[GAsux]

My theory is that things are not any worse than they've ever been, in relative terms. Hear me out here before telling me I'm an idiot. I would suggest that throughout the history of this nation there have and always will be doomsday types on both sides.

In fact, it was evident on this board. I know it's a lot of letting off steam and blowhard-ization sometimes but seriously, it doesn't take a lot of work to go back and find all the "the end of the world is surely coming now" threads.

This is not a new concept. In the early 80s we were all going to die in a nuclear war. Gas was in short supply and the nation teetered on the brink of disaster. In the late 60s Vietnam threatening to tear the nation apart and race relations boiled over into violence all over the country.

In the 40s the Germans and Japanese were going to kill us all. In the 20s dust and economic ruin were our downfall. It goes on and on and I'm sure you get the point.

It is my opinion that while things seem dire in some circumstances (terrorism, social gaps, economic inequality, etc) each year there is consistent advancement in other areas. Some things perpetually improve, some things inevitably cause chaos.

Perhaps I subscribe to the "if it's not one thing, it's another" theory. There will always be something looming on the horizon. I dont suppose there is an opposite of doomsday conspiracies. There are no optomist conspirators. But regardless, I don't believe we're any closer to destruction now than we have been at any other time in history.

The only thing that changes is the type of destruction that treatens.