The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization.

Doorknob Slobber: Sep 10, 2006; by Fluffdaddy

Western democracy's unwillingness to change or be forward thinking in any way what-so-ever on pretty much every single major issue of our time is a pretty big problem. We have all these scientists saying poo poo like "Hey the climate is changing we're all going to die" and "hey if we utilize stem cells maybe we can cure cancer and regrow all sorts of poo poo" and "hey we're heading down a similar path as a lot of other failed societies" and governments in general are just putting their loving fingers in their ears going "NANANANANANANANA WEEEE CANNNNNT HEARRRRR YOUUUUUU" as they line their loving pockets with gold and oil or whatever.

The history channel website has this list of eight reasons why Rome fell or some dumb poo poo and the US checks off most of them with a little bit of extrapolation. I'll list a couple and their parallels with the US, though I'm no expert on Rome.

Invasions by barbarian tribes in the form of a bunch of stupid loving white rednecks who think that the enemy is brown people instead of all the rich vampire fucks literally sucking away their lives.

Economic troubles and how our economy pretty much relies on wage slaves to function.

Over expansion and military overspending doesn't even need to change.

Same with government corruption and instability. In the US the law essentially doesn't apply to white people who have money and 'justice' and 'law and order' have failed at so many levels of government that whenever a big corp does anything wrong they just pay a bribe and everything goes away.

Christianity. lol.

Doorknob Slobber fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Aug 13, 2017

# ¿ Aug 13, 2017 03:52

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 17:39

Doorknob Slobber: Sep 10, 2006; by Fluffdaddy

The_Other posted:

It's from 2003, but author Matthew White did a comparison of the SPQR and the USA here.

This is a neat read, this part specifically is pretty interesting:

quote:

Step 1: First ask yourself, do you really want an empire? Empires are a lot of trouble, and maybe you can get what you want without the hassle of watching your back and executing all your close family members; however, if your country has just come out of a civil war that will probably start up again as soon as you're gone, maybe empire is the way to go.
Step 2: Remove foreign policy from Congressional oversight. All it would take is a couple of dry, technical amendments that wouldn't even arouse public debate because they wouldn't affect the voters personally. This means that the President could do anything he wants, anything at all, to the 95% or so of the world that doesn't carry American citizenship. If America has already conquered most of this 95% percent, this alone makes you master of mankind.
Step 3: Put yourself on the Supreme Court. Think of the power a Supreme Court Justice has even without monkeying around with the constitution. First, he's appointed for life. Second, there's no appeal from a Supreme Court decision. And there's no law that says the President can't be Chief Justice at the same time. Or if there is such a law, you're on the bloody Supreme Court; you can change it.
Step 4: As the other Supreme Court Justices retire, accept appointments as ambassadors, or meet with tragic accidents, neglect to replace them, until it's just you on the big bench.
Step 5: Sure, the Supreme Court is a great gig, but it's essentially a passive role. If you want active executive power, you have to hold on to the presidency. Repeal the 22nd Amendment.
Step 6: Get control of the Electoral College. Pack it with family members. Appoint your father, George HW, your brother, Jeb, your wife, Hillary, your sons John John and John Quincy. No one will care. No one ever pays attention to who the actual Electors are. Technically, Electors are chosen by the states in proportion to their Congressional representation, but I'm sure that if there are any irregularities in the Florida votes, the Supreme Court will support you.
Step 7: Every four years, get reelected.
Step 8: Chill. As tempting as it might be to micromanage the lives of your citizens like puppets, in practice, the less you do, the better. Let the masses keep their dignity. Let Congress debate trivial policy changes. Let Leno make fun of your bald spot. The less dangerous you are to the majority of the people, the less they'll conspire to assassinate you.

A lot of it is silly, but you can do the things the steps seek to do without doing something preposterous like trying to literally put yourself on the supreme court.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2017 19:05

Doorknob Slobber: Sep 10, 2006; by Fluffdaddy

sitchensis posted:

The world of tomorrow will look a lot like the world of today, except with more technology and less civil rights.

I'm not sure I would call it "fall"; more like stagnation.

I have more to say but I'm phone posting and will effort post later.

for the sake of this thread are we ignoring climate change and super bugs and poo poo? I feel like those are going to contribute a lot to the fall of western civilization over the coming decades.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2017 21:30

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization.