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[pmcd9]

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Has Cornelius always been this pessimistic?

[AKKOLADE]

Usually before his second glass of port, or after his fourth; or depending on his proximity to Lyle and/or an inquisitive Philippe.

[jaydub]

I have this idea that Chris has been saving up ideas over the last 5 years and has finally gotten around to expressing them, perhaps while his artisinal "root"beer lagers.  Hopefully that well won't run dry on us suddenly.

[wombat]

I don't think Cornelius is being pessimistic. I think he's being wise.

[AugustWest]

I don't think Cornelius is being pessimistic. I think he's being wise.

Yeah, this.  The more history I read, the more I realize that only the trappings change.

[pmcd9]

I don't think Cornelius is being pessimistic. I think he's being wise.

Yeah, this.  The more history I read, the more I realize that only the trappings change.

Is this a truism in the vein of "The truth has a liberal bias?" All optimist are naive? The wisdom of understanding leads to a pessimistic worldview? Oh my God, I was a fool to believe that Bernie Sanders had a chance. Fascism is coming to America and there's nothing we can do about it. Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

[theinevitable]

I think you can be a realist while still being an optimist. If you look at history, no, things don't always get better. It isn't inevitable that good will triumph. But sometimes things get better-- you won't always win if you try, but you certainly aren't gonna win by sitting around and waiting for it to happen to you.

So... you're saying there's a chance!

Also: most things are probably better now than 50 years ago. Even if some things have gotten worse.

[wombat]

I don't see why it's pessimistic to point out that the past wasn't a golden age. Assuming the past was perfect and everything has been going downhill since then, that seems a lot more pessimistic to me.

[pmcd9]

I don't think the past was perfect. America has always had lots of problems, most particularly with the issue of race. But there is a greatness in America that is on the wane as Jeff Daniels so eloquently points out. That's what the good old days mean to me.

[pmcd9]

Look, I'm sorry y'all. I'm just feeling really raw right now. Bernie is teetering on the edge of failure and Trump is ascending. it doesn't look good for America. So please let me dream of a time when Fascism wasn't staring America in the face.

[wombat]

But why not dream of that time being in the future instead of the past?

[pmcd9]

But why not dream of that time being in the future instead of the past?

I do. I mean, I want to believe in a Utopian future, and there is evidence we are headed in that direction. But there is stronger evidence that we are headed for destruction. We are headed in both directions at the same time and it's maddening at times.

I think we are ultimately doomed unless we solve the problem of interstellar flight. I know I'm probably getting off into cloud coo coo land, but you ask me about my dreams of the future. And I think we are fucked unless we find new space to grow. The way Earthlings have always dealt with their unsolvable problems is by leaving. It's how America got started, it was Europeans fleeing persecution. And that's been the story of America ever since. Trouble is, there's nowhere left to go. Look at the Syria problem. Millions of refugees fleeing persecution, but their only options are to go to countries filled with people that hate them. That virgin country no longer exist*. When I was born the world population was a little more than 3 billion. That number is more than double now. The city I grew up in is now 10 times the size it was when I was born. Project 50 years into the future the world population will top 10 billion. Our natural resources are already stretched to the breaking point. Since we are completely unwilling to address the population issue our only hope is to find a way off of this planet.

*Yes I realize there were already millions of natives in America when it was discovered.

Bush Jr. stepped in it as hard as you could and things boogied on.

Nearly 8 years on we're still trying to pick up the pieces from that disaster. Now, we are living with the specter of President Donald Trump. We may soon be longing for the good old days of President Bush.

[Carlos del Vaca]

I agree with John Oliver's conclusion about reminiscing about a past that seemingly never existed: people want to go back to when they were children. That's their baseline, and it's a time when a lot of things were done for them, and there weren't a lot of consequences.

Paul, I don't think you're crazy. But I also don't want humans to find other inhabitable planets and then fuck THOSE up, too.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Look, I'm sorry y'all. I'm just feeling really raw right now. Bernie is teetering on the edge of failure and Trump is ascending. it doesn't look good for America. So please let me dream of a time when Fascism wasn't staring America in the face.

THE EMPEROR PROTECTS

[Bobby Isosceles]

But I also don't want humans to find other inhabitable planets and then fuck THOSE up, too.

IN THE GRIM WORLD OF THE DISTANT FUTURE THERE IS ONLY YOU'RE FIRED