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comment by b_b
b_b  ·  1279 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Election That Could Break America

    The thing that saves us is when the calculus for craven opportunists says "don't go Trump."

Yes, and I guess I'm still optimistic that we will get to that point before it's too late. Other times I feel like Asimov hit the nail on the head, and we're the Foundation sinking into decadence and nepotism that is beyond repair.





kleinbl00  ·  1279 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Asimov cribbed it from Toynbee, who did the World History Magnum Opus before the Durants but after JG Frazer. "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder." He wrote 12 volumes to prove his point. The quote is at the beginning of Volume 4, which I have around here somewhere, but haven't quite been able to stomach.

Of course, the thought wasn't original to him, either, nor Thomas Cole,

Nor Gibbon.