The Rise and Fall of Western Civilisation
POSTED BY: Magonsdaughter
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 1, 2026 15:55
VIEWED: 6139
PAGE 3 of 8
Quote:Two steps forward, one step back?
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Why fall back, why participate in the cycle ?
I am of the mind we should stand tall and stride forward, adapt, evolve...
-----
Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth. -- Lucy Parsons (1853-1942, labor activist and anarcho-communist)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
When the end comes, it comes suddenly. There will be no bumbling along for another thousand years. The only bumbling will be in the minds of people who refuse to admit reality. 
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
When the end comes, it comes suddenly. There will be no bumbling along for another thousand years. The only bumbling will be in the minds of people who refuse to admit reality.
Hello,
I'm not sure that's true. Powerful Empires have been known to crumble over the span of generations, and then survive in smaller pieces for a time, with little dark ages and renaissances along the way.
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Nobody. You didn't say it. Neither did I.
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Who said it was just about America anyway?
I am sorry I didn't mean to sound touchy. But maybe I don't get the point of this thread. I think most everyone agrees that the sky is falling. What else is there to say?
It's not like we can stop it. Well, maybe Frem can, but not the rest of us. ;)
-----
Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth. -- Lucy Parsons (1853-1942, labor activist and anarcho-communist)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
I'm not sure that's true. Powerful Empires have been known to crumble over the span of generations, and then survive in smaller pieces for a time, with little dark ages and renaissances along the way.
Not that that's a good thing. The last claim to the Holy Roman Empire was Nazi Germany.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I don't see Western Civ. ending. That's completely silly. Oh no! No more microwave popcorn!!! What I see is a world finally waking up to the life we've all been living for god knows how long. Social media and the internet are bringing all the lies and abuse out into the harsh light of twitter and nobody is gonna be able to stop it. Wikileaks is only a preview of coming attractions. Everybody knows everybody's business now. The entire world is becoming one big, cloying small town full of secrets nobody can keep. And all the former busy-bodies and know-it-alls are scared of losing their jobs. With good reason.
Money, aka debt, is the biggest lie of 'em all. Bunch of rat bastards rigged the game forever ago and now they can't even be bothered to play by their own rules. The screwing that the average joe is getting was set in motion with the invention of fiat money. Where else was that all supposed to end? Seriously. I think Frem said it best, "Give us all your money and something MAGICAL will happen!!!" Yeah, well.
I mean, fer cryin' out loud, according to this article, Western Civilization survived the Holocaust! The freakin' Holocaust! Are things really worse than Nazi Germany where you live?
I don't know what this is that gets well-heeled folk trottin' this one out every ten years or so? Mighty-whitey feeling self-conscious? Raw terror in the face of the seathing madness of humanity revealed on facebook and reality television? Guilt by free association?
As far as I can tell, the world is finally getting a good look at itself in the mirror and doesn't like what it sees. And yeah, a lot of pain and suffering is headed all our way until we learn to like ourselves. As a species.
HKCavalier
Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by canttakesky:Quote:Nobody. You didn't say it. Neither did I.
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Who said it was just about America anyway?
I am sorry I didn't mean to sound touchy. But maybe I don't get the point of this thread. I think most everyone agrees that the sky is falling. What else is there to say?
It's not like we can stop it. Well, maybe Frem can, but not the rest of us. ;)
-----
Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth. -- Lucy Parsons (1853-1942, labor activist and anarcho-communist)
Oh what is the point of any thread? Of anything?
Personally I thought the timeline was interesting as it marked a series of events categorising a rise and fall (according to the author). I thought it might generate some conversation re did people really think that western civilisation was falling? if yes, did the timeline accurately reflect the kind of decisions and events that precepitated that fall? were things missing that were relevant.? Did people think the whole idea of a western civilisation kind of hogwash, that it has been a series of empires. I enjoy thinking about history in such terms, I wondered if anyone else did.
I can't force anyone to be interested in any thread and I am not wanting to do that. There are a tonne here that I don't bother to comment on because I'm not that interested in internal US politics. I did find it a bit rude that a couple of posters made the 'civilisations fall, so what' kind of comments. As far I am concerned, if you're not interested in discussing, don't.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Yes, it's falling. Yes, the timeline accurately reflected the fall. Nothing else was missing. Western Civ is not hogwash. When you agree with everything, there isn't much more you can say.
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
I thought it might generate some conversation re did people really think that western civilisation was falling? if yes, did the timeline accurately reflect the kind of decisions and events that precepitated that fall? were things missing that were relevant.? Did people think the whole idea of a western civilisation kind of hogwash, that it has been a series of empires.
I feel like you are pressuring me to say more (by finding my short commentary "rude"), when I have nothing more to say about it.
Quote:Why is that rude? You were looking for reactions. That was our reaction. The reaction wasn't good enough for you (look who was touchy first). So I got touchy too.
I did find it a bit rude that a couple of posters made the 'civilisations fall, so what' kind of comments.
I WAS interested in discussing. You found my discussion, or the brevity thereof, offensive. I'm defending my brevity.
-----
Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth. -- Lucy Parsons (1853-1942, labor activist and anarcho-communist)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
CTS?
None of us, is as strong as ALL of us - I and those like me stop it... no.
ENOUGH of us, humanity in general, though, oh hell yes.
Our combined might and will can in fact accomplish... ANYTHING.
I'd just like some of that anything to have a positive impact for once, so a nudge here, a poke there...
HKCav ?
Not just information, but empathy.
Empathy on a grander, wider scale than previously known.
S'funny, I was sayin something like this back when I was a young teen - that whole epiphany thing and seeing "how things were gonna do" wasn't all dark, there's hope for us yet.
Of course, most folk though I was "Crazy Eddie" for THAT one, for a damn long time...
-Frem
I do not serve the Blind God.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Heya Frem,
I been thinking about this stuff (writing a book on the subject, so yeah, obsessing about it) and I've been thinking that with this crowd on RWED, a word like "empathy" kinda just sits there, gets ignored, or a polite nod, and then folk go back to trading in the scathing contempt they're accustomed to. Folk around here seem to think of "empathy" as the moral equivalent of a box of puppies. Cute and all, but in the big scheme o' things, irrelevant.
So, I've been thinking about talking about information and inevitability and "one world culture" and learning to like ourselves 'cause that seems to be closer to where the discourse around here is stuck. Interestingly, my shift in rhetoric has met with no greater success than the empathy/compassion talk, prolly less.
I mean your vid lays it all out. Aggression is a secondary drive, the primary drive is empathy. But how the heck you gonna get people to get it? Well, what I'm seeing happening around the world is people are getting it in spite of themselves. Science is finally asking the right questions. Circumstances are forcing connection on people. The culture and the tools of culture are in everybody's hands and they're changing us as a species. Empathy is happening spontaneously--as we always knew it would.
It's odd. Folk love to talk about how much every damn thing sucks, and how everything's goin' to hell, etc. Even folk who you'd think would be clapping their hands, "Good riddance!" And then somebody suggests that all this sucking may be for the best and maybe underneath all the suckatude there's some lovely truth to hold on to and things to look forward to because of it and no one pays any attention.
Funny.
HKCavalier
Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME