I mean hopefully it can be delayed by a year or two until I can get SRS and move to Seattle and integrate into some leftist networks. But we're all just stuck in this limbo of waiting for the evil empire to implode and it's still tottering along, smashing thousands of lives daily. I'm not romanticizing the Cool Zone, I'm just tired of being kept on the edge - waiting, waiting. Let's just get it the fuck over with
eh. history doesn't repeat but it does rhyme. while there are no doubt similarities our decline will be different from theirs owing to a lot of factors like politics, economics, culture, society, science, technology, geography, etc. Those things are all different enough from England. Especially geography.
arguably a contender for top determinant of the course of history
Oh, for sure. I just like my glib comparison. Exactly how this shakes out over the next 10, 20, 30 years is anyone's guess. That being said... people often want to imagine some sharp drastic moment where the US as we understand it is humbled/crippled/changed in some drastic capacity -- that it becomes clear to everyone involved that we've entered a new era. I think it's gonna creep up on us, slowly, like it did for the UK. So I stick to my glib comparison.