A) I really hope not.
B) Uh…
C) That’s already a reality, sad to say.
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Nope and nope. Japan was closed off long before the first Tokugawa shogun and remained so well after the Tokugawa era as well. Even the arrival of Perry’s Black Ships didn’t really change this for years.
As for “persecution” aside from the laws which limited which ports foreign ships could dock & trade, there were no separate laws governing foreign persons. All were subject to the same laws during the Tokugawa period.
When our descendants squat in the dust under the killing sun trying to decide who gets eaten next, they will probably not spare a thought for Trump.
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Oh come on, I am speaking in very broad generalizations. I don’t see why you would construe that I am talking about how any one person feels, especially YOU specifically.
Everyone has problems. Everyone has things they aren’t happy about. Some people more than others. Some are living deep in shit. Hell I am not really happy about a lot of things in my life and have stresses. But I am not talking about the challenges everyone faces day to day.
I am talking on a broad scale, Americans living in fucking paradise compared to most of the rest of the world. Even our poor live like kings compared to billions of others, where we can turn on a faucet and get HOT and cold water free of parasites and disease. I can shit comfortably and have it removed with wiggle of a lever. We can distract ourselves all day long through books, tv, movies, or the internet. I may have stresses about money, but finding food is as easy as going to the store.
To say that MOST Americans have most of their basic needs met, and most of us are relatively “happy”, doesn’t mean all is right or just in the world. And it doesn’t mean we are the “happiest in the world” or that everyone is “happy”. We are placated enough that they aren’t going to start killing people. In general. Certainly there are segment doing that right now in the US, and many more in other parts of the world. But most of us have way more to lose if an actual Civil War were to happen, which is why I usually have the opinion that it is a Walter Mitty-esqe fantasy. If something changes to make life much worse for a lot more Americans I may change my mind.
Depends what hardware we get…
Cybermen? I’m not seeing a down side here… (well assuming we aren’t bent on assimilating every one else). I actually already thought of what I want my android body to look like from the Bad Ass Space Dragon game years ago.
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Particularly when the techbros are producing things like Eye in the Sky
Who could ever have predicted that a technology like that might be abused?
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That was my exact point; I’m glad you grasped it.
Yes the poorest, very worst off American citizen is probably still better off than a poor person in a third world country.
That doesn’t mean that our poor or underprivileged citizens are either ‘happy’ or ‘complacent.’
Are you sure that’s actually accurate? Or is it an opinion based solely upon your own personal perception?
And yeah, I know that you were not literally talking about me personally.
I just wanted you to hear how you sound.
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I am fully are we still have hungry people and homeless people and a whole host of ills in this country. But most people are making it, even if just barely.
“Happy” is a relative term, which is also why I said placated. People may not be “happy”, but they aren’t “unhappy” enough to start a civil war. I never meant to suggest everyone was sunshine and rainbows. My point being it isn’t nearly bad enough for most people for there to be an armed revolt or a 2nd Civil War. That’s it. So far I haven’t seen evidence to the contrary.
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What are you basing this opinion on, that you keep using the word “most?”
Nice stealth edit, by the way.
I don’t disagree that in general, a good number of people are not miserable enough to revolt.
Yet.
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Placated, yes, but happy, no. A significant portion of the electorate is obviously angry, frustrated and spiteful enough to vote for the President-elect, and that portion is likely a reflection of non-voters’ unhappiness. They’ll be even less happy if inflation and idiotic protectionism deprive them of their distracting and relatively inexpensive toys.
As for a Civil War II, likely not. Same for a revolution with nation-wide consequences. However, if inequality keeps trending in the direction it has been then in 10-15 years we could have a crime and civil unrest situation like Brazil’s or South Africa’s. That timetable will only accelerate if a 2008-style crash occurs under a President who makes Hoover look good and whose response would likely include bigoted scapegoating. Smart wealthy people in America don’t want to worry constantly about theft and kidnapping and riots, but now it’s particularly stupid and greedy wealthy people effectively in charge of all branches of government for the next four years.
Those same stupid and greedy people are also climate change deniers (like the presumptive new head of the EPA), meaning that in the longer term those conflicts resulting from resource scarcity have a good chance of affecting younger people and (if medical breakthroughs extend life) people my age, too. Not that the GOP cares much about that issue, unlike alarmist liberal tree-huggers like myself and the folks at the Pentagon and (not in public) the energy companies.
Most white people, sure, in terms of proportion. Although limiting oneself to that narrow viewpoint one of the wealthiest countries on the planet can still do better than “just barely” for them when it comes to food, shelter, and access to quality medical care and education – even as the postwar prosperity ends. But that’s just me with my silly high expectations for America. You seem to have much lower ones; constantly indulging in false equivalencies tends to do that to a person.
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I moved those last three sentences because I think it worked better at the end of the 2nd paragraph, vs the end of the first when I reread it.
As for my opinion that “most people” are making it/happy/have their basic needs met, what do you want me to present to you to back this up? I don’t think saying this is controversial or crazy. I have acknowledged we have hungry and homeless, but “most” would be at least 51% and we have way more than 51% of Americans fed and with a roof over their heads. Obviously a lot of people are not happy about the election, but they still have a life and a home and food and family. Even with unemployment up, most who are of working age have jobs. We have over 11 million illegal immigrants risking a lot to live here. We have 1 million more per year who enter legally, and even more on visas etc. People don’t usually immigrate somewhere where everyone is miserable. I’ll even acknowledge that 14.5% of Americans are below the poverty line. While that number is too high, it still supports that most are doing better than that.
OK great. That’s all I was saying, only I guess I had the glass-half-full measure of “happy enough”, vs “not miserable enough”.
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I was going to be snarky and dance around the name of a film forgotten to the sands of time that revolutionized film technology, but I just can’t.
Birth of a Nation was released in 1915, and is literally a case where the technology should be the only thing remembered… but it applies directly to this current year’s election. The first 2/3 acts and the technology practically created the movie industry, but that deplorable portion will not (and should not) be forgotten despite the attempts to past and present.
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Check your private messages, please.
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What “king” reigned over the Industrial Revolution? It was a queen, Victoria (oh all right, and George before her at the start of it). Given that she encouraged and promoted a lot of the new tech, she’s often remembered in 19th century tech histories.
This is just “my discipline is the most important, la la la” wanking.
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Actually, for those who are concerned about climate change, James Watt probably WAS more important than Hitler.
[quote=“Mister44, post:45, topic:89408”]
(well assuming we aren’t bent on assimilating every one else).
[/quote]
But… THAT’S WHAT THEY DO! It’s like their mission in life. Like the Borg.
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Yeah, but not every android race want’s to assimilate everyone.
Data didn’t feel the need to do that.
My Leiberians highly limited their numbers on purpose, and their motivations and goals were to experience the universe, record it, and send it back for everyone else to see.
#notallandroid races. 
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That’s what I thought
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But do you understand that the reason people in the U.S., on average, have so much more privilege than people in many other countries is because of the build up of civilizing laws, and recognition and support for creative and useful work?
This is what we are going to lose.
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Certainly the way our society is run, and the free exchange of ideas and the various collaborations and building upon foundations laid by others are some of the reasons the US has been such a driving force in technology. Also just the fact we have shear numbers helps.
If there is one thing I strive to be consistent in, it is the support of liberty for everyone. Any law proposed that goes against that will be condemned in turn.
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