IMO, if we can beat the ascendance of Progressive Marxism, we have a good shot at a golden age unparalleled in human history.
I’m not sure this is even fair to the Byzantines, who, after all, had a pretty damned long run (11 centuries!) in a very rough neighborhood.
And they never really recovered from that unpleasantness inflicted on them by the Venetians in 1204, either…
A better run that most for sure.
If America lasts 11 centuries, it will be no mean feat, and not just because the speed of culture moves a lot faster than it did in the Middle Ages…
[I am prescinding from the question of to what degree the Byzantines should be considered a continuation of the Roman state and Roman civilization (which could give them up to 22 centuries!), because even on the least generous case, hey, they got 11 centuries they can claim.]
And I wonder how many of us think that’s even likely?
It will be a miracle if we make it to the 2024 election.
If you know history, you know that all countries and empires eventually die. The USA is no exception despite those who believe in Manifest Destiny.
It’s the cyclical nature of things.
Nonsense. A civilization in motion will remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force. There’s no “cyclical nature of things.” Although James Blish made excellent use of Spengler’s fantasy.
Waiting for Harry Turtledove to check in.
Ah yes, the famous H.N. Turtletaub.
I’m a huge fan of his alt-history fiction.
The best for me was a short story called “The Road Not Taken”, from 1985. Classic SciFi, really makes you dream
https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/The_Road_Not_Taken
IMO, if we can beat the ascendance of Progressive Marxism, we have a good shot at a golden age unparalleled in human history.
I’m not sure this is even fair to the Byzantines, who, after all, had a pretty damned long run (11 centuries!) in a very rough neighborhood.
And they never really recovered from that unpleasantness inflicted on them by the Venetians in 1204, either…
A better run that most for sure.
If America lasts 11 centuries, it will be no mean feat, and not just because the speed of culture moves a lot faster than it did in the Middle Ages…
[I am prescinding from the question of to what degree the Byzantines should be considered a continuation of the Roman state and Roman civilization (which could give them up to 22 centuries!), because even on the least generous case, hey, they got 11 centuries they can claim.]
And I wonder how many of us think that’s even likely?
It will be a miracle if we make it to the 2024 election.
If you know history, you know that all countries and empires eventually die. The USA is no exception despite those who believe in Manifest Destiny.
It’s the cyclical nature of things.
Nonsense. A civilization in motion will remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force. There’s no “cyclical nature of things.” Although James Blish made excellent use of Spengler’s fantasy.
I have been wondering if woke is iconoclasm.