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[Xantalos]

When was the world ever stable? Was it when the entire Soviet bloc was crumbling? When we were on the verge of nuclear holocaust? When pretty much all of Africa was trying to gain independence? World War II? World War I? Earlier?

Stability isn't even a good thing, not if it is holding up a terrible system or way of life, and there are plenty of those left in the world.

Pre-humanity?

I imagine it was pretty stable then.

I can personally tell you no.

I don't know what they expected to happen when they kept making the Shoggoths more powerful and more intelligent.

Well, what would happen if you introduced into Murica a thing that not only drove you around by turning into a car, but cooked, cleaned, etc, for you, was controlled by your thoughts, and could shapeshift to complete any task?
They'd be overrun in a century.

[XXSockXX]

When was the world ever stable? Was it when the entire Soviet bloc was crumbling? When we were on the verge of nuclear holocaust? When pretty much all of Africa was trying to gain independence? World War II? World War I? Earlier?

Stability isn't even a good thing, not if it is holding up a terrible system or way of life, and there are plenty of those left in the world.

I would argue that it was easier to perceive the world as more stable during the later phase of the cold war. Nuclear holocaust was a looming threat, but you could at least categorize the world into a good and evil side, while pitying or ignoring the 3rd world. After 1990, a lot of people subscribed to the "end of history" worldview for a short time, until they realized they had no clue what was going on anymore.

Perception of stability has also a lot to do with age. As you get older you realize that a) the world is not stable at all, but b) change, even if seemingly abrupt, takes a lot of time. I don't see the world as stable, but I don't expect social/political/military conflicts to be resolved in my lifetime anymore, when I was expecting revolutions and sudden changes at a younger age. Sudden progress is most often an illusion.

[SalmonGod]

I don't know, I don't even feel like it's just this board.  I feel like external society is changing pretty quickly, too.  Things are getting much harder than they were.

I don't know if this is what you're referring to, but I feel like tensions are just rising in general.  I've been feeling that for a very long time, but I think it's starting to get really tangible.  People are drawing stricter lines between each other and getting more derisive about those who don't fall on their own side.  There's a plethora of issues I could have brought up 5 years ago and almost anyone would shrug at them, but now almost anyone has very strong opinions on.

I felt the exact same way. In the early-mid 1990s. So I dunno if it's just a certain age that you hit and there's a loss of innocence and idealism, or if we're just cyclical as a society (cause granted, I've been comparing the batshit crazy of the last several years to the batshit crazy of the 1990s for some time) or hell, maybe it is getting worse and I'm just so jaded that I don't really feel it.

Regardless, I would be greatly saddened to see any of y'all leave. Hiatuses are to be expected, but permanent departure would make the world a little bit dimmer and colder for all of us.

I'm sure that to some extent it's cyclical.  I don't think it's an age thing.  I'm no less an idealist than I was at 17.  I carry most of the same convictions.  I'm just wiser about how and when I express them, and I know what to expect from people more often.

It's not a rise in the age of people I'm exposed to, either.  I've always hung out online with people of all ages.  Since becoming a working adult, I've similarly spent my time surrounded by people of all ages.  People much older than me that I've known most of my life, even my own parents, who used to be mostly apolitical are now developing very strong opinions that differ greatly from the weaker ones they held in the past.  I've seen people who have been best friends for over 30 years split apart by radical shifts in political belief in the last few years.

I dunno... I admit that the things that are happening now have happened all throughout history.  I see people all the time going "Look at ___ happening!  What is America coming to?!" and I point out to them that it's been going on for decades.  On the other hand, it seems like the stakes are constantly rising.  Surveillance has been a controversial issue for forever, and sophisticated spy networks have been established since the World Wars at least.  Yet today's make them look childish.  The Rodney King beating invoked a huge riot.  Today such acts are caught on camera with regularity, and rarely do they provoke much of a response because we're so desensitized to them (and intimidated).  The environment... well, I don't think I need to even say anything about that.  And unrest has usually been localized in the past.  Today there's a revolutionary undercurrent pretty much all over the globe, and dissent is becoming a tight-knit international community.

[Xantalos]

Essentially, the massive revolution that will 'overthrow the system, man' will only happen when people are so cynical that no one thinks it will happen.

[XXSockXX]

People much older than me that I've known most of my life, even my own parents, who used to be mostly apolitical are now developing very strong opinions that differ greatly from the weaker ones they held in the past.  I've seen people who have been best friends for over 30 years split apart by radical shifts in political belief in the last few years.

Here it's quite the opposite. Political consenus is that some things are "without alternative". Differences between political parties are relatively minor compared to even 2 decades ago. Many opinions are no longer represented by any (democratic) party.
There is less partisanship among people and many are disillusioned about politicans doing whatever they want anyway.

The Rodney King beating invoked a huge riot.  Today such acts are caught on camera with regularity, and rarely do they provoke much of a response because we're so desensitized to them (and intimidated).  The environment... well, I don't think I need to even say anything about that.  And unrest has usually been localized in the past.  Today there's a revolutionary undercurrent pretty much all over the globe, and dissent is becoming a tight-knit international community.

Rodney King was pre-internet for most people, right? Today you can choose among millions of videos like these, among myriads of kitten clips.

[RedKing]

The Rodney King beating invoked a huge riot.  Today such acts are caught on camera with regularity, and rarely do they provoke much of a response because we're so desensitized to them (and intimidated).  The environment... well, I don't think I need to even say anything about that.  And unrest has usually been localized in the past.  Today there's a revolutionary undercurrent pretty much all over the globe, and dissent is becoming a tight-knit international community.

Rodney King was pre-internet for most people, right? Today you can choose among millions of videos like these, among myriads of kitten clips.

Obviously the solution is to catch a police force on tape brutally beating kittens.

[The Darkling Wolf]

I can get you a soldier throwing a dog off a cliff, but the kitten beatings will cost extra.

[Vector]

Looks like I'm the last man standing in my roleplaying group.  Kind of sucks.

PPE: Never mind, looks like the group is probably now finished.  Cool.  The only thing I was really looking forward to is now gone.

Spoiler: END DETAIL SPOILERS FOR SKYFALL (click to show/hide)

Skyfall was a really good movie.  I enjoyed it.  I like that M took center stage.

When I was a girl, it was shocking to have M in the James Bond movies.  I was shocked she was a woman, you see.  She was so cool.  Top class.  She was probably the main reason why I watched them--I wanted to see M for a few minutes.

There's a trend in recent years where some of the few properties that were traditionally female-centered are now receiving reboots with men in the token female spots (example: Oz books -> a movie starring James Franco in a traditionally female-dominated universe).  They could have made M male and Q female, or something similar, but instead we'll be getting Mallory the white dude in charge and Miss Moneypenny is downgraded from action girl to secretary in a single film.  And Q won't be changed up anytime soon, barring major catastrophe.

This isn't about this movie, that I'm complaining about.  I'm thinking about the next one.

[Mephansteras]

Picked up the latest album of Blackmoor's Night. It's really just not as good as some previous albums, and much of it just feels like a rehash of sounds they've already done. Worse, they're the sounds that I don't like.

I don't have too many actual groups whose music I get. Sad to see one of them fall into the 'probably not worth buying anymore' category.

[Loud Whispers]

Spoiler: END DETAIL SPOILERS FOR SKYFALL (click to show/hide)

Skyfall was a really good movie.  I enjoyed it.  I like that M took center stage.

When I was a girl, it was shocking to have M in the James Bond movies.  I was shocked she was a woman, you see.  She was so cool.  Top class.  She was probably the main reason why I watched them--I wanted to see M for a few minutes.

There's a trend in recent years where some of the few properties that were traditionally female-centered are now receiving reboots with men in the token female spots (example: Oz books -> a movie starring James Franco in a traditionally female-dominated universe).  They could have made M male and Q female, or something similar, but instead we'll be getting Mallory the white dude in charge and Miss Moneypenny is downgraded from action girl to secretary in a single film.  And Q won't be changed up anytime soon, barring major catastrophe.

This isn't about this movie, that I'm complaining about.  I'm thinking about the next one.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thank HM&GOD Q is dead, why isn't James Bond dead, why isn't everyone in MI5million exploded, when will they stand trial to all the laws they broke...

The film was great, but the characters were all total nobs

[Nadaka]

visited my grandmother, she is frightened and in pain, and didnt recognize me, and can barely lift a finger or open her eyes.this is so much harder to deal with than death.

[GlyphGryph]

Been miserable times for me and the wife, work related. She's been coming home crying because she's so tired of working for the medical industry. She says she can't stand to lie to patients anymore and (as is standard in the medical industry in America) if you aren't willing to lie to your patients you get fired.

:/

[kaijyuu]

That's... pretty horrific D:

[Mephansteras]

Been miserable times for me and the wife, work related. She's been coming home crying because she's so tired of working for the medical industry. She says she can't stand to lie to patients anymore and (as is standard in the medical industry in America) if you aren't willing to lie to your patients you get fired.

:/

Well, that's rather terrible. What kind of work does she do? And what kind of lies are they having her tell?

[Tiruin]

Been miserable times for me and the wife, work related. She's been coming home crying because she's so tired of working for the medical industry. She says she can't stand to lie to patients anymore and (as is standard in the medical industry in America) if you aren't willing to lie to your patients you get fired.

:/

D:

Isn't there any other area in the medical industry there? (I'd ask more on the Lying part being that I'm in training for medical practice but..that'd be too rude of me to trouble you in that troubles..) but I'm very curious on why they would employ lying as a..standard.