Slow Time in Fat City™, part 5: Quotes from the Edge.

[Doktor Howl]

No, I mean from the perspective of human nature. Humans are violent by nature. If they were less violent by nature, I believe there would be fewer Nazis.

And if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

Human nature hasn't changed in 2,000,000 years, and I don't think it's going to start changing next Tuesday.

[Triple Zero]

I think we're on the first real bump on the ride down to Visigothville.  Fortunately, that means I'll be dead before it happens, and you under-30 spags can deal with the unwashed horde.

Okay. Personally don't think so, but I also acknowledge that I could be wrong. Way I look at it, the world gets slowly better every year. Compare where we are to where we were during the Dark Ages, and things look pretty good. We are nowhere near perfect, hell we're not even close to acceptable, but I think things are improving. Either way though, I'm stocking up on equipment/weaponry as soon as possible.

We've had worse times as a nation, but the times aren't the problem, as I spelled out in the OP.  The problem is gutless, entitled citizens who stopped giving a fuck about the republic the day they elected Reagan.

Then where will the Visigoths come from?

As far as I can tell they were a badass East-Germanic tribe that caused the fall of the Roman empire when they revolted when the empire wouldn't feed them during a famine. Doesn't sound like the sort of thing gutless citizens would do?

I had to look them up cause I forgot most of my history lessons, so maybe I'm missing the point here?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I could be wrong but I think that they are figuratively refering to the collapse of the US (by comparison of Rome) and that the gutless are the catalyzing equivalent of the Visigoths for America.

[Adios]

No, I mean from the perspective of human nature. Humans are violent by nature. If they were less violent by nature, I believe there would be fewer Nazis.

And if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

Human nature hasn't changed in 2,000,000 years, and I don't think it's going to start changing next Tuesday.

If there is only one constant in the world it is human nature.

[Doktor Howl]

No, I mean from the perspective of human nature. Humans are violent by nature. If they were less violent by nature, I believe there would be fewer Nazis.

And if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

Human nature hasn't changed in 2,000,000 years, and I don't think it's going to start changing next Tuesday.

If there is only one constant in the world it is human nature.

Well, also light speed in a vacuum, absolute zero, Hook's Constant, Planck's Constant, and shitty TV programming.

[Phox]

No, I mean from the perspective of human nature. Humans are violent by nature. If they were less violent by nature, I believe there would be fewer Nazis.

And if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

Human nature hasn't changed in 2,000,000 years, and I don't think it's going to start changing next Tuesday.

Again, not saying that it will change, or that it was possible to change. Just pointlessly thinking about how much nicer the world would be if it was.

[Payne]

I think we're on the first real bump on the ride down to Visigothville.  Fortunately, that means I'll be dead before it happens, and you under-30 spags can deal with the unwashed horde.

Okay. Personally don't think so, but I also acknowledge that I could be wrong. Way I look at it, the world gets slowly better every year. Compare where we are to where we were during the Dark Ages, and things look pretty good. We are nowhere near perfect, hell we're not even close to acceptable, but I think things are improving. Either way though, I'm stocking up on equipment/weaponry as soon as possible.

We've had worse times as a nation, but the times aren't the problem, as I spelled out in the OP.  The problem is gutless, entitled citizens who stopped giving a fuck about the republic the day they elected Reagan.

Then where will the Visigoths come from?

As far as I can tell they were a badass East-Germanic tribe that caused the fall of the Roman empire when they revolted when the empire wouldn't feed them during a famine. Doesn't sound like the sort of thing gutless citizens would do?

I had to look them up cause I forgot most of my history lessons, so maybe I'm missing the point here?

The Visigoths weren't the cause of the downfall, they were a symptom. Who and what they were is not as important as who and what the Empire was, when looking at the last days of Imperial Rome.

For the Slow Times in Fat City threads, I tend to think of the Visigoths as more of symbol than a direct historical analogy. They are the sickness that is being explored - and in that sense the first Visigoths are already on the Palatine.

[East Coast Hustle]

No, I mean from the perspective of human nature. Humans are violent by nature. If they were less violent by nature, I believe there would be fewer Nazis.

And if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

Human nature hasn't changed in 2,000,000 years, and I don't think it's going to start changing next Tuesday.

Again, not saying that it will change, or that it was possible to change. Just pointlessly thinking about how much nicer the world would be if it was.

to help you, I bolded the only word in that sentence that matters.

[Phox]

No, I mean from the perspective of human nature. Humans are violent by nature. If they were less violent by nature, I believe there would be fewer Nazis.

And if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

Human nature hasn't changed in 2,000,000 years, and I don't think it's going to start changing next Tuesday.

Again, not saying that it will change, or that it was possible to change. Just pointlessly thinking about how much nicer the world would be if it was.

to help you, I bolded the only word in that sentence that matters.

Thanks for the condescension, I appreciate it.

[East Coast Hustle]

If you're being condescended to, there's a good chance that it's because you said something really stupid.

[Phox]

If you're being condescended to, there's a good chance that it's because you said something really stupid.

If you say so. Can't say I understand the need for you to bring up something so inane after a few days and not comment on anything else in the thread, but what do I know? Not too much, apparently. 

[East Coast Hustle]

Can't say I understand why you'd bog up the thread with inane prattling about how wonderful the world would be if we'd all just be nice.

Anyway, you've probably been here long enough to realize that I usually check my tact at the door. It's nothing personal, everyone says stupid shit. Including (especially) me. Just pointing out (in as tactless a way as possible) that when talking about something like this, it's usually good to stick to things that lie inside the realm of possibility.

[Phox]

Can't say I understand why you'd bog up the thread with inane prattling about how wonderful the world would be if we'd all just be nice.

Anyway, you've probably been here long enough to realize that I usually check my tact at the door. It's nothing personal, everyone says stupid shit. Including (especially) me. Just pointing out (in as tactless a way as possible) that when talking about something like this, it's usually good to stick to things that lie inside the realm of possibility.

Yeah, not taking it personally. Just disagreeing in an equally tactless way. 

[Payne]

ECH is not nice (but hasn't yet been known to cause Nazi).

He has a point p.o.d. These threads are more about what things are now, and what can realistically be achieved in the near future from here.

And he wasn't condescending to you so much as the hippie ideal you're mindlessly spouting out the open end of your food tube.

[Phox]

Oh dear. You called me p.o.d., now I can't just walk away. 

The issue arises when you say things like "realistically" and "realm of possibility", because for me, those words are simply that. I only made the concessions I did before because there was nothing else to say, and it was time for the conversation to end. But for me, my mindlessly spouted hippie ideal is just as possible as any other solution. Likely? No. But if we stuck with likelihoods, we wouldn't have anything to discuss either way. This all results from my personal philosophy, which will become apparent in time.

It will also become apparent that I have some sort of weird idealism bipolar disorder, so if I'm (seriously) arguing idealistically one day,  and I'm going the complete opposite route the next, well, that's normal for me.