In the past these crises were usually spaced out with stretches of relative peace and sanity in between. But now we are in a perpetual state of reeling from one crisis into another. Why is that ?
The whole world has been in a state of perpetual crisis since August, 1914, with only somewhat of a lull in the 1990s (unless you are from Rwanda or Yugoslavia). The way in which the news is disseminated and consumed since CNN does influence how we perceive events.
shareNonsense.
No, it's not nonsense. It's the 20th Century. True American had it a lot easier than most (especially the 50s and 90s), but the fact remains EVERYONE lived under the threat of nuclear war for about 50 years of the past century, which we have quickly forgotten. The fact that we avoided the worst and it became a routine part of life doesn't alter the fact that the threat existed (and is growing again).
shareLiving "under the threat" of something that hasn't happened is hardly a state of perpetual crisis. Get a grip.
You said "crisis", now you are moving the goal post to "chaos" (although there was plenty of that, too, depending on where and when you lived). We still haven't hit 1930s-1940s level crisis and chaos, but the century is still young.
shareYou are right so I have amended my post. I blame RandallGraves for dragging chaos into the thread.
In any case my argument is not that we had been living in perpetual peace but that we hadn't been living in perpetual crisis which is what we are doing now.
That threat was very real, especially heading into 1992 and 1993 when the USSR was imploding so rapidly. In retrospect it might have been wiser to continue with detente and the all the subsidies we were shoveling to the commies and let it deteriorate more slowly. The older I get, I see Russia through all its history, as just a pain in the ass neighbor we have to mow their lawn for them.
shareYou make some good points
but
We're 1/5 into the 21st Century
The 1950's were really good for white men (as were the 1850's and the 1750's)
The 1990's sucked until 1997, and then it was great connecting the whole world with Global Crossing so that some guy in Bangladesh will do your job for a bowl of rice a day.
The universe is chaos
shareWell I guess it's just as well that " chaos is a ladder ".
But leaving Littlefinger aside the Universe is more about order than it is about chaos.
Nah the people in the universe try to bring order to the chaos, how are they doing?
shareConsider the complexity and order involved in building and successfully running a city. I would say they are doing pretty well.
In any case I wasn't talking about chaos I was talking about crises. Stay on topic !
intriguing question, I think most are man made though. even in my own life, I have years where things are perfect, then it all falls apart to the next crisis.
shareAmerica has a crisis about every 10 years. Voting for bad leaders has a lot to do with it.
share24/7 news/social media.
There’s a reason the cure for the coof is turn off your tv.
Any questions?
"In the past these crises were usually spaced out with stretches of relative peace and sanity in between."
Look at who's running the country -- if we can ever figure that out. 🙄