OT: This Forum is a Historical Account

CNCRaymond · #1 December 14th, 2003, 04:46 PM

Think about it, over the Last two years, everything that has happened in the world has been actively discussed here. This forum has become a living breathing historical archive of how people view the events around them as they have occured.

My god what we type here can theoretically be read by historians two hundred years from now if the data on this forum is preserved.

That is something to think about no isn't it? What we say, think, and do now, can be revisited in years to come as a source of "In Current Events of The Time." Wooooooooow!

Slynky · #2 December 14th, 2003, 05:13 PM

Proves that people play games AND find time to keep up with a few things. One of the nice things is you get a world's opinion...not just one sector of the globe. Of course, that only happens when people can speak freely without being "flamed".

oleg · #3 December 14th, 2003, 07:15 PM

Actually it may not be true. What i mean is that we discuss the events presented and popularised by western media. It is entirely possible that there are some interesting developments in China politics that escapes our attentation but that would become the major turning point of humans history. Iraq war may indeed be just a footnote in the future history books. The backup of this forum will only serve as an example of an arrogance and lack of touch of western eggheads with the mighty current of the river of history

Slynky · #4 December 14th, 2003, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by oleg:
Actually it may not be true. What i mean is that we discuss the events presented and popularised by western media. It is entirely possible that there are some interesting developments in China politics that escapes our attentation but that would become the major turning point of humans history. Iraq war may indeed be just a footnote in the future history books. The backup of this forum will only serve as an example of an arrogance and lack of touch of western eggheads with the mighty current of the river of history

Some truth in that. Though, without trying to sound arrogant, the US is the (IMO) one of the most important country in the world if not the most important. That's not to say other countries are not important and will never have an effect on the entire world. Like countries in the middle east, for example.

For the same reason lots of people learn to speak English, a lot of important events surround the US. Just a fact. Not bragging or really even proud of some things.

Therefore, it is natural there is a lot of Western focus.

Cipher7071 · #5 December 14th, 2003, 09:05 PM

It probably won't matter to an historian or anthropologist of the future whether our opinions are well formed, egotistical, or otherwise. They will be of interest simply because they exist, much as the decorations on shards of pottery that we dig to this day.

oleg · #6 December 14th, 2003, 09:06 PM

Oh yes, USA is the MOST important country right now. But so was Roman empire and if you go through Roman newspapers circa 300 ad did you read any news about some odd events between Don and Volga rivers ?

CNCRaymond · #7 December 14th, 2003, 09:22 PM

You know Oleg, I have to agree with you about the Roman likeness here. I do think that the US is destroying itself from the inside out thus weakening its outer defense. This weakening of our outer defense will ultimately spell out doom. I think the Chines will have a major role in that doom.

Cipher7071 · #8 December 14th, 2003, 09:51 PM

I've heard the Rome analogy before, and I think there's something to it. It's the decay from within that's most worrysome.

Fyron · #9 December 14th, 2003, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by oleg:
Oh yes, USA is the MOST important country right now. But so was Roman empire and if you go through Roman newspapers circa 300 ad did you read any news about some odd events between Don and Volga rivers ?

Newspapers did not exist back then.

If they did, you would read about odd events in the northern areas of Europe, or in the east near Byzantine. Or any number of places within the Roman Empire. Or... even better... some really nasty stuff they did down in Carthage... don't compare the US "empire" to that of the Romans. There is simply no comparison. The Romans commited atrocities daily, and then brought "civilization" to the survivors (unless they were Carthaginians). The US has certainly done some disreputable stuff over the Last few decades, but nothing to the scale that the Romans did.

Fyron · #10 December 14th, 2003, 10:33 PM

A big reason that the Roman Empire decayed from within is that they did not have the means to effectively govern such a massive empire from a central location; various provinces (especially far off ones) had too much autonomy, and the emperor/senate had little knowledge of the happenings in such far off provinces. The US has the advantage of instant communications.

Another problem with Rome was that the Senate was not a representative body; it was simply composed of members of the major houses of Rome. This is not the case with the US.

Additionally, the US has frequent changes in leadership with forced elections. This allows for changes in policy every few years. This will at the very least delay any stagnation or fall.