UTUSN
UTUSN's JournalYes, I do know that, and that despite their throwing a hissy fit over Julius's taking over,after him
they never looked back at their Republic. No, Tiberius and many others didn't always/often pick the most qualified. Tiberius picked Caligula out of contempt and spite, saying that Rome deserved the vileness. It was more often than not who was left standing after this or that slaughter.
Now, not that my O.P. rant is so original, but it's GENERAL, not a pretense at scholarship, so the point is not the details but that a system that is not reformed and refreshed will collapse under the dead wood of its own weight. Oh, well, they all do, even over the 5,000 years of Chinese dynasties.
Ah, well, my rant was my own personal indulgence, so I'll take a good night.
A modest breaching here of the Fourth Wall in Lounge.
I'm not going to apologize for what I post. Short of such an apology, it should suffice to reveal to anybody it might concern that I have insight into my own pluses and minuses and to some degree of awareness while they happen, such that I am actively choosing to let my minuses fly about as they might. FWIW, I am too often offended or embarrassed by my own posts, but also decided at some point not to run away from them.
Like many others, I have whined about spending much time and energy honing a coherent and original post only to see it sink like a stone, while any little off-the-wall nutcase free association of mine will reach heights of flames, outrage, and contempt.
The internet, this DU discussion board, has been the single biggest education for me of my life. And isn't DU so incredibly fortunate to be the exclusive beneficiary of my divine contributions (Do I really need a Sarcasm tag here?!1)?!1 Really, having achieved what used to be considered wonderful academic credentials, I realized that my Liberal Arts were worthless, that the one skill that made an actual difference in my real world work experience was: TYPING. And this discussion board has taught me some (not enough for me; I'm really too backward to have picked up much) life experience, street smarts, like developing a shell and occasionally being big enough to let some things slide.
But what I'm trying to say is that, especially here in Lounge, besides just this being an internet discussion board fer-gudness'sake (tag line from Teahouse of the August Moon? The World of Susie Wong), and the first deterrent to being offended is that this is not the first venue to consider for a serious discussion where offense might be taken. Some amount of performance art performing might be more likely to be happening. No, I'm not going to Self Delete one of my ramblings where somebody might have gotten offended. I *do* Self-Delete very occasionally when I offend/embarrass even myself!1
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