various assassinations, the brink of nuclear apocalypse, an unpopular political war away from home that caused a social movement, and political espionage.

It’s like we’re cursed.

  • protist@mander.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    16 小时前

    You’re not wrong about all the things that have happened, but there are lots of countries around the world over that same timeline who have had a much worse go of things. The US has been the most powerful country in the world, so what happens here has an outsized impact, however this seems like just another facet of “American exceptionalism,” that the bad things that the US has done or had happen are somehow more special than all the bad things that have happened everywhere else.

    • MangoCats@feddit.it
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      11 小时前

      The US has been the most powerful country in the world

      For roughly 75 years.

      France was strongly dominant under Napoleon for 15 years and didn’t suffer too badly for 15 more years after that.

      The period of the British Empire’s global dominance, often referred to as the Pax Britannica, ran roughly 300 years.

      The Roman Empire was dominant in the West for roughly 500 years, much longer in the eastern reaches.

      The primary difference of the period of US dominance is that it has been almost entirely sustained by MAD - mutually assured destruction vs every other entity on the globe.

      • protist@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        11 小时前

        Among the empires you just cited, let’s consider the wars, atrocities, assassinations, crises, and plagues they perpetuated and endured

        • MangoCats@feddit.it
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 小时前

          let’s consider the wars, atrocities, assassinations, crises, and plagues they perpetuated and endured

          Absolutely. And, while there’s always atrocities and tragedies around the world, back in “those days” the height of civilization was still brutal and cruel. We, globally, seem to have improved the “bright spots” somewhat as time goes by - even if we still leave the bulk of global human population in poverty and oppression.

          My point about the 75 years? There have been shorter flashes in the pan, and much longer ones, we’re nothing particularly special - what is special about this era is the power that fossil fuels have endowed modern society with. We’ve done some good things with those, and a lot of bad too.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      12 小时前

      So if you notice that we bombed Iran this week, you must find it the most important bombing? I truly don’t get how some people’s hobby is to shit on the US