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End of the World?

State Of Civilization?


  • Total voters
    34
I was around in 1978. Today has nothing on that era.


Gas shortages, gas lines, gas rationing, people believing it was the end of the fossil fuel era. 3 Mile Island scares people off nuclear. The USSR was still expanding its evil empire and pointing missles at us and threatening to use them. Carter, talking about the "misery index". Recession, jobs gone, textiles gone, manufacturing going bye bye. Hostages in Iran. Plane hijackings every week. Israel and the middle east constantly on the verge of another war.


Many believed the end was near. The end of America, or the end of the world. Few felt any hope.


Those were dark days.


This? This is nothing.

Perspective....he has it folks.

People in Western civilization have never had so much access to information and so many programs to increase their upward mobility in society. I am far ahead of where my parents were when they were my age. And I am no "1 percenter". I grew up dirt poor, and yet somehow through all the Clinton, Bush, and Obama years I have managed to make my life better and life for my kids better than it was for me. So maybe the problem with the world isn't everybody else, but maybe it is your own attitude that paints the skies dark.
 
We are just a sims game being played by some 13 year old nerd, so the world will end when he uninstalls.
 
Periodically there is always strife...humans are a violent disagreeable bunch...we are in and we will be going through a period of turmoil...not different in alot of ways than the 60s nam protesters and the womens movement...change brings confusion and anger and vitriole...we have made it through all the others and we will get through this one...and like the other times...it remains to be seen if the end result is better or worse.
 
We are just a sims game being played by some 13 year old nerd, so the world will end when he uninstalls.

All the worlds indeed a stage, and we are merely players, performers and portrayers, Each another's audience, Outside the gilded cage.
 
Return of the King never seemed to end... Good god did that think drag on.

That and the Two Towers... and they showed all the wrong stuff and too much of the battles.
 
The Yellowstone Supervolcano is about to blow, bringing on a year with no summer from the dust and debris thrown into the air. Only about a tenth of one percent of humanity will survive the resulting famine, pestilence, and war over what little food remains. That one out of a thousand will be the strongest and most adaptable, and will spawn a new race of homo sapiens sapiens sapiens, who will rebuild civilization and colonize Mars, then go on to other solar systems. Eventually, the Earth will be destroyed when the sun becomes a red giant, but we'll be long gone and watching on our ipods.

How do I know all this? Why, I made it up, of course, but you knew that.

Much the same as any future long range predictions, doomsday or not, are invented out of whole cloth.
 
Perspective....he has it folks.

People in Western civilization have never had so much access to information and so many programs to increase their upward mobility in society. I am far ahead of where my parents were when they were my age. And I am no "1 percenter". I grew up dirt poor, and yet somehow through all the Clinton, Bush, and Obama years I have managed to make my life better and life for my kids better than it was for me. So maybe the problem with the world isn't everybody else, but maybe it is your own attitude that paints the skies dark.


Speaking of perspective...

My parents were born in the 20's. They were children during the Great Depression.... the one where some people had to let one child starve so they could feed the other.

They grew up during World War Two, when Hitler and the Japanese looked for a while likely to conquer the world between them, and the United States had not yet realized its own war-making power... think about that, a madman actually conquering almost all of Europe while an imperialistic militant society conquered almost all of Asia.

They became mature adults during the first decade of the Cold War, featuring the Korean War and the earliest threats of global-scale nuclear war, a scale of destruction never conceived of before. People were terrified of "The Bomb" and most didn't know much about nuclear weapons, and the Soviet Union was greatly feared. A renewed World War against the USSR was a constant worry.

Then they saw the advent of the 1960's, and everything they'd grown up accepting as "normal society" was turned upside down and inside-out. Massive social upheaval, a rejection by the youth of all their parents held dear, massive upsurge in drug use, war protests, the MLK riots, etc. Surely it seemed like the world was turned upside down.

Then the 70's, that I've mentioned.... still the Cold War, the constant threat that the entire Arab world was going to go to war on Israel again, threats from the USSR of nuclear war, gas crisis, energy crisis, misery index, textiles disappear from the South, etc.

Then they saw the economic resurgence of the 1980s and the fall of the USSR.... the prosperty of the late 80s and the beginning of the Internet in the 90s....

... then Y2K and the 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent wars....


When they were born, many people still rode a mule-drawn wagon into town and many didn't have electricity or a telephone at home, and most people didn't live to be 61.
Before they passed around age 80, they saw Apollo 11 and the Space Shuttle, the Internet and cell phones, jetliners and industrial robots, lifespans increase 28%, cloning of animals, the decoding of human DNA, satellite TV, and the International Space Station. What a life!



THEY had perspective. :mrgreen:


Peace is just the brief intermission between wars and other crises. Turmoil is normal.
 
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One in seven thinks end of world is coming: poll | Reuters

I'm not advocating an impending TEOTWAWKI event as much as questioning a rising anxiety among people that the world is becoming scarily confusing. With natural disasters increasing, environmental changes from nature and humans, urban sprawl, economic upheaval, lack of medical coverage, gov debt, ME unrest, continuous protests, terrorism, rising energy needs and costs of living is there an unease in today's world unmatched by previous generations? What seemed more clear about the right and wrong of things is very befuddling in media coverage and there's more division and disagreement than I remember in the recent past.

No doubt, society and the world has always been changing. With the advent of computers, digital media and electronic communication, technology is rapidly modernizing and altering the worlds cultures from traditional to new age. But is this sudden transformation from the historic values of our ancestors altering the psychic landscape faster than our civilization can handle? Is the angst of it being slowly torn apart semi-real or another headline for sensationalism and overreaction?
When the world gets tough or confusing I just think back to my childhood when we learned about duck-and-cover:

Step 1: Stay clear of all windows.
Step 2: Keep hands free of glass, bottles, cigarettes, etc.
Step 3: Loosen necktie and unbutton coat or any restrictive clothing.
Step 4: Remove glasses, empty pockets of all sharp objects such as pens, pencils, etc.
Step 5: Immediately upon seeing the brilliant flash of a nuclear explosion, bend over and place your head firmly between your legs.

My generation's addition to the list:
Step 7: Then kiss your ass goodbye.

Once you've learned to live with that the rest is easy! :)



Ed:
I voted "Everything is fine" but what I really mean is, Situation Normal ... AFU.
 
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Speaking of perspective...

My parents were born in the 20's. They were children during the Great Depression.... the one where some people had to let one child starve so they could feed the other.

They grew up during World War Two, when Hitler and the Japanese looked for a while likely to conquer the world between them, and the United States had not yet realized its own war-making power... think about that, a madman actually conquering almost all of Europe while an imperialistic militant society conquered almost all of Asia.

They became mature adults during the first decade of the Cold War, featuring the Korean War and the earliest threats of global-scale nuclear war, a scale of destruction never conceived of before. People were terrified of "The Bomb" and most didn't know much about nuclear weapons, and the Soviet Union was greatly feared. A renewed World War against the USSR was a constant worry.

Then they saw the advent of the 1960's, and everything they'd grown up accepting as "normal society" was turned upside down and inside-out. Massive social upheaval, a rejection by the youth of all their parents held dear, massive upsurge in drug use, war protests, the MLK riots, etc. Surely it seemed like the world was turned upside down.

Then the 70's, that I've mentioned.... still the Cold War, the constant threat that the entire Arab world was going to go to war on Israel again, threats from the USSR of nuclear war, gas crisis, energy crisis, misery index, textiles disappear from the South, etc.

Then they saw the economic resurgence of the 1980s and the fall of the USSR.... the prosperty of the late 80s and the beginning of the Internet in the 90s....

... then Y2K and the 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent wars....


When they were born, many people still rode a mule-drawn wagon into town and many didn't have electricity or a telephone at home, and most people didn't live to be 61.
Before they passed around age 80, they saw Apollo 11 and the Space Shuttle, the Internet and cell phones, jetliners and industrial robots, lifespans increase 28%, cloning of animals, the decoding of human DNA, satellite TV, and the International Space Station. What a life!



THEY had perspective. :mrgreen:


Peace is just the brief intermission between wars and other crises. Turmoil is normal.

Great post.

Because I have studied history I get a bit annoyed when I hear people talk about how rough life is or how there is a war on the middle class. We have never lived in a better time in all of human history. Unless you were a king or something back in the day that reigned over a prosperous yet peacefull time, that is. People back in the day were dirty, uneducated and worked hard for little to no return. They had no time off for leisure. Women had zero rights. People were under constant threat of war, shifting political boundaries and attacks from greedy landowners.

Today? Woman can vote and hold jobs. People have access to education, medical benefits and hygene. As a result, life spans are up. Free time is up. Travel and vacations occur. TV. Food. I can eat terrific Greek food one day and Mexican the next. I can read pretty much anything I want. WE can discuss political ideologies without fear of repercussion. Same with religion.

Life is great...
 
Sorry wrong poll....
 
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I think there is major change coming. Whether we survive or not will depend on the decisions we make. The United States of America is an empire gone out of control around the world. We spread this notion of "democracy," but when a country decides to go against our wishes...we bomb them. The only countries that can stand against us are powers like Russia and China, or countries protected by either country. I think the American people are beginning to awaken from their apathy on foreign affairs.

A lot of people are asking "What have we become?" Here we are supposedly the "protectors of peace," yet we have been at war for over a decade. We have been at a state of covert war for longer than that.

Other then our foreign debacle is our economic woes. I can tell you that they American dollar is losing value. Why are gas prices higher? Is it because we don't drill enough? No, it is because our dollar today is considerably worth less then it was years ago. As the world tries to slowly convert to a world currency; it will be hell here when the dollar loses the world reserve status. People don't realize that our dollar at the world reserve status is the only thing preventing hyperinflation and that won't last forever. So, we're going to be dealing with an economic problem the likes of which nobody has seen.

With those economic strains and our ever growing cost of foreign intervention...the American empire will implode on itself. That is the direction we're heading into. We can't sustain being in 130 countries around the world, and losing our currency. On top of everything are these false unemployment numbers. They say we're "improving," but those numbers only indicate those under protected unemployment benefits and not those dropped or ineligible. Our true unemployment rate is near 20% when factoring all of that.

Will all of that "End the World?" If America collapses then it will cause worldwide catastrophe. Do we have to continue down this path of self destruction? No. Our decisions now will dictate what happens in the coming years.

this ^^

Except that some countries will weather the storm better than others. My husband and I want to be ex pats someday. We're in the process of deciding where else we can live other than the US. Some of our considerations so far have been Australia and New Zealand. Canada is a third option.
 
I'm pretty shocked it's so low as 1 in 7 to be honest, since so many take Revelations literally. That's probably where it comes from. They're so important, of course zombie jesus wants to meet THEM. Not that i'm ever going to read that acid trip, but every time some nut is on the streets talking end times, i'm pretty sure that's why.

Yeah people are scared out of their minds. Some nut like the ayatollah or a born-again christian like Bush with WMDs is legitimately scary, but even then i'm not stupid enough to think not a single human would survive. It's hard to imagine what would seem genuinely cataclysmic to me, perhaps living during the bubonic plague. People are just scared about things they can't comprehend or imagine, and that too often ecompasses just about everything outside their own living room.
 
The good thing that might come out of a situation in which hyper inflation would occur, we would get rid of one or both of our two parties and then go head hunting for some of the people who got us in this mess.
 
meh 2012 will pass without incident, lets be honest if the Mayans could see the future you would think they could of stopped their own collapse.
 
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