.
The other day I was cooking lunch/dinner.
I had a fresh salad I had just finished making, fresh guacamole, a rib eye and six cheddar wursts on the grill and an open bottle of red wine. I had the house to myself the A/C was a nice 75 degrees and I had The Stones "Sticky Fingers" album playing.
For a fleeting moment I had a realization that I had a great life with plenty of everything. That really made me smile.
Now I just want to keep all of that stuff I earned.
Oh man theres a story there. If it's too OT you gotta PM me the deets.
I'll hit you up tonight with them lol
The other day I was cooking lunch/dinner.
I had a fresh salad I had just finished making, fresh guacamole, a rib eye and six cheddar wursts on the grill and an open bottle of red wine. I had the house to myself the A/C was a nice 75 degrees and I had The Stones "Sticky Fingers" album playing.
For a fleeting moment I had a realization that I had a great life with plenty of everything. That really made me smile.
Now I just want to keep all of that stuff I earned.
Indeed! Nothing wrong with being prepared for contingencies, just no reason to have constant anxiety over it.
Why no option that everything is the same as it always has been?
crusader377
07-10-16, 21:38
I don't think we are doomed and I think humanity's best days are ahead of it. I doesn't mean that we will not have challenges and even take a few steps back from time to time but in the long term humanity will be ok.
I think it is important to look at things in historical perspective. For example last week marked the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Somme where the British lost 60,000 men in the first day with a 1/3 of that killed. That is 3 times the fatalities that the U.S. has lost in Iraq and Afghanistan over 15 years.
Last week was a hard week for many Americans with first the decline of rule of law with Hillary escaping prosecution despite clear evidence of guilt and the increasing of racial divisiveness this country. That said American's have overcome far greater challenges and can easily overcome these issues if we want to.
You guys are nuts if you think the end is anywhere nearby. Globalization has been stabilizing both domestic and global politics since WWII. We are now in the safest time to be alive that humanity has EVER seen.
Why does it seem worse? Because many people are stuck in the 24 hour news cycle. The internet, social media specicifally, has made it so EVERY negative incident is reported to the fullest extent. This creates a cognitive bias. You don't see good things reported, and they don't stand out to you like bad things do. So you perpetually assume the world is a worse place than it ever was before. Crime rates in the U.S. are down. Casualties do to war have been going down around the world except for minor blips, but remain lower than ever.
It's good to get your head out of the echo chamber that is: news sites, blog spots, reddit, and dare I say it, forums. If everyone around you thinks the world is ending your probably going to be tempted to believe that as well.
I'd say we are doing pretty good considering no one has shot or one of our presidents in 30 years.. we ended segregation... separation of church and state is finally happening, the war on drugs (aka, poverty) is coming to an end, and everybody can marry whoever the hell they want. Oh yeah and we can hunt with suppressors in most states now!
Moose-Knuckle
07-11-16, 03:16
I'd say we are doing pretty good considering no one has shot or one of our presidents in 30 years.. we ended segregation... separation of church and state is finally happening, the war on drugs (aka, poverty) is coming to an end, and everybody can marry whoever the hell they want. Oh yeah and we can hunt with suppressors in most states now!
People self-segregate, well the one's that are legally allowed to anyway. See BET, Mizzou black student demands, et al. Poverty is not coming to an end and it never will, that is nothing more than a Gene Roddenberry teleplay. Mormon, muslim, and others who practice polygamy still can't legally marry all their wives and I'm sure there are some zoophiles that feel left out. Suppressors shouldn't even be on a registry as they are a muzzle device not an actual mechanical firearms of any sort.
You guys are nuts if you think the end is anywhere nearby. Globalization has been stabilizing both domestic and global politics since WWII. We are now in the safest time to be alive that humanity has EVER seen.
the war on drugs (aka, poverty) is coming to an end, and everybody can marry whoever the hell they want. Oh yeah and we can hunt with suppressors in most states now!
hunt with suppressor ? yeah when winning the lottery in many places and of course quite a few limits with most hunting
again IMHO backwards
same with fishing etc...
poverty is HUGE still and I would say many are falling out of the middle class and that level is lowering so the divide of haves and have nots seem to be growing more and more
again I dont think we are going to end I just think we are going to go into dark times and hope we come out
never has our speech been so restricted
over last say 50 years I might say are freedom to travel is more limited and for sure more hassles at the airport invading our privacy etc..
want to travel with a pocket knife or large water bottle and your own food !
yeah globalization as a good thing ? OK
and politics world wide are a mess
poverty is HUGE still and I would say many are falling out of the middle class and that level is lowering so the divide of haves and have nots seem to be growing more and more
40410
Poverty has grown by 4 percent. But the upper class has grown by 7 percent!!! For every four more households now considered "poor," seven more households would now be considered wealthy. The growth in overall incomes means that "what it means to be poor" has shifted an immense amount in just the past forty years. I grew up in the bottom bracket. It SUCKED. These days being poor in America is realistically not all that bad. For a large part, it's also somewhat self inflicted. Less than 12% of America's poor have a bachelors degree or better, even though for the poorest Americans an abundance of scholarship and grant opportunities exist. I went to college with a number of people that were the first in their family that went to school. Many were there on a full ride. It is my supreme belief that many of the bachelors degree holders living in poverty chose a shit degree with no career prospects, ignoring any advice to the contrary. I know one. Asshole who thought that art had an economic future. You can follow your passion to ramen noodles all you want... I'll stick with the path to cold hard cash and a steak and bourbon every time. Money allows you to pursue your passions on your own time and on your terms.
never has our speech been so restricted You sit here talking with mostly complete strangers located hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. You have access to a miracle device that can call pretty much every corner of the globe and speak with people of most nationalities. At the press of a button... What's the restriction? You're really worried that Loretta Lynch is going to send the FBI to your door if she disagrees with your thoughts? I'd love to be that important. I'm not, and 99.9% of the people on here aren't either. We may CHOOSE to limit OURSELVES due to a concern that we want to avoid any undue attention. Realistically that is self selection and nothing more.
over last say 50 years I might say are freedom to travel is more limited and for sure more hassles at the airport invading our privacy etc..
want to travel with a pocket knife or large water bottle and your own food! Your freedom to travel is limited because you can't bring your pocket knife or a bottle of water? Give me a break. I am flying across two oceans in a couple of months. Doing so cost me less than my most recent rifle build and that's in business class. A journey that in my grandfathers lifetime took days, and I can't finish The Hunger Games movies before I get there... Trim the time frame to 50 years. You want to talk about the 1%... In the 1960's Time magazine ran a story with numbers reporting that eight in ten Americans had never been on an airplane. Air travel was the hobby of only the richest Americans. Our ability to travel has recently become comparatively inconvenient because we can't bring a knife, or a bottle of water. It's still insanely easy and crazy cheap.
politics world wide are a mess The world is actually an interesting but relatively stable place. In my lifetime we went from worrying about the Russians obliterating us (America, ALL OF US) with the push of a button, to worrying about some terrorist asshole shooting up a gay bar. The news cycle is insanely rapid and has made everything a "big deal," but we live in a relatively safe and stable world. Most of our problems are economic.
America doesn't need to be made great again. America needs to realize that it never stopped being great. We need to stop listening to all of the assholes telling us what a terrible place this is and realize that in every shithole third world nation there are people working their asses off to even have a shot at coming here. I have a client who works 12-16 hour days, loves every second of it, and is proud as hell of becoming an American citizen. Stories like his are more common than you know. The news doesn't say, "Here's Amit, who worked for years to be able to come to America. Learned the language, moved here with his wife, is raising a family and busting his ass to send his kids to college so they can have a better life than he did." That story wouldn't make headlines, but it's a lot more common than the ungrateful assholes that what to tear down everything.
MountainRaven
07-11-16, 18:50
America doesn't need to be made great again. America needs to realize that it never stopped being great. We need to stop listening to all of the assholes telling us what a terrible place this is and realize that in every shithole third world nation there are people working their asses off to even have a shot at coming here.
A-f___in'-men.
middle class has shrunk as I said you proved it and more poor !
again the bridge between have and have nots will be more severe though !
and that is the problem the rich are richer and poor are poorer not including the food stamp loungers who have a free easy life that needs to be stopped
look at China poor and rich and the rich are insane rich now buying up things all over the world they have destroyed my wifes hometown of Vancouver Canada making it near impossible for regular folks to own a home
travel
no bottle water and pocket knife have not stopped me ? just the facts more limits hassles and time and no fly lists some are on for no reason no checks just boom you are on that is the kinda thing I am talking about
LIMITS that are being put on us more and more its not more free its more LIMITS !!!!
in general aviation travel was so much better 20 years ago over today !!!!!!!
travel to many countries is not as safe anymore ! and sadly world perception of Americans has made it more dangerous in many parts of the world
being a pilots kid I travelled a lot and yeah you can call everywhere ? that has nothing to do with things being taken away and nothing to do with free speech that again is limited and being more limited all the time
speech
want to tell a guy he should not be in the ladies room with your daughter !!! those kinda things
being forced to do things for protected groups even if you do not want to is not more freedom its less
again your free speech is more limited these days if you think its not OK sure whatever and even more so in other countries !
I am in my 50s traveled a ton and lived abroad quite a bit half my family is from other countries the other half is here with one in Dubai last 10+ years etc...
having lived in the Caribbean, Honduras and Micronesia (Canada does not count but it is not the US) etc.. I have a pretty good idea what real poverty is and the middle class shrinking is IMHO not a good thing as the poor end up much more poor than before
and I want nothing to do with wealth redistribution !!!!!!! you make what you earn hard work etc.. like you said
BUT the problem is wealth redistribution the attack on the wealthy etc.. that is happening world wide the taxation and so forth is getting worse and worse
yes our tech is great but with it sadly lost freedom is happening google,microsoft,facebook etc.. monitoring everything you say and handing over to the gov etc..
so yeah this forum I am sure is being watched and we are not talking freely ! its being monitored which would not be happening 20 years ago !
same thing with cameras all over the US we are heading to what Europe is with big brother etc..
again being spied on is not more freedom its less
agree about America being great :) but sadly half our population has been brainwashed into thinking its not !
I would love to box them up ship them to 3rd world countries and the middle east to live for a year in each see what its really like
are we doomed ? NO but again I think we are headed the wrong way and our freedoms are shrinking and political correctness will be the death of us
we are allowing our country to be turned into the 3rd world crap holes the illegals are coming from so they can keep breaking the laws here and destroying it for some insane reason the left wants this ?
middle class has shrunk as I said you proved it and more poor
YES, there are more poor. Poor that live in amazing comfort vs only a few decades ago. Poor that are the envy of many nations middle class. And again, for every person that became poor, two became wealthy.
and the rich are insane rich now buying up things all over the world they have destroyed my wifes hometown of Vancouver Canada making it near impossible for regular folks to own a home
No. Economics have done that. More money chasing limited resources. You can still buy a home. You may not be able to do so in Vancouver. In a place with limited space, demand will generally outpace supply.
just the facts more limits hassles and time and no fly lists some are on for no reason no checks just boom you are on that is the kinda thing I am talking about
LIMITS that are being put on us more and more its not more free its more LIMITS !!!!OK, I'll concede that for some people the No-Fly List is a huge inconvenience. I feel that it's not the right way to handle things. If you want to charge someone with a crime, charge them... That said, I have yet to meet a single human being in my personal life impacted by this. Do I hate the TSA? Yeah, I'd eliminate them in a heartbeat if I had my call about it. That said, the whole process isn't the worst I've experienced, and if you've traveled the world you will know just as well as I that our airports are relatively efficient and issue free.
in general aviation travel was so much better 20 years ago over today !!!!!! And the beer was cheaper, the women hotter, and the music was better to boot. Time's change. It doesn't mean things are going down the toilet.
travel to many countries is not as safe anymore ! and sadly world perception of Americans has made it more dangerous in many parts of the world Actually, my American passport is the most widely accepted in the world. I can travel to most nations on this planet free of any hinderance or issue. Does everyone there like me? Not so much, but they sure do love my damned money and they're usually happy as hell that I am there spending it. The most recognized thing in the world is reportedly a CocaCola. I would disagree. It's an American $100 bill.
want to tell a guy he should not be in the ladies room with your daughter !!! Don't have a daughter, but if I did I would have no hesitation saying it. Label me all they want. My head's not in the sand and I really don't give a damn what their opinion of me is. That makes me a bigot? Well I'm a 6'2" 275lb barbell eating bigot. Let's have Steveina tell me put his/her finger in my chest and tell me that. Fine by me.
again your free speech is more limited these days if you think its not OK sure whatever and even more so in other countries
No, you choose to be afraid of people's response to you speaking your mind. You can still do so. And we have already established that the policies of other countries are irrelevant. I can't speak my mind there about how I feel? I'll change my travel plans. It's a big world.
I have a pretty good idea what real poverty isThen you know our poor have it damned good vs the rest of the world, and can generally lift themselves out of it in less than a generation if they WORK at it.
yes our tech is great but with it sadly lost freedom is happening google,microsoft,facebook etc.. monitoring everything you say and handing over to the gov etc.. So they can read what you type? I was raised that if you're going to say something, you should be fine saying it in front of God himself, and anyone else who might hear. They disagree with my opinion. Good for them. Zero issue from me. If I don't want them hearing something, it need not be online. All of the things you mentioned are services that they provide. You're not required to use them. They make life much easier, but there is no proverbial "gun to your head."
its being monitored which would not be happening 20 years agoTwenty? You've got your head in the sand... Maybe fifty years ago. Twenty years ago the internet was smaller, easily monitored, and far less diverse. See my point above. Why do you let this worry you?
same thing with cameras all over the US we are heading to what Europe is with big brotherOK, one point conceded. I hate the constant cameras. At the end of the day, the person spying on me has one boring ass job though. I feel bad for that guy.
agree about America being great :) but sadly half our population has been brainwashed into thinking its not
I would love to box them up ship them to 3rd world countries and the middle east to live for a year in each see what its really like 100%!!
As for the left, they want control. If giving everyone all of the guns, ammo, beer, liquor, and free high speed internet got them control, it would happen tomorrow. Suppressors would be a mandatory accessory with every rifle and pistol, and your tax refund would come in cases from Lake City and Bourbon County... Keeping people victims keeps them powerless, subservient, and it keeps the left in control. The poor can't help their situation. It's those greedy rich bastards that took it all from them. They're just victims. And so on and so on. Do you think that the 40% of America paying a negative rate on their taxes is going to vote away that check in late January? Hell no... That's the one time the government takes from those rich bastards and gives it right back to them... Educating people that this country is still great, that everyone can rise to the top, and that even the most destitute of people can lift themselves up out of their situation is the ONLY way to bring things back. We can get there, but it's going to be a whole lot of determined hard work to do it.
never said its in the toilet :) just saying we are not moving forward :) and not saying we wont come out on top again ? I voted who knows :)
IMHO say Sweden has gone to the crappers where once I would have thought yeah be a fun place to spend a year ! but now a visit was enough to realize its not what it was
but the toilet thing and speaking your mind they are making it and in some places have made it a crime now where you get arrested !!!!! that is again my point about less freedom and moving backwards :)
again no I am not afraid but I can get sued now and I can get in trouble for hate speech !!! as a photographer there have been a few cases where they said no to gay weddings and are now in financial destruction same as the bakers !!!!! so its not afraid its they have past laws that make it so you cant and again get sued !!! huge difference
say Canada again we are often not far behind there idiocy ! now if you speak out against the alphabet people the lgbtqusnene of whatever they are called now you can serve two years
as far as poor yeah I know what real poverty is from Honduras for a year of my life :) but again OUR country should not be like that and what is happening to many does not need to happen here :)
if anything I would say the welfare leaches need to be cut off get poor so they know what its like and have a reason to climb out !!!!
what I am seeing happen again are the general middle class and quality of life of what was 20 years ago is not as attainable which is sad and again my years of travel and life I sadly see us slipping into this 3rd world crap which then will mean the poor here will be like other places in the world !!!! never say never either !!!! that is more my point
using Vancouver as a good subject of the worldly the wealthy which there are more of have bought everything up the middle class which there are less of are becoming the poor and cant afford it !!!
so the division is huge and the more the rich make a place so expensive to live the more control ( as you mention and we both agree) happens
and IMHO is like going back to the kings and queens and poppers
being most of my life in the islands where there is a huge division and a huge cost of living I lived it most my life and I chose the side to make money lucky so I lived on the water and had nice cars but also for some time I chose to live out of a old garage as it was fun and convenient etc.. lived with friends in crap holes and even spent 6 months in a tent on a beach :) long camping trip
YET the poverty and cost of living there has driven it to a place I could not recognize from when I was a kid with huge tent cities etc..
when I moved off island 10 years ago 700 sq ft sold for $320K 1100 sq ft sold for 1.2 million most folks cant afford that and middle class cant afford mucht and its what is destroying the islands where middle class live in 700 sq ft rather than say 1500 sq ft and with kids 700 sqft is small again closer to 3rd world standards cause the pay is not in scale with say bay area or NY etc..
and 20 years ago ! about the time the internet really came into being is what I am saying and more recent with phone tracking etc..
yeah they have been at it longer than that but we have not been handing it to them until recently with the internet and our smart phones etc..
I don't worry but I also don't like it when they do this !! again HUGE difference
spent a month traveling Guatemala by public bus !!! freaking experience of a lifetime but I know today reading travel blogs still crime is up HUGE in Central America sure your money is wanted etc. but again right now the world is not as safe to travel as it was :) and sure that will change one way or the other :)
OH who cares if they monitor me I have nothing to hide !!!
or why not let the police search your home ! what do you have to hide ! same thing
are you ok with police searching your home with no warrant at any time they want ?
do you want them recording every word and everything you post ? IMHO same thing its a LOSS of privacy
not saying we are not on the same side but maybe my experiences have shown me or I have seen what I think is happening
same as living in Central America and other places I have lived getting out in the real parts not for work not in military just living in a shanty with the locals :)
going to a place is one thing but if you stay in nice places nice hotels you are not really there !!!!
there was a threat to the president of Honduras when I was in the Goose(Tegucigalpa) and a huge gun fight broke out full auto battle :) when all said and done bodies were lined up and bull horn came out and the airport emptied to walk by the bodies saying if you attack us this is what happens to you !!!!
IMHO this is what they should do here ;) so sometimes 3rd world countries try to get out of it but sadly once you slide in that deep there is no coming out !!! and that is what I am afraid of happening here that we slide in so deep we dont come out
and sure you me others most likely will have a decent life but I know from living in those countries your freedom is not the same and travel becomes more restricted and even camping in the boonies becomes some risk but still doable
maybe its cause again I have lived in these places and its not so nice
BoringGuy45
07-11-16, 23:48
In my life time, things have gotten worse in many, if not most, areas. But in others, things have gotten better.
If the liberals have done anything right, they've at least gotten this country to accept and understand people and groups that were previously, wrongly, reviled and feared. Obviously, they've taken it too far, and I don't believe that much of their efforts were born out of pure love and benevolence. I think it's just a fortunate byproduct of an otherwise negative campaign against our society.
I think our understanding of human psychology is better. Dealing with things like OCD, anxiety, depression, PTSD, early on, people were told that they didn't have a problem other than being a spineless, whiny little bitch. For people in type A, alpha dog industries (military, LE, emergency services, etc.), getting help for psychological trauma was considered cowardly, and was a good way to be kicked out and have your name dishonored.
Also, gun laws are better today. It wasn't until about halfway through last decade that shall issue became almost universal throughout the U.S. for carry permits. Also, the number of states with constitutional carry is growing as well. 20 years ago, the country was HUGELY in support for a total ban on both "assault weapons" AND handguns! It wasn't even officially settled whether or not the 2nd Amendment was a protection of firearm rights or a vestigial organ outdated due to the National Guard and our large, standing army. Even many gun companies were in support of banning all but fudd guns from the civilian market.
Now, obviously, I'm talking about things that have changed since I was a kid. Obviously, gun laws got worse, WAY worse, over about 60 years before they finally started to get better. And like I said, many things have gotten worse, and are continuing to get worse since I've been alive.
I'm sick of the fact that it's so hard to get a decent job these days. 30 years ago, you could walk onto your dream job simply by responding to an ad in the paper. Nowadays, even many entry level jobs aren't hiring unless you have a bachelor's degree, multiple certifications, and a few years of related experience. Getting a job is often a multiple phased hiring process that one can only get through if all the stars align. What's even worse, the people making the hiring decisions are the old timers who got on by the ad in the paper. So when they get wind of how hard it's been for you to find a job, they assume that either you're lazy or you have some skeletons in your closet and probably don't deserve anything except a drudge job. They refuse to believe that anything is different from when they started, and simply assume that the quality of people has dropped. This has been my lot in life. I tend to get beat out for most jobs by younger people who haven't been trying in vain since college to start a career. The mantra I've been hearing is pretty much "The world doesn't want people who try until they succeed. The world needs people who get it right the first time. If you're not the latter, there's no use for you in this world."
Also, another thing that has gotten worse is, obviously, political correctness. I'm getting sick and tired of having 50 new things every day that I'm not allowed to say, do, or think. I'm getting sick of being blamed for things I was born between 20 and 250 years too late to be responsible for. I'm getting sick of open discussion and honesty being suppressed in the name of "equality." I'm tired of everything being racist, whether or not it has anything to do with race. And I'm tired of being told that we am the ones suppressing people's freedom, even though we're the ones who want to be left alone and want to leave people alone.
The thing is, nobody wants to take a middle ground on anything, and that's the problem. Too many loud voices think our options are turn back the clock or destroy everything and build a new society. We need to be both progressive AND conservative: Accept good new ideas, throw out the hairbrained ones, but also keep our good traditions while getting rid of outdated and harmful ones. The problem is, radicalism has taken hold, and until that's quieted down, we're in for a lot of trouble.
ramairthree
07-12-16, 13:30
I do not think the human race is doomed.
It will go on in some fashion or another.
It is the epitome of Western Culture and freedom I think is doomed.
Being enslaved by the government to support your fellow man,
With the rich and privileged no longer being so by inheritance and work and luck,
But by political position to divvy up the goods,
Is not a desireable future to me.
Actually, we're not doomed.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? I think not!
Actually, we're not doomed.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? I think not!
Road trip...
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? I think not!
I assume this is the humor you normally exhibit. If not then...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/Razor24/Funny%20Pictures%20and%20Smilies/WTF_zpsurzg6bvz.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Razor24/media/Funny%20Pictures%20and%20Smilies/WTF_zpsurzg6bvz.jpg.html)
I assume this is the humor you normally exhibit. If not then...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/Razor24/Funny%20Pictures%20and%20Smilies/WTF_zpsurzg6bvz.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Razor24/media/Funny%20Pictures%20and%20Smilies/WTF_zpsurzg6bvz.jpg.html)
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160712/7aeef88d954c8c5be0f1d6866b72b188.jpg
Some people need to sit up in the chair about three inches so the inference will hit them in the forehead as they read the post.
Some people need to sit up in the chair about three inches so the inference will hit them in the forehead as they read the post.
You do know the Germans didn't bomb Pearl Harbor don't you?
I took it as one of Firefly's jokes, maybe you should sit up a little further in your chair. ;)
No, it wasn't over when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. They missed our carriers.
You do know the Germans didn't bomb Pearl Harbor don't you?
I took it as one of Firefly's jokes, maybe you should sit up a little further in your chair. ;)
No, it wasn't over when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. They missed our carriers.
Just wow.
I'll let Firefly spring his trap. His set up, his joke.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V8lT1o0sDwI
Or maybe I won't
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V8lT1o0sDwI
Or maybe I won't
Damn, totally forgot about that one. Yep, he got me.
Firefly has more random and obscure references than Robin Williams and Dennis Miller combined.
Gotta keep up to play the game.
Damn, totally forgot about that one. Yep, he got me.
I was starting to think you were some 13yo that had never seen the movie or something...
Of course I've had to explain Netflix and Chill and Tinder to a few women so I really shouldn't take anything for granted.
I was starting to think you were some 13yo that had never seen the movie or something...
Of course I've had to explain Netflix and Chill and Tinder to a few women so I really shouldn't take anything for granted.
I'm just too damn literal sometimes. I wasn't even thinking about Animal House. Damn and double damn. At least everyone else got some entertainment from me today. :D
Firefly has more random and obscure references than Robin Williams and Dennis Miller combined.
Gotta keep up to play the game.
I know. I figured there was a joke there somewhere, my Helen Keller ass just couldn't find it though.
Technically speaking, only correct answer is humanity is doomed. The sun is doomed, but should be good for another few billions years or so. Hence, nothing lasts forever. Stephen Hawking feels we have around 1000 years unless we get off this planet. Futurists seem to give a 50/50 0n our present course. Answer is, humanity is doomed. How long is the actual Q, and the poll needs something like 20-50 years, 50-100, 100-500 as examples.
Look at a county by county map of the last presidential election. Where blue meets red is where your battle lines will be. Much more urban vs rural....
ETA
And adding to the population size issue, the US has around 340 million people in it. If 1/100th of 1% got pissed off enough to take up arms, that's 340,000 insurgents. The classical troop ratio to defeat an insurgency is 10:1 so you'd need a minimum of 3.4 million combat capable troops to snuff that out....U.N. troops and Russia and China will help.
BoringGuy45
07-15-16, 23:40
I'm thinking for now, actually, we're looking pretty doomed. The bad guys in every situation in every corner of the world have been on an incredible undefeated streak for about 4 years now. This isn't to say that the good people haven't helped by repeatedly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory over and over, but I don't think I've seen such a diverse collection of evil steamroll the entire world in probably the entire written history of mankind. I can't think of one single positive thing that has developed in this decade. Every day, and every year, is worse than the last. Unless we're headed towards the Tribulation, and Christ is going to return in the next couple decades, I think we're headed into probably the darkest age humanity has seen in thousands of years.
turnburglar
07-16-16, 10:39
I'm thinking for now, actually, we're looking pretty doomed. The bad guys in every situation in every corner of the world have been on an incredible undefeated streak for about 4 years now. This isn't to say that the good people haven't helped by repeatedly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory over and over, but I don't think I've seen such a diverse collection of evil steamroll the entire world in probably the entire written history of mankind. I can't think of one single positive thing that has developed in this decade. Every day, and every year, is worse than the last. Unless we're headed towards the Tribulation, and Christ is going to return in the next couple decades, I think we're headed into probably the darkest age humanity has seen in thousands of years.
Don't take this as a personal attack: but if you really think that the last 4 years are objectively 'worse' than any other point in human history- I'd like to be your history teacher.
The black plague killed one out of every three europeans.
Ghengis Khan and the mongols make ISIS look like children
Hitler: pretty sure this was recent enough
WWI: the last french man
WWII: Kinda the long winded hitler thing. Plenty of documentation. Even in HD/color apparently??
Yea..... Obama is a limp dick (almost gone), and the ME is in turmoil. But really when hasn't it been, AND how many populist revolutions have happened recently? Look around and the only thing you will notice is the empowerment of the individual to shake off their overly oppressive dictators. The near future will be less about the collective might of a ruled people and more about the creativity of the individual/corporation.
BoringGuy45
07-16-16, 16:52
Don't take this as a personal attack: but if you really think that the last 4 years are objectively 'worse' than any other point in human history- I'd like to be your history teacher.
The black plague killed one out of every three europeans.
Ghengis Khan and the mongols make ISIS look like children
Hitler: pretty sure this was recent enough
WWI: the last french man
WWII: Kinda the long winded hitler thing. Plenty of documentation. Even in HD/color apparently??
I don't think that the last four years have been the worst in human history. That's not what I was saying. I'm saying I don't think that we've seen evil on such an unanswered winning streak in many, many years. At least during WWII there were major world powers that were standing against the evil people and groups of the world. Fast forward to today, and not only is evil taking over the world, the majority of the world is supporting it! We're a rapidly shrinking minority that spends more time fighting each other than the acknowledged common enemy. A large number of us have just said "**** it" and decided that there's nothing worth supporting or believing in, and that they're not going to fight until enemy troops cross their property line. Due to leftist and Islamic aggression, in addition to right wing apathy, the handwriting is on the wall: If things don't change soon, they are going to get even worse, and probably worse than we've seen in hundreds of years.
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