He used the term, United States of Amnesia.
Well, technically people all change at roughly the same rate as we die and are replaced by our children and grandchildren. Culture is a good point except that it also changes and cultures really arenāt as old and unchanging as some would claim. Modern Chinese culture is very different from Imperial China of barely 100 years ago, for instance. Looking at food, as another example, how many European cultures have dishes that feature potatoes, corn, or tomatoes prominently? All new world crops.
On that same note of culture, it becomes a question of whether or not a ācultureā needs to be tied to a place. Cultures everywhere change rather quickly (relative to the century timescales that we are talking about in the discussion of nation age). US/American culture is probably about as similar to European cultures of a few hundred years ago as modern European cultures are to European cultures of a few hundred years ago. And European cultures have been roughly as influenced by American and Asian cultures as American culture has been influenced by European and Asian cultures. The only real claim that European countries have to an āolderā culture is that the successor culture is also present among people that are in roughly the same place. And thus, the definition gets murky.
Interesting ideas. Are monuments all that matters, though? There are ruins in parts of America that are quite old, but we just mostly donāt see those as part of a contiguous culture and nation that continues to the present. But considering that and the rest of your post, maybe a nation is simply as old as it thinks it is, and America is just young at heart.
Also, do modern Egyptians see themselves as part of the culture that built the pyramids?
The United States is an old, but not ancient, nation that insists it is young. One hopes it may yet become mature.
No, but how people view them and treat them can show how they approach their memories, collective or individual.
American monuments are either skyscrapers that are remembered as iconic for how they were built and destroyed, rather than anything permanent. Or huge areas of wilderness to explore and potentially be conquered, to build or take something new, so everything feels wild all the time.
. You canāt get Swiss cheese from anywhere else.
Its just different ways of seeing things. I can get Panera bread by driving 4 miles, but its not going to be the same as the clam chowder in a sourdough bowl youād get in Monterey. Iāve had both. Theyāre not the same.
Iāll concede that the world does seem to be mimicking Mores Law in more ways than it was initially intended to apply. The faster things change, the faster things change.
There seems to be quite a few childless cat bodybuilders on the site.
I like cats because they are quiet and more self sufficient on average.
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I appreciate that if things arenāt to a cats liking, theyāll just move in with a neighbor or down the road.
People post missing cat stuff on the neighborhood facebook page all the time.
I see this and think āThat cat isnāt missing. It left.ā.
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By agreeing to this, I can practically feel the collective disapproval of all my Sicilian ancestors looking down on me.
All MIL/Vet influencers and grifters, military bands (seriously, they need to go), Goggins, Jocko.
Tim Kennedy can fuck off.
The older I get, the more I come to appreciate them and their way of life.
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My son theorizes that a dogās love is unconditional, a catās needs to be earned.
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Totally.
Hereās my neighbors dog. Heās down for anything. If Iām doing it, heās down. He sat like that for hours just waiting for what ever comes next. Blay ball? Sure!
Fight a bear? Lets do it! Heās in.
Then thereās Derpy.
King of no fās given. He doesnāt sit on my wifes lap because heās adorable. He sit on my wifes lap because her lap is in HIS chair.
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Donāt tear this place up bro !
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I went on two dates with a doctor a few years ago, and on one of them he explained to me in fairly excruciating detail why cats brains are such that they are, in fact, sociopathic (frontal lobe differences). After which I went home and looked at Daisy, who was at that time in the habit of pacing up and down my body at night, trying to get me up, and thought āyeah. I see that.ā
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My Kitty Witty introduced herself to the dog soon to be known as Puppy Wuppy with an ambush assault launched from the side of the front door entering the house.
She inflicted a fear into that dog that never left, and was refreshed every time she walked through the door.
Sheād lick my nose to wake me up in the morning, and that was really cute. But she was also a master of creating fear and mayhem.
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Yut !!!
In fairness, your Sicilian ancestors would probably be horrified by the idea of boiling dry pasta. If made fresh from dough, I understand the reason spaghetti is easier than macaroni. What does a macaroni machine even look like?
But if weāre buying dried stuff from a store anyways, might as well get the sensible shape.
But doesnāt that just mean that people who like dogs associate love with control? What has liking dogs got to do with not liking cats? I donāt like cats, but also donāt like dogs. Some people like both. Im fine with the existence of either and tolerate them when visiting someone. But why would I want to live with animals?