Even when I saw the matrix in the theater as a young man I was all "they're just saying that to flatter the audience."
In terms of civilization America was a cesspool. Every year after I was born was less civilized than the last at an accelerating rate. Even as a young man in 1999 I could see this. The people around me could not.
The digital and information revolutions slowed the rate of decline. In hindsight this wasn't enough to overcome our core values as a people - greed, cruelty, brutality, and violence. More recently the 2016 US fascist revolution and COVID slowed the rate of decline but only because it temporarily crippled the actual drivers of decline.
So yea, I don't think the meme is accurate. You need a people committed to doing the work to maintain and grow institutions which uphold civilization. In the US we decided to end that around the time of Reagan.
Offtopic: The reason the Matrix is one of my favourite movies is because it illustrated in the coolest, non-esoteric way possible what the ancient Sanscrit described as _our illusionary world, called Maya_.
David
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in reply to anonymiss • • •David
in reply to anonymiss • • •I suppose things looked, and still look, different in Europe.
In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States. Jimmy Carter was President before him.
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Richard
in reply to anonymiss • • •Even when I saw the matrix in the theater as a young man I was all "they're just saying that to flatter the audience."
In terms of civilization America was a cesspool. Every year after I was born was less civilized than the last at an accelerating rate. Even as a young man in 1999 I could see this. The people around me could not.
The digital and information revolutions slowed the rate of decline. In hindsight this wasn't enough to overcome our core values as a people - greed, cruelty, brutality, and violence. More recently the 2016 US fascist revolution and COVID slowed the rate of decline but only because it temporarily crippled the actual drivers of decline.
So yea, I don't think the meme is accurate. You need a people committed to doing the work to maintain and grow institutions which uphold civilization. In the US we decided to end that around the time of Reagan.
Richard
in reply to anonymiss • • •YesNotes .info
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