The value of ancient buildings is in what we learn from whatever survives. How can we rebuild the Coliseum to its original state without first learning what that state was? The Coliseum was operational for centuries and underwent constant modification. Which period should it be restored to, and to what end?

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lukan 3 days ago | parent [-]

"Which period should it be restored to, and to what end?"

Rome at peak power around year 100. And why? To finally see the gladiators Zuckerberg vs Musk celebrity deathmatch obviously.

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hermitcrab 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I suspect it would end like the gladiator match in 'The Life of Brian', with Musk having a heart attack before he could even get in striking range.

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FirmwareBurner 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

>To finally see the gladiators Zuckerberg vs Musk celebrity deathmatch obviously.

NGL, would love to see techbros battle to the death for our entertainment.

Hey, if we're already near the fall of the empire, we might as well get some bread and games out of it.

Though Suck and Bezos would easily kill Musk since Zuck is a martial arts expert and Bezos is roided out of his mind, while Musk is kinda doughy like a human slug monster.

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mulmen 2 days ago | parent [-]

I really hate the “end of the empire” or “late stage capitalism” attitudes. They’re ignorant and self-fulfilling.

If you really believe it then please go out in the world and engage people in a positive way. Go do some volunteering. Not to make a change in the world but in yourself.

If you don’t believe this and are just repeating a meme for clout or whatever then just stop. It’s toxic and unfunny. Like “locker room talk” or whatever other lame justifications are offered for people to say gross things nobody needs to hear.

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DengistKhan a day ago | parent | next [-]

How would it be self fulfilling? I'm not in the driver seat, I'm in the backseat watching the driver slam the accelerator into a brick wall. Whether or not the wall is fascism or collapse, it mostly looks like both.

	▲	mulmen a day ago \| parent [-]
		It’s self fulfilling because you (we) are in the driver’s seat. These tried arguments are dangerous because they make people believe they are powerless.

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lukan 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What worries rather me to be honest, is people refering positive to the thought of being an empire in the first place and just negative that the empire is in decline.

	▲	FirmwareBurner 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		What worries me even more, is that people end up missing the entire point of an argument because they can't seem to be able to pick up on uses of figures of speech within a context, so when they see the word 'empire' they think you mean literal empires, get fixated on that one thing turning it into the main issue, and then the rest of the argument and discussion goes above their head becoming pointless. Even LLMs are better than that.

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FirmwareBurner 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

>I really hate the “end of the empire” or “late stage capitalism” attitudes. They’re ignorant and self-fulfilling

When you put down all the dots and they form a line that trends in one direction, it's just reality. Ignoring it and calling it "self fulfilling" as if it's a thing that you personally have control of, IS what's ignorant.

>If you really believe it then please go out in the world and engage people in a positive way. Go do some volunteering. Not to make a change in the world but in yourself.

Being a decent human being does not undo the politically induced global economic issues related to the "late stage capitalism" you mentioned. It's two orthogonal things that are unrelated.

	▲	mulmen a day ago \| parent [-]
		I’m not ignoring anything. What I hate about these tired memes is that they suggest there’s nothing we can do to move those dots. We do still live in a functional democracy regardless of what internet commenters suggest. It is possible to make changes. Saying otherwise is ignorant (of our own power) and toxic (by perpetuating the wrong belief that we are powerless).