NationStates Jolt Archive

Seriously, has there ever been a worse start to a century? Within six years, we've had three wars in the Middle East, the Sudan thing, numerous terrorist attacks, the oil crisis, etc...

God, this century is going to suck. I didn't even know what a muslim was until a bunch of them rammed planes into skyscrapers. Stupid century.

Could have been worse.

We could have been demolished to make way for a galactic highway.

Could have been worse.

We could have been demolished to make way for a galactic highway.
Right, there is that, or we could have had hordes of beer-swilling blonde barbarians rampaging across Europe, like at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th. :D

Could have been worse.

We could have been demolished to make way for a galactic highway.
Now perhaps you could justify the first sentence of your post? :p

Now perhaps you could justify the first sentence of your post? :p

I can't see how demolishing Earth can be any good.

Unless I'm the last human left alive on a big red spaceship with a talking computer, a hologram and an evolved cat as my only companions.

You just wait till the next century. People will be complaining about the cost of cold fusion reactors, we'll be debating about cyborg marraiges, people will be urinating on teleporter pads......

Right, there is that, or we could have had hordes of beer-swilling blonde barbarians rampaging across Europe, like at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th. :D

Don't forget those times when Sweden rampaged across Europe. I guess they got tired of it.

Right, there is that, or we could have had hordes of beer-swilling blonde barbarians rampaging across Europe, like at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th. :D

Do the Swedes, Norwegians and Finns not travel anymore? :confused:

You just wait till the next century. People will be complaining about the cost of cold fusion reactors, we'll be debating about cyborg marraiges, people will be urinating on teleporter pads......

:D

I wonder what the people 100 years ago thought about this century.

20th century: People debating inter-racial marriages/relationships and black people's rights.
21st: People debating gay relationships and women's rights.
22nd century: People debating cyborg relationships and robot rights. :rolleyes:

:p

Do the Swedes, Norwegians and Finns not travel anymore? :confused:


Yeah of course they do but for the most part they have given up on the church burning, and rapeing, and pilliging, and plundering. Most of them:rolleyes:

:D

I wonder what the people 100 years ago thought about this century.

20th century: People debating inter-racial marriages/relationships and black people's rights.
21st: People debating gay relationships and women's rights.
22nd century: People debating cyborg relationships and robot rights. :rolleyes:

:p
23rd century: Alien overlords debating human rights.

23rd century: Alien overlords debating human rights.

I like alien overlords. They tend to have three pairs of breasts.

I think we threadjacked major league.

Yeah of course they do but for the most part they have given up on the church burning, and rapeing, and pilliging, and plundering. Most of them:rolleyes:

More's the pity. :D

Huh? I see the world economy booming, over 2.3 billion people rising out of poverty and in to prosperity, falling illiteracy and expanding public services, massive advancements in technology, instant and improving communications, cheap travel anywhere in the world, secure food and goods supplies, rising real incomes, low inflation, expanding globalization and advances in human and religious rights around the world (the world is freer than it was in 1900, 1950, or even 2000, no question)...

Honestly, this is one of the best starts to a century we've had in a while. No imperialism, no plagues, no Genghis Khan, and truly worldwide prosperity...its great, actually. And to top it off, there hasn't been a major war and we haven't had to worry about MAD like we did for half of the last century. Iran is nothing compared to the USSR's 15,000 nukes.

I don't know... the 20th century started out pretty shitty too...

How about the last two? At the start of the 19th Century, a French despot went galavanting around Europe, conquering whatever happened to be in his path, and destroying plenty while he was at it.

Or perhaps the twentieth century is a fair comparison as well. The beginning of that century was marked by the massive military buildups and great power conflicts that eventually led to the First World War.

This century seems to be kicking off about as good as we could expect.

If you're enough of a cynical pessimist, every century starts out shitty from that perspective...

Or perhaps the twentieth century is a fair comparison as well. The beginning of that century was marked by the massive military buildups and great power conflicts that eventually led to the First World War.
.

Don't forget how the Western nations and Japan were carving up the remnants of imperial China. Good luck trying that now, when China's economy is passing them by at 10% per year...the same is true of India, who was a repressed colony in 1900 but is now on track to develop in to a high-tech nation with a bigger GDP than its former master, the UK.

The 21st century is seeing not just the West but the whole world sharing in the prosperity...if that's not a sign that things are going well, I don't know what is. Even better, if everyone's making money they lose the will to fight.

If you're enough of a cynical pessimist, every century starts out shitty from that perspective...

So, does that mean it ends shitty as well or does it magically turn from great to shit at a minute before midnight on December 31st of --99?

So, does that mean it ends shitty as well or does it magically turn from great to shit at a minute before midnight on December 31st of --99?
It means once shitty, always shitty.

It means once shitty, always shitty.

Well, that's easy.

Don't forget how the Western nations and Japan were carving up the remnants of imperial China. Good luck trying that now, when China's economy is passing them by at 10% per year...the same is true of India, who was a repressed colony in 1900 but is now on track to develop in to a high-tech nation with a bigger GDP than its former master, the UK.

The 21st century is seeing not just the West but the whole world sharing in the prosperity...if that's not a sign that things are going well, I don't know what is. Even better, if everyone's making money they lose the will to fight.
Quite true.

Seriously, has there ever been a worse start to a century? Within six years, we've had three wars in the Middle East, the Sudan thing, numerous terrorist attacks, the oil crisis, etc...

God, this century is going to suck. I didn't even know what a muslim was until a bunch of them rammed planes into skyscrapers. Stupid century.
The 13th Century had plague
The 16th Cenutry had the fall of the Aztec and Incan Empires and the death of vast amounts of American natives.
The 19th century had the Napoleonic Wars
The 20th Century had WWI

I would say those are much worse than anything that has happened thus far.

The 21st century is seeing not just the West but the whole world sharing in the prosperity...if that's not a sign that things are going well, I don't know what is. Even better, if everyone's making money they lose the will to fight.

Prosperity can't be shared, only taken. That's why the West is fucked.

Quite true.

It's a pretty narrow, in fact strictly Western, view of the world to call this the worst start to a century ever because it doesn't show all of the progress and growth everywhere else.

For the West, the 21st century is just a continuation of the high living standards we've attained since the 16th century, so we tend to focus on the bad things that happen because we take to good for granted. For many, in fact most, of the other 5 billion people who live here this is the first chance they've had to share in that prosperity and make their own economic decisions free from the pressures of a colonial master or to act as a true world power.

There have always been assholes who commit terrible crimes and atrocities and probably always will be; however, you've also got to look at the good things that are going on and in the case of the 21st century they outweigh the bad ones by hundreds of events. For example, 100 years ago, you couldn't be openly homosexual or discuss sexuality freely and there was almost no mention of world religious traditions and definitely not the contacts and discourse we have today.

Prosperity can't be shared, only taken. That's why the West is fucked.

Yes it can! The Western economies are growing healthily at the same time that the others are growing, and wages are rising around the world; an average worker in China is making 100% more than they did last year and several hundred percent more than they did in 1999, and in India salaries for IT workers are rising by up to 80% per year.

Japan's economy is growing again, the US is at above trend, and even Europe is climbing out of its malaise and getting solid growth...and a lot of it is fueled by booming world trade between the OECD and the developing world.

Those areas are growing so quickly that outsourcing is starting to get too expensive and many Chinese/Indian companies are outsourcing their own labor to less expensive countries...that in turn starts up economic growth there and pushes even more wages higher, and then it spreads to even poorer areas and so on. The only limits to growth are resources. Mankind will be in space and harvesting resources from there long before we run out of them on Earth...our economic growth is limitless if we manage it wisely.

Huh? I see the world economy booming, over 2.3 billion people rising out of poverty and in to prosperity, falling illiteracy and expanding public services, massive advancements in technology, instant and improving communications, cheap travel anywhere in the world, secure food and goods supplies, rising real incomes, low inflation, expanding globalization and advances in human and religious rights around the world (the world is freer than it was in 1900, 1950, or even 2000, no question)...

Honestly, this is one of the best starts to a century we've had in a while. No imperialism, no plagues, no Genghis Khan, and truly worldwide prosperity...its great, actually. And to top it off, there hasn't been a major war and we haven't had to worry about MAD like we did for half of the last century. Iran is nothing compared to the USSR's 15,000 nukes.

Major war? So all the crap going on in the ME doesn't count as a major war?

...then again, you may have a point- that crap's been going on for 2000 years, it's just now that they're using missiles.... And that "major war" we "haven't had yet" will probably happen within the next 5 years. We've had SARS and bird flu, there's your plagues right there, plus AIDS which is pretty much worldwide...

And there is a cornucopia of imperialism, you're just not looking in the right places.

But as for everything else, you've pretty much hit the mark.

Yes it can! The Western economies are growing healthily at the same time that the others are growing, and wages are rising around the world; an average worker in China is making 100% more than they did last year and several hundred percent more than they did in 1999, and in India salaries for IT workers are rising by up to 80% per year.

Japan's economy is growing again, the US is at above trend, and even Europe is climbing out of its malaise and getting solid growth...and a lot of it is fueled by booming world trade between the OECD and the developing world.

Those areas are growing so quickly that outsourcing is starting to get too expensive and many Chinese/Indian companies are outsourcing their own labor to less expensive countries...that in turn starts up economic growth there and pushes even more wages higher, and then it spreads to even poorer areas and so on. The only limits to growth are resources. Mankind will be in space and harvesting resources from there long before we run out of them on Earth...our economic growth is limitless if we manage it wisely.

You're far more optimistic than the situation warrants. The non-renewable resources on earth require more energy yearly to get at them and the socio-political climate is difficult. Additionally, the damage done to food production through environmental damage and climate change are increasing the cost of producing renewable resources every year.

I don't mean to say that I disagree with the possibility that your conclusion is correct. Our growth could theoretically be limitless, however we have to manage our resources far more carefully than we are if we are to reach them without a major die-off. At the moment we need to reduce our abuse of luxuries at the expense of our future. The future is clearly open if we are willing to act to protect it now, but if we continue on our present path without letting up then we're screwed.

So it's pretty much like the start of any other century.

It's a pretty narrow, in fact strictly Western, view of the world to call this the worst start to a century ever because it doesn't show all of the progress and growth everywhere else. Good point... but somehow I don't think that there's much progress and growth in Israfghyrianonanaq.

For the West, the 21st century is just a continuation of the high living standards we've attained since the 16th century, so we tend to focus on the bad things that happen because we take to good for granted. For many, in fact most, of the other 5 billion people who live here this is the first chance they've had to share in that prosperity and make their own economic decisions free from the pressures of a colonial master or to act as a true world power. Excellent point. That's true.

There have always been assholes who commit terrible crimes and atrocities and probably always will be; however, you've also got to look at the good things that are going on and in the case of the 21st century they outweigh the bad ones by hundreds of events. "Probably"? There always will be people who commit atrocious crimes. The rest is true though. For example, 100 years ago, you couldn't be openly homosexual or discuss sexuality freely...Still can't. and there was almost no mention of world religious traditions and definitely not the contacts and discourse we have today. True.

Do the Swedes, Norwegians and Finns not travel anymore? :confused:
The Swedes got tired of things like Thirty Years War.

I have the odd feeling that the GWOT will end up being called "The Five Hundred Years War"

Right, there is that, or we could have had hordes of beer-swilling blonde barbarians rampaging across Europe, like at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th. :D
:(

Ahh, the good ol' days. How I miss 'em.

*Wipes tear*

You're far more optimistic than the situation warrants. The non-renewable resources on earth require more energy yearly to get at them and the socio-political climate is difficult. Additionally, the damage done to food production through environmental damage and climate change are increasing the cost of producing renewable resources every year.


That's true, but at the same time people are aware of the problem and serious efforts are being made to stop it. 100 years ago, people didn't believe reckless pollution affected the Earth in the long term and 50 years ago most people felt that oil was a limitless, renewable resource. Those opinions have changed, and now most of the world's leaders and their citizens see these problems as real and necessary of attention.

We're making a lot of advancements in alternative technologies that were dismissed as either uneconomical or unnecessary 50 or even 25 years ago and that's an important change for the better.

I don't mean to say that I disagree with the possibility that your conclusion is correct. Our growth could theoretically be limitless, however we have to manage our resources far more carefully than we are if we are to reach them without a major die-off. At the moment we need to reduce our abuse of luxuries at the expense of our future. The future is clearly open if we are willing to act to protect it now, but if we continue on our present path without letting up then we're screwed.

I agree. There's a huge difference between sustainable and unsustainable growth and we definitely need to shift towards the former in a fairly short amount of time; thankfully, there have been strides towards this goal but we're still wasting a lot of resources and we're still dependent on oil and other nonrenewable resources and noncyclical production methods for a lot of the goods we want.

Really, the biggest problem is waste; for example in the US we consume 2.33 barrels of oil transporting ourselves and goods to where they need to go for every barrel we use actually producing goods, heating buildings, or producing power. Of those 2.33 barrels, 1.1 of them is used solely in cars and the rest in all other forms of transportation.

So it's pretty much like the start of any other century.

Not really...in other centuries, people didn't believe that these resources were limited. I mean, the New World and eventually the US/Canada was seen as a limitless supply of raw materials up until the start of the 20th century, a mere 100 years ago. Environmental awareness only really got started in the 1960's and global warming has only become a major issue since the 1980's or even early 90's.

Environmental awareness is the one thing that we have now that we didn't have in centuries past; I think that's an important difference that will affect the way things turn out in the 21st.

Good point... but somehow I don't think that there's much progress and growth in Israfghyrianonanaq.

That's true. It takes time, though, for places to recover from centuries of religious and political conflict and from being cursed with an overabundance of oil...honestly, having those huge oil reserves combined with already repressive regimes is probably the most unfortunate combination in history.

"Probably"? There always will be people who commit atrocious crimes.

Most likely, but we have no idea what will happen in the distant future so I left it in there just to cover all bases.

...Still can't.

In most places, that's still true. But there are places that do allow that kind of discussion and accept homosexuality, and even in places where people are still hostile, it's a lot more peaceful and (somewhat) tolerant than it was.

It takes time to overcome 1700 years of hostility towards homosexuality and repression of human sexuality in general, so I think the progress we've made is a step in the right direction...but only a step.

That's true, but at the same time people are aware of the problem and serious efforts are being made to stop it. 100 years ago, people didn't believe reckless pollution affected the Earth in the long term and 50 years ago most people felt that oil was a limitless, renewable resource. Those opinions have changed, and now most of the world's leaders and their citizens see these problems as real and necessary of attention.

We're making a lot of advancements in alternative technologies that were dismissed as either uneconomical or unnecessary 50 or even 25 years ago and that's an important change for the better.

I agree. There's a huge difference between sustainable and unsustainable growth and we definitely need to shift towards the former in a fairly short amount of time; thankfully, there have been strides towards this goal but we're still wasting a lot of resources and we're still dependent on oil and other nonrenewable resources and noncyclical production methods for a lot of the goods we want.

Really, the biggest problem is waste; for example in the US we consume 2.33 barrels of oil transporting ourselves and goods to where they need to go for every barrel we use actually producing goods, heating buildings, or producing power. Of those 2.33 barrels, 1.1 of them is used solely in cars and the rest in all other forms of transportation.

[Thread hijack]

There is definite progress in environmental ideas. Ever since Silent Spring the concept that we can influence nature on a large scale has begun to increase. Now there is a large movement (in which I proudly include myself) that is fighting to reform practices in order to reduce the damage that the human race may do to itself. Scientific understanding has greatly helped this process, but political opposition and lack of education have harmed it to a nearly equal degree. Now, the Western world is improving, but the damage that the developing world could do is beyond the tolerance capacity of the world ecosystem. Because of the Eastern development some Western politicians (and citizens) believe that it doesn't matter what they do the Eastern development will offset the gains, so they shouldn't do anything. This of course is baloney.

Waste is clearly the biggest problem, but consumerism ranks second on the list. The continuous desire for more, even if it is unnecessary (a car for every person! eight TVs to a house!). This creates waste by creating unnecessary goods. However, this unnecessary crap is what is driving the economy of the entire world. If we are to reduce waste we must switch the economy from being luxury-based to being need-based. It should be serving us and not us serving it.


Not really...in other centuries, people didn't believe that these resources were limited. I mean, the New World and eventually the US/Canada was seen as a limitless supply of raw materials up until the start of the 20th century, a mere 100 years ago. Environmental awareness only really got started in the 1960's and global warming has only become a major issue since the 1980's or even early 90's.

Environmental awareness is the one thing that we have now that we didn't have in centuries past; I think that's an important difference that will affect the way things turn out in the 21st.

I hate dividing posts, but this doesn't quite fit with the rest of what I was writing. I understand and agree that there have been substantial changes in outlook and ideas, but the point I meant to make (but didn't) was that there are opportunities and dangers now, and they will continue and change throughout the century. That's how it's always been, the danger we face today is a large stake, but I doubt that my most cynical allies are correct, the human race will not be wiped out. We'll survive, but if we make mistakes billions of people will die in the process and the timetable might be set back generations. We have a chance and a choice to make, just like people have throughout history.

Seriously, has there ever been a worse start to a century?

Could be worse. Someone could have cut off your penis and thrown it out the window of a moving car.

Could be worse. Someone could have cut off your penis and thrown it out the window of a moving car.

You haven't been watching Fightclub have you! :eek:

You haven't been watching Fightclub have you! :eek:
Just about my favorite movie. Although, that line was based on a real event, y'know...

Could be worse. Someone could have cut off your penis and thrown it out the window of a moving car.

Worst end to a century ever. :D

Just about my favorite movie. Although, that line was based on a real event, y'know...

Real...event...:eek:

*runs away*

It's hardly been rosy, however, in the early 1800's a little thing called the Napoleonic wars were transipiring.....

Our circumstances are, evidently, unprecedented, but hardly oppressive.

I don't know... the 20th century started out pretty shitty too...

yep , ol Queen Vic kicked the bucket a year in cos it was so bad

Huh? I see the world economy booming, over 2.3 billion people rising out of poverty and in to prosperity, falling illiteracy and expanding public services, massive advancements in technology, instant and improving communications, cheap travel anywhere in the world, secure food and goods supplies, rising real incomes, low inflation, expanding globalization and advances in human and religious rights around the world (the world is freer than it was in 1900, 1950, or even 2000, no question)...

Honestly, this is one of the best starts to a century we've had in a while. No imperialism, no plagues, no Genghis Khan, and truly worldwide prosperity...its great, actually. And to top it off, there hasn't been a major war and we haven't had to worry about MAD like we did for half of the last century. Iran is nothing compared to the USSR's 15,000 nukes.


Were you one of those people hiding underneath a rock?

Right, there is that, or we could have had hordes of beer-swilling blonde barbarians rampaging across Europe, like at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th. :D


or like the beginning of the 20th where the two biggest wars in recorded human history took place.

Seriously, has there ever been a worse start to a century? Within six years, we've had three wars in the Middle East, the Sudan thing, numerous terrorist attacks, the oil crisis, etc...

God, this century is going to suck. I didn't even know what a muslim was until a bunch of them rammed planes into skyscrapers. Stupid century.

Well, at least we haven't gone to Defcon 1 yet and decided to end all life on earth. Last time I checked, nothing in my home is glowing from radiation, so that's a plus.

Were you one of those people hiding underneath a rock?
Nope. Frankly, this is one of the best starts to a century ever...

2nd Anglo-Boer War
1899-1902
Ashanti War
1900 Boxer Rebellion
1900
East Africa
1900-1918
Central Africa
1900-1915
West Africa
1900-1918
Somaliland
1901-1904 Tibet
1904
Zulu Rebellion
1906
Sudan Operations
1910-1918

It's been pretty good for the chinese.

Right, there is that, or we could have had hordes of beer-swilling blonde barbarians rampaging across Europe, like at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th. :D
Well, there was this thing called the Football World Cup - sounds pretty much like that :D (nah, not really. But it was the first image to come to mind when thinking about hordes of beer-drunk people in Europe...)

Well, there was this thing called the Football World Cup - sounds pretty much like that :D (nah, not really. But it was the first image to come to mind when thinking about hordes of beer-drunk people in Europe...)
Beer-drunk? As opposed to punch-drunk? Or hard-liquor-drunk?

Beer-drunk? As opposed to punch-drunk? Or hard-liquor-drunk?
There is a difference, I say. I'm always good on being beer-drunk, but I can't even stand myself (let alone stand on my own) when I'm hard-liquor-drunk :D

There is a difference, I say. I'm always good on being beer-drunk, but I can't even stand myself (let alone stand on my own) when I'm hard-liquor-drunk :D
*shrug* You gotta point there...

Were you one of those people hiding underneath a rock?

No. All of the attacks by terrorists and atrocities around the world since the start of the century are tame compared to what happened in previous centuries.

A fairly limited war against terrorism mostly fought through intelligence and improved security is a lot better than half a million men being killed in a single day fighting over a muddy field in France...there's no comparison there.

No. All of the attacks by terrorists and atrocities around the world since the start of the century are tame compared to what happened in previous centuries.

A fairly limited war against terrorism mostly fought through intelligence and improved security is a lot better than half a million men being killed in a single day fighting over a muddy field in France...there's no comparison there.
While I do support your argument, that war happened 14 years after the start of the century. This one still has time...

I'd have to say that the current situation could change quite radically depending specifically on the actions of the People's Republic of China. That is the one nation whose actions could tip these early years of this century for good or ill.

20th was much worse.

While I do support your argument, that war happened 14 years after the start of the century. This one still has time...
*gets inspired*

Huh? I see the world economy booming, over 2.3 billion people rising out of poverty and in to prosperity, falling illiteracy and expanding public services, massive advancements in technology, instant and improving communications, cheap travel anywhere in the world, secure food and goods supplies, rising real incomes, low inflation, expanding globalization and advances in human and religious rights around the world (the world is freer than it was in 1900, 1950, or even 2000, no question)...

Honestly, this is one of the best starts to a century we've had in a while. No imperialism, no plagues, no Genghis Khan, and truly worldwide prosperity...its great, actually. And to top it off, there hasn't been a major war and we haven't had to worry about MAD like we did for half of the last century. Iran is nothing compared to the USSR's 15,000 nukes.
Genghis Khan improved the world.

While I do support your argument, that war happened 14 years after the start of the century. This one still has time...

Yeah, but a lot of the alliances were in place during the first decade; also, the Dreadnought was launched in 190(7)? and it started the big German-English naval race that was a precursor to the war.

Genghis Khan improved the world.

Well, it was the Mongols' sack of Baghdad (not under Genghis, but his grandson Hulagu) that pretty much ushered in the end of Islamic civilization and has a lot to do with the current problems in the 21st century Middle East, so I tend to focus on that more than the benefits to trade along the Silk Road or the prosperity of China under the Yuan dynasty.

Genghis Khan improved the world.

I realise you're going for shock value, but you have to back that up and place it in context. In some ways, Hitler improved Germany, Stalin improved the USSR, but like G. Khan, you can't _just_ say 'they improved the world' - it makes no sense, doesn't move the debate forward one iota, and ignores the damage caused, which also needs to be considered.

For Genghis Khan, you need to say: how and why the world was 'improverd'; acknowledge the damage caused; say why _you think_ any benefits accrued by him outweighs the damage he caused.

I realise you're going for shock value, but you have to back that up and place it in context. In some ways, Hitler improved Germany, Stalin improved the USSR, but like G. Khan, you can't _just_ say 'they improved the world' - it makes no sense, doesn't move the debate forward one iota, and ignores the damage caused, which also needs to be considered.

For Genghis Khan, you need to say: how and why the world was 'improverd'; acknowledge the damage caused; say why _you think_ any benefits accrued by him outweighs the damage he caused.

He gave Douglas Adams something to write funny bits about. *nod*

Right, there is that, or we could have had hordes of beer-swilling blonde barbarians rampaging across Europe, like at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th. :D

Apparently, you haven't been to southern Spain or many of the Greek islands in the summer. Well, I suppose most British tourists aren't blonde. :D

I realise you're going for shock value, but you have to back that up and place it in context. In some ways, Hitler improved Germany, Stalin improved the USSR, but like G. Khan, you can't _just_ say 'they improved the world' - it makes no sense, doesn't move the debate forward one iota, and ignores the damage caused, which also needs to be considered.

For Genghis Khan, you need to say: how and why the world was 'improverd'; acknowledge the damage caused; say why _you think_ any benefits accrued by him outweighs the damage he caused.
My world history textbook (which I believe is filled with bullshit) basically completely ignores all the people that Genghis killed and focuses more on how it improved the world by "reuniting the East and West with trade routes".
Yeah, I think it's bullshit, but that's how they say Temujin improved the world.

It could be worse. In WWI, the generals were stupid enough to believe that the only way to take out a machine gunner was to send columns of conveniently standing men directly at a guy with a fairly accurate gun that can fire hundreds of bullets a minute and has a wide field of effectiveness.

Considering that more people died in each battle in that war than the total number of people Bush "killed"(pfft, whiners), this is a golden age of prosperity and freedom. The fact that homos aren't killed by the Western states proves that.

He gave Douglas Adams something to write funny bits about. *nod*
Hear hear!

It could be worse. In WWI, the generals were stupid enough to believe that the only way to take out a machine gunner was to send columns of conveniently standing men directly at a guy with a fairly accurate gun that can fire hundreds of bullets a minute and has a wide field of effectiveness.

Considering that more people died in each battle in that war than the total number of people Bush "killed"(pfft, whiners), this is a golden age of prosperity and freedom. The fact that homos aren't killed by the Western states proves that.

Nope, the fact that you exist proves otherwise

Things are better now than they have ever been before, barring perhaps 1995-2000.

Things are better now than they have ever been before, barring perhaps 1995-2000.

1995-2000 was probably rougher than today. There were two huge financial crises, Oklaholma City, some pretty bad hurricanes, the massacres and genocide in Serbia, a bunch of nasty terror attacks, and ongoing fighting in Israel and Lebanon.

The only good things were a solid US economy, falling energy prices, and strong US and European stock markets. Other than that, there were just as many, if not more, problems than we have today.

You just wait till the next century. People will be complaining about the cost of cold fusion reactors, we'll be debating about cyborg marraiges, people will be urinating on teleporter pads......
i think that it will take at least 2 centuries.