Umm, wow. Seriously? Really?

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

I agree with that. We have this quaint, as the word was thrown around, notion that our modern nation states are somehow things of permanence. People point to the nations like the 1000 year old Britian and the 3000 year old China as examples. The truth is that each of those nations existed in a multitude of different governances and styles of government and were wroght with various civil wars and wars of succession. They blew themselves apart and reformed themselves into something different; much like nature's cycle of death and new life. Sometimes they didn't reform themselves at all, or were absorbed into another state. The likelyhood that something of that sort will occur again in the United States is so high as to almost be a certainty.

Yep, and in some sense the US is blessed to be as stable as it has been. There is very little living memory of uncertainty and social collapse in the US, and while most people know it can happen, it's not an immediate reality for most people living there. So that does give many a somewhat naive perspective, and I don't mean that as an insult - just as a suggestion that for most, something like a revolution is so surreal that they can't even picture it as anything other than a bad movie plot. Then compare this to, for example, people from Eastern Europe. There's some massive changes in their recent memory. For me, having lived through the collapse of the communist system is really a bit of an eye-opener. Things can and do change violently, for better or/and worse. The good news is that even massive changes aren't all people cut them out to be. In these cycles of social and political change, people who have little personal experience of them tend to see something apocalyptic. In reality, stuff happens, life goes on. Instead of panicking and stocking guns, I think people need to be more open-minded and proactive about changes they see happening around them, especially if they live in a society where it's their right (and even obligation) to do something about their own civic circumstances.

[August]

Originally Posted by Aramike

Anyone here that knows me probably knows that I like to play devil's advocate, so here goes...

While I think this judge is off his rocker a wee bit, I'm curious as to why everyone is so dismissive of the idea?

I think the main reason is because the good judge isn't preparing for some potential long term danger but rather his plans are against a specific person in the very near future. To say that if he's reelected the President, is going to use UN troops against the residents of North Central Texas just begs for dismissal as the wishful thinking of a disturbed individual.

[Blacklight]

The funny thing is that you never hear this kind of crazy from the Left side. It's 99.99% of the time from the Right. The Republican's have gone so far to the Right that crazy seems to be the new norm. And I'm not even going to get started on the Tea Party.

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Blacklight

The funny thing is that you never hear this kind of crazy from the Left side. It's 99.99% of the time from the Right. The Republican's have gone so far to the Right that crazy seems to be the new norm. And I'm not even going to get started on the Tea Party.

Nah, I wouldn't go that far. I think there's a very loud, obnoxious media tradition in the US that gives a particularly prominent voice to that sort of right-wing crazy, but there's lots of the same from the other side. It tends not to make the news as much, but there's some places where it's blatantly apparent. There are some legitimately extreme Marxists, anarchists, radical feminists etc. out there who are no less vocal. I've bumped into them no less than the right. And I say that even as someone who's well on the left side of things myself.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by CCIP

There are some legitimately extreme Marxists, anarchists, radical feminists etc.

I would add Greenpeace and the 'free Mumia' crowd to that list.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Rilder

Lubbock? Every single thing I've heard about that place is bad, I've come to think of it as a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Probably been like that since Kpt Lehmann moved there a little over a year ago

[Ducimus]

It's one thing to read it, it's another to hear it.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/pol...ar-outrage.cnn

I really didn't hear an elected official say these things did i?

[Oberon]

On the upside, the Civil War did bring out some fantastic songs, like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again."



It's a good marching song, I have it on my MP3 player along with The British Grenadiers, both are good for getting into a nice stride.

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by Oberon

On the upside, the Civil War did bring out some fantastic songs, like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again."



It's a good marching song

Sure is

[Oberon]

When you compare it to the music of our civil war:

[flatsixes]

Awwwww... How quaint!

When you compare it to the music of our civil war:

But you've had so many.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Well, no one put a gun to your head and said you had to live here.
At least, now we know that stereotypes are always true.
I don't try to convince that Texas is a good place to live for anyone, except myself.

I'm sorry, Mookie. I was thinking about my remarks today while at work, I didn't mean to come off so rude. Please stay in Texas, we need people to counterbalance guys like this nutty judge.

Originally Posted by CCIP

Yep, and in some sense the US is blessed to be as stable as it has been. There is very little living memory of uncertainty and social collapse in the US, and while most people know it can happen, it's not an immediate reality for most people living there. So that does give many a somewhat naive perspective, and I don't mean that as an insult - just as a suggestion that for most, something like a revolution is so surreal that they can't even picture it as anything other than a bad movie plot. Then compare this to, for example, people from Eastern Europe. There's some massive changes in their recent memory. For me, having lived through the collapse of the communist system is really a bit of an eye-opener. Things can and do change violently, for better or/and worse. The good news is that even massive changes aren't all people cut them out to be. In these cycles of social and political change, people who have little personal experience of them tend to see something apocalyptic. In reality, stuff happens, life goes on. Instead of panicking and stocking guns, I think people need to be more open-minded and proactive about changes they see happening around them, especially if they live in a society where it's their right (and even obligation) to do something about their own civic circumstances.

I think that's true in large parts. Social stabilty is hard to gauge. I'm sure the States weren't really expect the Civil War to be what it ended up being, when they were pulling the country apart over slavery in the decades before 1861. Same with WWI: until armies began mobilizing, I bet most people just did not think a war on that scale was possible. Just look at 9/11: how many of us really paid any attention to Al Quiada? It only takes a spark to set off dynamite.

I'm sorry, Mookie. I was thinking about my remarks today while at work, I didn't mean to come off so rude. Please stay in Texas, we need people to counterbalance guys like this nutty judge

That is one harsh rebuke

[Onkel Neal]

I'm gonna change your avatar to a bronie.