The country that was

[DMac]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

[Farfromgeneva]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

Rome had roughly 400yrs. That’s the benchmark. We’re about 250 deep. Can we make another 150?

[DMac]

I wouldn't put any money on that.
Frankly, I'd struggle to put any on another fifty.

[Farfromgeneva]

I wouldn't put any money on that.
Frankly, I'd struggle to put any on another fifty.

Well as bankers in the 90s and 2000s would say (at least for you I may still be dragging my old a**a round in 50yrs but probably not more than 25 more):

IBGYBG

(I’ll be gone you’ll be gone)

[DMac]

I wouldn't put any money on that.
Frankly, I'd struggle to put any on another fifty.

I may still be dragging my old a**a round in 50yrs but probably not more than 25 more):

IBGYBG

(I’ll be gone you’ll be gone)

Yup, longevity, the big unknown. Didn't give myself much of shot at getting as much as I've gotten.
If I'm MDlax I'm guessing 90+ though, strong genes for longevity going on there.
Don't start collecting Soc Sec (a fan's all time favorite) til you're 72 cuz you'll get more, cuz a this, cuz a that.
Does the guarantee of getting to 72 come with that deal?

[Typical Lax Dad]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

I questioned this about 6-8 years ago and people thought I was nuts. I don’t like what I am seeing. This country is very young….been saying it for years. What I didn’t also consider is that it’s the oldest democracy on the planet. I don’t believe people that want to be in power, want a democracy. It requires a certain degree of selflessness and country before the ego. I am note hopeful. January 6th was a HUGE deal in this country. Not because of the clowns climbing the walls but because of a criminal administration working to steal and election. The media is the enemy is the first step in overturning a democracy. When a coup takes place, media outlets are the first thing to be taken over. It’s not an accident.

[DMac]

Pretty much defines the reason for the post, agree across the board.
This country is not in good shape and I'm very doubtful that it's fixable.

[old salt]

The US does not exist in isolation. Much of our future will be determined by what happens in the rest of the world or by factors beyond our control -- climate change, famine, water shortage, over-population in the developing world, asteroid strike, nuclear war.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Pretty much defines the reason for the post, agree across the board.
This country is not in good shape and I'm very doubtful that it's fixable.

Having a large segment of the population not caring about January 6 is the first step. Brains have been softened up. How many “educated” adults ignored the Nixon hearings? Every single senator voted to impeach him. Now the Senate works for the President. When the SCOTUS works for the President along with the DOJ, we are done. All it takes is the right group of folks thirsty for power. A friend asked how do we not know that Proud Boys and Other Keepers weren’t promised a “Royal Guard” role? When folks say they are willing to die for Trump you have to ask yourself why? Would love to see those SS text messages.

[SCLaxAttack]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

I questioned this about 6-8 years ago and people thought I was nuts. I don’t like what I am seeing. This country is very young….been saying it for years. What I didn’t also consider is that it’s the oldest democracy on the planet. I don’t believe people that want to be in power, want a democracy. It requires a certain degree of selflessness and country before the ego. I am note hopeful. January 6th was a HUGE deal in this country. Not because of the clowns climbing the walls but because of a criminal administration working to steal and election. The media is the enemy is the first step in overturning a democracy. When a coup takes place, media outlets are the first thing to be taken over. It’s not an accident.

I used to think the biggest risk to my grandkids living in the US was would the national debt be addressed. Now I believe it's politicians and political parties (honestly only one of them) willing to do anything to be elected and stay in power. We may have crossed the Rubicon in 2020.

What surprises me this election cycle is that election denial isn't the highest candidate criteria. It is for me.

[ardilla secreta]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

If you polish up on your Mandarin, you can work your way into becoming Minister of Electric Bicycles.

[Farfromgeneva]

I wouldn't put any money on that.
Frankly, I'd struggle to put any on another fifty.

I may still be dragging my old a**a round in 50yrs but probably not more than 25 more):

IBGYBG

(I’ll be gone you’ll be gone)

Yup, longevity, the big unknown. Didn't give myself much of shot at getting as much as I've gotten.
If I'm MDlax I'm guessing 90+ though, strong genes for longevity going on there.
Don't start collecting Soc Sec (a fan's all time favorite) til you're 72 cuz you'll get more, cuz a this, cuz a that.
Does the guarantee of getting to 72 come with that deal?

choosing when you collect is a bet on mortality, no different than viatical settlement companies. I look at every decision I make as carrying an opporutnity cost and just hope I price the risk and reward to my choice as well as the things I choose against properly.

so far in life as to the above attitude? Pretty good variance to hypothesis...but still fluid

Funny Vonnegut short story about longevity and science called Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_ ... ort_story)

Setting
The original story is set in 2185 A.D., 102 years after the invention of a medicine called anti-gerasone, which halts the aging process and prevents people from dying of old age as long as they keep taking it. Anti-gerasone is cheap and plentiful, made from mud and dandelions. As a result, the world now suffers from severe overpopulation and shortages of food and resources. With the exception of the wealthy, most of the population appears to survive on a diet of foods made from processed seaweed and sawdust. An outside authority figure within the story, a cautionary tale, admonishes the population that "most of the world's ills can be traced to the fact that Man's knowledge of himself has not kept pace with his knowledge of the physical world".

Plot
The Schwartz family, headed by 172-year-old Harold ("Gramps"), inhabits a three-room apartment in New York City, which has grown so large due to overpopulation that it now spills into the state of Connecticut. Gramps' grandson Louis, his wife Emerald, and 20 other descendants are crowded into the space, perpetually jockeying for Gramps' favor. Gramps gets the best food and the only private bedroom, and controls everyone's life by constantly revising his will to disinherit anyone who earns his displeasure.

An offhand remark by Lou prompts Gramps to disinherit him and exile Lou and Em to the worst sleeping space in the apartment, near the bathroom. Lou then catches his great-grandnephew, newly wed Mortimer, diluting Gramps' anti-gerasone in the bathroom. Fearing Gramps' reaction to such a scheme, Lou tries to empty the bottle and refill it with the full-strength medicine, but accidentally breaks the bottle and is caught by Gramps, who only tells him to clean up the mess. The next morning, the family finds Gramps' bed empty and a note informing them that he is gone; the note also contains a revised will that bequeaths his entire estate to be held in common by his descendants, with no stipulations as to who receives what property.

A riot breaks out as the family members start fighting over who gets the bedroom, leading to everyone being arrested and jailed at the police station. Lou and Em find the cells to be comfortable and spacious compared to the apartment, and hope that they will be sentenced to prison so they can keep these living arrangements. Meanwhile, Gramps has returned to the now-empty apartment, having watched the events unfold from a tavern across the plaza. He has hired the best lawyer in town in order to get everyone convicted, so that he can have the apartment to himself and they can enjoy the relative comfort of jail for a while. Gramps sees a television commercial for a new product called Super-anti-gerasone, which can reverse the aging process instead of just halting it, and starts thinking about being able to enjoy life again.

[Farfromgeneva]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

I questioned this about 6-8 years ago and people thought I was nuts. I don’t like what I am seeing. This country is very young….been saying it for years. What I didn’t also consider is that it’s the oldest democracy on the planet. I don’t believe people that want to be in power, want a democracy. It requires a certain degree of selflessness and country before the ego. I am note hopeful. January 6th was a HUGE deal in this country. Not because of the clowns climbing the walls but because of a criminal administration working to steal and election. The media is the enemy is the first step in overturning a democracy. When a coup takes place, media outlets are the first thing to be taken over. It’s not an accident.

Its risk transference. get the benefits shift the obligations.

or in the world you'll soon be in workout calls with PE sponsors on: "derisk and capture a cheap or free option on the upside"

[Farfromgeneva]

The US does not exist in isolation. Much of our future will be determined by what happens in the rest of the world or by factors beyond our control -- climate change, famine, water shortage, over-population in the developing world, asteroid strike, nuclear war.

There's a lot we can control. It's just important to see the physics in the movement of the world and be malleable to adjust and adapt.

Better than throwing arms up and beliveing if we can't go to a fictitious past then were screwed. Fight to the death. Flight isn't an option even if it's built into the human chemical composition (fight or flight)

[Farfromgeneva]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

If you polish up on your Mandarin, you can work your way into becoming Minister of Electric Bicycles.

Can I get the minister of morally ambiguous women seat?

[old salt]

Better than throwing arms up and beliveing if we can't go to a fictitious past then were screwed.

Your words, not my sentiments. Influence & control the things we can.

[ardilla secreta]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

I questioned this about 6-8 years ago and people thought I was nuts. I don’t like what I am seeing. This country is very young….been saying it for years. What I didn’t also consider is that it’s the oldest democracy on the planet. I don’t believe people that want to be in power, want a democracy. It requires a certain degree of selflessness and country before the ego. I am note hopeful. January 6th was a HUGE deal in this country. Not because of the clowns climbing the walls but because of a criminal administration working to steal and election. The media is the enemy is the first step in overturning a democracy. When a coup takes place, media outlets are the first thing to be taken over. It’s not an accident.

I used to think the biggest risk to my grandkids living in the US was would the national debt be addressed. Now I believe it's politicians and political parties (honestly only one of them) willing to do anything to be elected and stay in power. We may have crossed the Rubicon in 2020.

What surprises me this election cycle is that election denial isn't the highest candidate criteria. It is for me.

Glad my parents, sensible, lifelong, Republicans aren’t around to see what’s going on today. The unreasonable following of a white-supremacist con man, followed by politicians too weak to say anything and citizenry too loyal to a party to care. It just doesn’t look good for the future.

[old salt]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

I questioned this about 6-8 years ago and people thought I was nuts. I don’t like what I am seeing. This country is very young….been saying it for years. What I didn’t also consider is that it’s the oldest democracy on the planet. I don’t believe people that want to be in power, want a democracy. It requires a certain degree of selflessness and country before the ego. I am note hopeful. January 6th was a HUGE deal in this country. Not because of the clowns climbing the walls but because of a criminal administration working to steal and election. The media is the enemy is the first step in overturning a democracy. When a coup takes place, media outlets are the first thing to be taken over. It’s not an accident.

I used to think the biggest risk to my grandkids living in the US was would the national debt be addressed. Now I believe it's politicians and political parties (honestly only one of them) willing to do anything to be elected and stay in power. We may have crossed the Rubicon in 2020.

What surprises me this election cycle is that election denial isn't the highest candidate criteria. It is for me.

Glad my parents, sensible, lifelong, Republicans aren’t around to see what’s going on today. The unreasonable following of a white-supremacist con man, followed by politicians too weak to say anything and citizenry too loyal to a party to care. It just doesn’t look good for the future.

How would they react to much of what the Dems are trying to do ?

[Farfromgeneva]

Better than throwing arms up and beliveing if we can't go to a fictitious past then were screwed.

Your words, not my sentiments. Influence & control the things we can.

I didn’t say they were just making the comment. There’s a cohort that does think like that though very clearly.

I agree we control what we can control. Had to keep repeating that to my kids and myself last weekend when this bugger, older (“we had to pull kids down for numbers” bs every team in the league has told me) suburb team was ace chopping at my kids heads and legs all game.

[Farfromgeneva]

In our seemingly inexorable march to cancel ourselves, how much longer do you figure it will be before the United States (a misnomer at best) is a country that was?

I questioned this about 6-8 years ago and people thought I was nuts. I don’t like what I am seeing. This country is very young….been saying it for years. What I didn’t also consider is that it’s the oldest democracy on the planet. I don’t believe people that want to be in power, want a democracy. It requires a certain degree of selflessness and country before the ego. I am note hopeful. January 6th was a HUGE deal in this country. Not because of the clowns climbing the walls but because of a criminal administration working to steal and election. The media is the enemy is the first step in overturning a democracy. When a coup takes place, media outlets are the first thing to be taken over. It’s not an accident.

I used to think the biggest risk to my grandkids living in the US was would the national debt be addressed. Now I believe it's politicians and political parties (honestly only one of them) willing to do anything to be elected and stay in power. We may have crossed the Rubicon in 2020.

What surprises me this election cycle is that election denial isn't the highest candidate criteria. It is for me.

Glad my parents, sensible, lifelong, Republicans aren’t around to see what’s going on today. The unreasonable following of a white-supremacist con man, followed by politicians too weak to say anything and citizenry too loyal to a party to care. It just doesn’t look good for the future.

I imagine Jack Kemp and William Buckley’s remains underground seeing this and going “come on bones decay faster!”.