How will Americans of 2064 view the state of America in 2017?

[SingingAnalyst]

A lot happened in 1970 (the Kent State shootings unfortunately come to mind). But as an assessment of where we were in 1970, that was the year we brought the Apollo 13 crew back safely--and also the year the US Supreme Court ruled that Jackson, Mississippi could close their public pools rather than desegregate them.

The point, of course, being that we were so advanced in sci-tech, while in other respects we were so backward.

What about 2017? When the people of 2064 look back at 2017, what will make them shake their heads in dismay?

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

The dawn (Don) of a new golden age.

[Brittain33]

I used to wonder how someone as unpleasant and nasty as Richard Nixon could possibly become President.

[I Won - Get Over It]

The start of the winning.

[Technocracy Timmy]

It's similar to the 1930's and 20's but in many ways the reverse order in its political and economic shifts.

We'll probably see it as the beginning of our existential secular crisis that happens in roughly 2020-2024.

[pbrower2a]

Either "How did we survive that?" or looking back at the USA as if it were the Austro-Hungarian Empire of 1907... impressive, but impossible to put back together.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Either "How did we survive that?" or looking back at the USA as if it were the Austro-Hungarian Empire of 1907... impressive, but impossible to put back together.

With perhaps a hefty dose of "how could they"?

[angus]

How will Americans of 2064 view the state of America in 2017

The same way the italians of AD700 viewed the Romans of AD200.  In other words, they won't think about it much.  Just as they saw the Coliseum as a nice place to stable pigs and cows, the Americans of 2064 will see the ruins of the Mall, the Washington Monument, and the Smithsonian as a fun place to play with metal projectiles that blind and maim.  They'll have a vague sense that something stable existed before, but most won't understand, or care to understand, the greed that led to its destruction.  Sure, there will be a few who live in gated communities with armed guards.  They will control the economy but they will not be able to control the great mass outside the gates.  Raise your children well.  Educate them in numeracy and literacy, but teach them streets smarts as well.  They'll need both to survive in the America of 2064.

[ProudModerate2]

Grandson asks : "Grandpa .... what were you guys thinking ?"

Grandpa responds : "We weren't."

[Technocracy Timmy]

Grandson asks : "Grandpa .... what were you guys thinking ?"

Grandpa responds : "We weren't."

Grandpa is a millennial in this scenario and he's blaming the Generations before him for it.

[pbrower2a]

If America becomes an Evil Empire between now and then, then they will see America in 2017 much like Italy in 1923 or Germany in 1933 in the equivalent of 1969 in Italy or 1979 in Germany. If Italy is the example, then  what remains of America (which might have lost Hawaii and Puerto Rico to independence, Alaska to Canada, and a big chunk of territory along the Mexican border to Mexico) simply sees Trump and his immediate successors as irrelevant to their present lives. If the analogue is to Germany, then perhaps America is split into sectors of occupation that have become independent republics and the era from 2017 to 2030 or so is an era of shame and the early 2030s are remembered as hardscrabble times in which Americans have to rebuild from the rubble.

That's if the more optimistic scenario in which Americans decide to undo the damage of the Republican Party.

If things go really well, then the Republican Party which now serves no semblance of civic virtue fades  out like the Whigs and Federalists, but this time for malfeasance. The Democrats become an unwieldy Big Tent party as they did twice in the 19th century and split. Liberalism might drift a bit more socialistic, but conservatism will revive... but to paraphrase something that I found from a year ago on a philosophy forum,

(T)he conservative tradition in American politics is intellectually formidable. The best representatives of that tradition have been rigorous, insightful, and philosophically astute. They are political commentators for whom ideas matter. In their best work one finds proposals and principles that one can find  incorrect, but never merely stupid.

The conservatism that we now know is more like the blathering of the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity instead of the astute contemplation of Edmund Burke; this transformation happened just a few decades ago.  The  core conservative values of personal responsibility, self-reliance, restrained government, shared community, and the moral authority of tradition have given way to tendencies that conservatives must regard as base and uncivilized -- insatiable appetites for luxury, excess, spectacle, and power. Such tendencies dissolve tradition and foster divisions.

Adapted material is from this blog.





 

[Kingpoleon]

I used to wonder how someone as unpleasant and nasty as Richard Nixon could possibly become President.

I'd argue Richard Nixon was evil, as was Lyndon Johnson, whereas Donald Trump cannot be evil. Evil requires a form of intelligence far greater than average.

[LabourJersey]

This thread got a lot darker than I anticipated.

Anyway I can imagine a 2064 where America is "Post-Colonialist" or away from being a world power, but even that would be pushing it.

I have no doubt they will see 2014/15 as the start of a new era in modern history, but I hope this epoch is short-lived rather than a long era.

[pbrower2a]

This thread got a lot darker than I anticipated.

Anyway I can imagine a 2064 where America is "Post-Colonialist" or away from being a world power, but even that would be pushing it.

I have no doubt they will see 2014/15 as the start of a new era in modern history, but I hope this epoch is short-lived rather than a long era.

Probably because we live in ominous times, with one Party, consummately ruthless, acting as if it wants to become the dominant Party and will stop at nothing to achieve such a reality. Single-Party systems generally become corrupt and authoritarian and represent increasingly-tiny segments of the population over time. Life becomes miserable for most people because most people get treated like serfs if not pariahs. .

[Nyvin]

With Embarrassment.

[Indy Texas]

"You mean we have to put on lead-lined radiation suits to go outside now because of an email server?"

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I used to wonder how someone as unpleasant and nasty as Richard Nixon could possibly become President.

I'd argue Richard Nixon was evil, as was Lyndon Johnson, whereas Donald Trump cannot be evil. Evil requires a form of intelligence far greater than average.

Beyond a certain point, the difference between evil and stupidity becomes academic for the victims.

[Kingpoleon]

I used to wonder how someone as unpleasant and nasty as Richard Nixon could possibly become President.

I'd argue Richard Nixon was evil, as was Lyndon Johnson, whereas Donald Trump cannot be evil. Evil requires a form of intelligence far greater than average.

Beyond a certain point, the difference between evil and stupidity becomes academic for the victims.

Indeed. Sometimes it hard for the victims(members of Atlas Forum) to tell whether evil or stupid is a more accurate description of the aggressor(?)(you).