America the Temporary (Mickey Z.)

[Tace]

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

Nov. 1, 2006 -- Sigmund Freud sez: "America is gigantic; but a gigantic mistake."

America is a nation built upon myth. If you don't believe me, consider the Florentine merchant-adventurer after whom this country was named. Amerigo Vespucci probably made at least two voyages to the Americas, but he was not the leader of any expedition or the first European of his era to set foot on the mainland. (America named after a self-hyping fraud? It's just too perfect.) Yes, the USA is a nation built upon myth... and the greatest myth of all is that the land of the free is gonna last forever.

I'm sure the Aztecs, the Incas, the Romans, and the Mongols were pretty damn pleased with themselves and figured what they were doing could never end. Yet, like Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias," they are ancient history. (Shelley and his brand of poetry, alas, are also prehistoric.) The Ottoman Empire ran longer than Cats, for chrissake, and all they left is a place to put your feet after a long day of trading pork bellies.

America the Beautiful. The Declaration of Independence. The Statue of Liberty. Baseball, apple pie, and internal combustion engines built by Chevrolet. All of these are nothing more than the castles made of sand Jimi Hendrix sang about. Hendrix, for that matter, is yet another sandcastle. Take it even further: Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and, as Fight Club's Tyler Durden reminds us: "Even the Mona Lisa's falling apart." Our denial forces us to ignore this reality but, whether we admit it or not, what we call "civilization," is indeed fleeting.

If you don't believe me, I have one word for you: Maya. If that civilization is viewed from Pre-Mayan to Pre-Columbian, it would span roughly 3500 years before collapsing. America is 230 years old. The Mayans had us beat by more than 30 centuries but are now barely more than a footnote for most humans. No one is certain what happened to cause the demise of the Mayan culture, but this description from the One World Journeys website has an jarringly recognizable ring:

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http://www.worldnewstrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=519

[donsu]

1. life is change and loss

nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. The human race itself may be temporary

Who knows whether we'll slowly integrate with machines for longer life and eventually become 100% manufactured and artificial? Who knows whether we'll eventually stratify into different species as a result of biomedical engineering, some with beautiful healthy bodies and longer lives and others bred for work or war? Who knows if we'll eventually all be linked electronically and turn into just one giant group individual? Who knows if we'll evolve into many different species if we travel to far flug areas of space and isolate ourselves from each other? Who knows whether the human race will even survive itself? It may not even take 3500 years.

[Spinzonner]

3. Probably had their own 'Shrub' ruler

who doomed the civilization