The blame game: downfall of society.

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ShockwaveVT

Senior member
Dec 13, 2004
830
1
0
SSSnail said:
If you have to pick a period in time where you would place the blame for the downfall of today's society, which would it be? I thought of a poll, but I think it's more intriguing to see what you guys have to say.

I can start you off with some options - the invention of the Internet, ACLU, MTV, something that started 2010 years ago....

Let's hear it.
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This would imply that there has been a downfall of today's society.... Remember, the good old days weren't really all that good.
 
JTsyo

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
12,015
1,125
126
destrekor said:
Approx. 40 B.C.E.

Rome goes from Republic of Rome to Roman Empire.

After all, we have the Roman Empire to thank for the creation and establishment of Catholicism/Christianity - they did create the various churches, cardinals (iirc), pushed for a Pope and gave so much power to the Catholic world (again, which they created). And as it was Rome that expanded and essentially conquered basically all of Europe, their ways became ingrained into the ways of the people.

If that shit never happened, I wonder where we would be today. Personally, if I could ever go back in time (even if it was a one-way trip, I'd just become a martyr then), I'd choose around that time and sack the shit out of Rome. I just want to see what the world would be like without those contributions.

Though we do have Rome to thank for a lot of awesome things in the developed world as well, which kind of sucks they had to tack on religion too.
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Yea, because without Rome there would be no religion. I think it would be much worse having multiple religions than having 3 or 4 major ones. You can't just remove religion from human history, it's been around for too long. It filled in a need in society for rules and order. People needed something to that gave them answers to things they didn't understand.

I would place the decline and fall of the USSR as the start of the decline for the US. By being the sole superpower, people slacked off. There no external pressure to push us forward. By the time China and India rise to superpower status, we'll probably have lost too much momentum to stay even with them.
 
N

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
destrekor said:
Approx. 40 B.C.E.

Rome goes from Republic of Rome to Roman Empire.

After all, we have the Roman Empire to thank for the creation and establishment of Catholicism/Christianity - they did create the various churches, cardinals (iirc), pushed for a Pope and gave so much power to the Catholic world (again, which they created). And as it was Rome that expanded and essentially conquered basically all of Europe, their ways became ingrained into the ways of the people.

If that shit never happened, I wonder where we would be today. Personally, if I could ever go back in time (even if it was a one-way trip, I'd just become a martyr then), I'd choose around that time and sack the shit out of Rome. I just want to see what the world would be like without those contributions.

Though we do have Rome to thank for a lot of awesome things in the developed world as well, which kind of sucks they had to tack on religion too.
Click to expand...
or it could have just as easily been Carthage and some other religion.

that's kind of a mind-boggling concept, though. I'm not sure I even know where to begin when I try to think about what 21st century human society would be like without the Roman Empire (hell, even just without Augustus)
 
Zebo

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
19
81
Rome good ole days? I don't fucking think so. You realize odds are you were born a slave right? Lived about 40 max?
 
B

BlahBlahYouToo

Lifer
Jul 10, 2007
12,041
3
0
when minorities become the majority (in the US).
actually, well before that but i don't have a specific point in time.
 
acheron

acheron

Diamond Member
May 27, 2008
3,171
2
81
Zebo said:
Rome good ole days? I don't fucking think so. You realize odds are you were born a slave right? Lived about 40 max?
Click to expand...

And "odds" are today you'd be born as a Chinese peasant farming a rice paddy for $1 a month. What's your point?
 
Regs

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
21
81
I thought this was going to be about accountability. Ironically I blame the system and the reality most people chose not to face. The blame game is usually just another tool we use that helps reinforce or justify our denial to reality.
 
KeithTalent

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,231
118
116
Invention of flip-flops; that was a dark day.

KT
 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
If we're going to apply this to present day United States, I'd look at things like this:

-The rise of corporate influence in politics, where politicians serve their corporate constituency rather than the people.
-The offshoring of the US manufacturing base.
-Integration of religious extremism into the Republican party.
-The near complete pussification of the US educational system, where now "self-esteem" is valued more than achievement.
-US financial system becoming very self-serving.
-Destruction of the middle-class.

All of these will have very significant effects.
 
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