this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Long-winded product of a quick brainstorm session incoming...
So, Americans will have two options:
Wait it out passively. Corporate infrastructure/services will become more prevalent and take the place of governmental agencies as they default due to debt and mismanagement (a position they've been put in through the decades thanks to defunding, with Elon's DOGE being the latest of villains in this story). Get ready for corporate cities, and conglomerates being the de facto rulers of America. As governmental power wanes and after the eventual American balkanization, you'll be part of the Amazon Republic of Arizona or whatever. Idk what happens after that.
Somehow, Americans fight both corporate and governmental power, through the creation of alternative supply chains, alternative (labour based, for instance) currency and become more self sufficient. Americans are heavily armed as well and, while incapable of fighting an army of drones, it should be enough of a deterrent (especially if the power structure collapses and infighting amongst oligarchs happens but these post American cooperative societies stand by each other). Communities with immigrants that still have connections to the civilized world might help bring foreign aid and intervention. However, this requires trust, empathy, prosociality, generosity and critical thought. You and I both know Americans are famous for lacking in all of those attributes so I don't really see how they'll get it together quickly (and no, American Christian dogma, which is even more cursed and against the actual teachings of Jesus than the Catholic dogma, cannot offer a solution).
God willing something will happen to snap Americans out of their white ethnonationalist, imperialistic fantasies and into love for humanity, and God does do miracles, but I'm not very optimistic. It might just be the new Sodom and Gomorrah, NGL.
Finally, there's a reason the Western mind can only picture Mad Max when the government collapses: even they know they're completely amoral and uncivilised, the only force holding society together is fear of legal repercussions/getting killed by the cops. By themselves, for the sake of being good and prosocial and to have some self respect, they won't do shit.
I can tell you that what happens after option 1 is Snow Crash.
Good thing we built the ~~Torment Nexus~~ Metaverse already!