This is How The World Ends...

[qbert4ever]

I'm just happy that this isn't another friggin Halo thread like the title (sort of) makes it look like.



Oh, and I guess god gets angry at us for all the butt-sex and starts smiting people again.

It's possible.

 

[sammyfreak]

First of all, 1984 is a novel; dont let it scare you.

True, but I believe literature -at least in the past- has been a reflecting glass through which to view society. George Orwell certainly intended his books (specifically 1984 and Animal Farm) to hypothesize about a society he felt was forming. But then again, I'm biased: I want to believe that words have power.

I'm just concerned that we're evolving into a society that no longer in concerned about the power of words, unless they suit our own preconceptions. And when they don't, we seek to manipulate, edit or censor them. We change the meaning of words, the intentions of phrases to new things, thing they were never intended to mean. How long till we create words for the purpose of disguising truth. Orwell wrote about that too.

Orwell definately create a most interesting description of what he feared in the future, but i do feel that to often it is given to much weight. The idea is based on that a group of people with enought power could controll society through use of words and media. It is also based on the idea that politicians main and only goal is power, something i believe is bullshit.

People often like to assume that politicians or indeed anyone in power is a cruel person who enjoys tormenting other for their own benefit. But i am actualy naive enought to believe that politicians strive for the best of their people, not everyone agrees what course of action should be taken; but do they want to be "A giant boot stepping on the face of humanity for ever"? I think not.

 

[super_smash_jesus]

A lot of the issues that are being raised are the dependencies of oil that the US constantly needs to feed. Yes this is true, but maybe you should look at the states and see that they have barely any natural resources (let alone oil) that can be found that are capable of keeping a country alive. Canadians are sitting on a hotspot of fresh water, oil sands, lumber, etc...hen it comes time for this war to end, and a trillion dollars later, the economy will not be able to bounce back, the amerian dollar will become about as useless as ass wipe, and the ability to buy the resources needed will fall in time when the cash stops and the people move away. Plainly said, Canada = next super power

 

[General Ma Chao]

As a history major, I've often wondered this myself. Like other people above, I believe we are beginning our decline. Machiavelli was right on target when he said that people will let their governments do what they please as long as they don't touch their family or their stuff. Why work for change when you can instantly feel happy with entertainment and mind altering substances?
I don't believe much is going to change. There's too many people living here so the job market is overcrowded and devalued. Measures meant to help certain groups will hurt other ones. Vastly different value systems are coexisting next to each other and not getting along in a very spectacular fashion. I'd like to believe McCain and/or Obama can solve these, but for all their progressivism, the problem may be too big now.
Some of the extreme right wing are probably going to say "love it or leave it". The problem with that is there is no place to go anymore.

 

[Anarchemitis]

The world is going to hell and everyone knows it, sooner or later. (It's true! It's in the Bible!) But How I see it, the United States, Canada, Mexico, several South American Countries and a few in Central Europe will go into a small depression (Smaller than the 1930's, but bigger than just a recession) & China and Japan will become the greater powers in the world. Britain will be the first to recover from the Minor Depression, and by that time, our Canadian gasoline will cost $2.10/litre.

 

[General Ma Chao]

The world is going to hell and everyone knows it, sooner or later. (It's true! It's in the Bible!) But How I see it, the United States, Canada, Mexico, several South American Countries and a few in Central Europe will go into a small depression (Smaller than the 1930's, but bigger than just a recession) & China and Japan will become the greater powers in the world. Britain will be the first to recover from the Minor Depression, and by that time, our Canadian gasoline will cost $2.10/litre.

Is 2.10 per litre good or bad? I really just have no idea.

 

[Kuneru]

I think the American goverment will become so fearful of Terrorist attacks that it will constrict and choke itself with its own security and secrecy. Maybe its just wishful thinking though, if America is going to fall I think it would be beautifully tragic for the "Land of the Free" to destroy itself by taking away the liberties of its people.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

To answer Senior root of all evil:

I'm not really Spanish, but hey.

I would work on making your posts more readable Necro because it is very tough to read them at times.

Now, about Gomorrah (Gamora is the daughter of Thanos), I don't think there's actually any link to incest at all. If I remember my Bible, Jude 1:7 says

Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

So the four cities Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim (and possibly Bela) were destroyed.

Although In Genesis 18, God informs Abraham that he plans to destroy the city of Sodom because of its gross immorality, but doesn't mention the others.

Incest doesn't sound like strange flesh though, bestiality possibly, but that's already been on Jerry Springer.

And about what Rome has done for us: What?

It's a nod towards Life of Brian where the Jews condemn Rome but then realise that without Rome they wouldn't have had any of the modern (for the time) benefits that they quite happily enjoy.

And to answer what homosecuality has to do with my statements in the first place, it was between national legalisation of prostitution, legality of incest, or legality of homosexuality. I simply brought up the one that pops up in the media the most.
In truth it would require several steps more than just national acceptance of homosexuality, but I figured you knew that already and it was implied. *wink*

Ok, let me focus hard on this now. You ARE saying that the legality of prostitution, bestiality or homosexuality is one of the first steps towards the Apocalypse? Let's not mince (!) words here.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

and by that time, our Canadian gasoline will cost $2.10/litre.

Uhm...the lowest price for Diesel in England is already $2.07/litre.($1.97/litre for normal)

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Sorry...back to OP. I think America's gonna survive.

Sure, Russia will take hideous damage as the Persian Gulf erupts into flame setting off the Ring of Fire so that Japan/California fall back into the sea.

South America will probably ignite and Europe will be hit by the remnants of the Nuclear Arsenal, sinking Britain.

Australia will survive the first blast, but the Nuclear Winter that follows will decimate it to the point where it wishes it was dead.

America will survive though. Deep beneath Mount Rushmore, the guys who started it will ask themselves "Where did we go wrong?"

And then blame Counter Strike.

 

[Kuneru]

South America will probably ignite and Europe will be hit by the remnants of the Nuclear Arsenal, sinking Britain.

Dude, theyre gonna sink my house? Thats really not cool...

 

[cuchillo0]

remember the cold war? everyone was scared and talking aboute the downfall of america before you know it this will all be over

 

[windfish]

To be honest, I don't see America devouring itself whole or becoming an Orwellian regime in our lifetime, or for several lifetimes. We've been in "curious" times before, and there has usually been a backlash toward really nasty things that people do. Life, as my dad says, is better at healing that one would think, and there is no one President who could, even given 8 years, really ruin America. Sure, rising dictators have taken less than that to ruin nations, but in the US we really have checks and balances in place. Look at the Bush Presidency - four years out of six, he really screwed up - and in 2006, he was punished for it, not only by the populace voting in a Democratic majority congress, but also even his former supporters leaving him. Personally, I think the people who foresee an Orwellian regime (whimper) or anarchic downfall (bang) are fearmongers. Sure - these are hella interesting times (curse). We're in an unpopular war, Bush and Cheney are pursuing rather nasty-looking policies, and we've got to do something about the environment. Goodness, is that it? I won't say that we've had it worse, but we have had damn similar, and so have many nations on earth. Sure, we have the threat of organized terror hanging over our heads, and we're having a hard time figuring out how to deal with it. But remember the Cold War? And how it ended? We're in an unpopular war that we got into with mixed feelings, and now we're regretting it. Remember 1812? Remember Vietnam? And how we're still here? Remember McCarthy? And how people didn't like him? We got better. On a larger scale, things looked pretty bleak at the beginning of last century - World War I started for no reason at all, and one could argue that Europe is still recovering from its effects. As for the Environment - remember how they banned leaded fuels? Remember all the chemicals they've banned? Switching off of Gasoline is not impossible. It'll just be hard. And with the right leadership (which we can trust angry voters to get us), we could even turn make major environmental steps. After bad presidents, good presidents get elected. After a bad congress, the voters choose a better one. I'm not a dewy-eyed "democracy is perfect" idiot, but I can look at history and say that things turn around.

I'm not saying things aren't bad. I'm also not saying that it'll get worse before it gets better. I'm also not saying that it won't take 30 years. I'm just saying that it'll get better, because it has in the past.

Other lines of thought are depressing, and I have enough problems.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

"Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common. Children no longer obey their parents. Every man wants to write a book, and the end of the world is evidently approaching."

Found on a stone tablet, circa 2800 B.C.


Don't worry about my cynicism, I'm just a Goth.

 

[TerribleTerryTate]

To be honest, I can only see this situation getting worse before it gets better (if it does.)
Saying we (as the world) has been in tougher situations can be justified, but in my opinion you can't compare the situation we are now in to something like the Cold War or the World Wars.
The World Wars/Cold war were two or more countries stating their intent to one another. It was basically an 'Us versus them' situation. Yes, it got heated, and threats were made but it was down to the leaders to sort their shit out and avoid a world ending war.
Now, it's our OWN citizens planning attacks against us. For the record I'm an Irishman living in England not an American. Whether its 9/11 or the London Bombings or the Madrid bombings, it's people living within our countries and foreign countries who are planning these attackings. We can no longer point a finger at the enemy and call them bastards, it could be anyone and everyone who is planning these attacks.
As a kid/teenager my father was in the Royal Air Force, so I've been all over the world, and the obvious differences in our cultures and other countries is quite simply frightening.
I would ellaborate on how England in particular is going to destroy itself, but as someone said before, I don't want to get banned for racism by someone misunderstanding my point.
Needless to say, too much freedom has a negative effect on society. Simple things like punishing kids with a belt or smacking them in class for bad behaviour have been taken away, and look at what the result has been? In England we have this new breed of people called 'Chavs,' - people with no respect what so ever for anyone. As a result crime rises, and the streets become more unsafe.
You get where I'm going with this. Being too soft, and giving too much freedom makes for a more dangerous environment. I don't mean let's take away all liberty, but allowing Muslim extremists to rant about beheading Christians in the media, yet punishing anyone for saying anything negative in any remark about Islam is disgusting. By all means have equal rights, but keep it equal, don't take the piss.
These are tough times, I just hope we pull through.

 

[BonsaiK]

It's amusing and very telling that this thread is called "this is how the WORLD ends" when it's about America. America is not the whole world.

My country had a sub-prime mortgage crisis about five years ago, very similar to America's. People were very worried at the time of the possibility of a recession. Our economy has since bounced back and is now stronger than ever, so much so that now we have a new problem: interest rates are going sky high because the Reserve Bank is so busy raising them, trying to slow the damn econony down.

Totalitarianism on it's own isn't a threat to America's stability. Totalitarian governments can survive for a very long time. Totalitarianism may be unfair, unjust or at the very least annoying, but on its own it won't bring down the country. Nor will terrorism, 'loose cultural morals', nor any other red herrings.

Resources, espcially oil dependence, will be a much bigger problem for America in the near future when 'peak oil' hits - this is when demand for oil globally exceeds supply. At this point, the price of oil will skyrocket, thereby making everything more expensive (because everything else in the American economy including food production and even war (America's main economic driver since WWII) is closely tied to oil). But it's not a problem without a solution, or rather, several solutions. Don't think that oil companies haven't planned ahead for this, and always remember that necessity is the mother of invention, and that humans are very innovative under tough times. The Great Depression of the 1930s produced more millionaires than at any other time in human history. Why? Because these were the people who went out of their way to innovate and think up new ideas to combat the economic problems that their countries were facing.

However America's days in the sun as the world's superpower are probably over. Empires rise and empires fall, that's just the way it goes. China is looking pretty well positioned right now to be the superpower of the 21st century. America has a pretty good chance of retaining most of its current standard of living if it backs down out of other countries and pursures a more isolationist policy (as Britain did when it lost the superpower mantle - they gave up their unwieldy empire and thus ensured their own country's survival) as well as some more sensible energy policies. However if America waits for market forces and world politics to force their hand, then the transition from superpower to just another country is going to bite hard. Americans would do well to get used to living on less, because your standard of living might be about to go on a rollercoaster ride for a while. America won't be 'destroyed' though. It just might be transformed a bit, which may not necessarily be a bad thing for it, or the world at large.