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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWe are asymptotically approaching "The Bottom"..
For years in dealing with this miscreant in the White House, we have stated that there is no bottom and in one sense that is correct. But, as in calculus, we are and have created a function of a limit which we are approaching, but need not necessarily achieve.
The theory in calculus, for those who have mercifully escaped the course in college, is that you can describe a mathematical entity by stating that after an infinite number of iterations, this result is what you will have. It is used in physics, in design, in engineering, and of course, in theoretical mathematics. Thus, a hyperbolic function is one that approaches a limit, but does not reach it, although the distance becomes infinitely small as we move toward infinity. This explanation may be a little convoluted because Im just sobering up after a long night of eating and drinking, but I hope you get my drift.
During the past nine months, we have seen the removal of standards of healthcare, the invasion of cities by the military, the loss of subsidy of research in major universities, the aggregation of civil rights, the removal of many things progressive which gave individuals opportunities, a gigantic increase in fear among the populace, and many many other actions which may prove deadly to what we used to call the American experiment. We are talking deportations, concentration camps, the creation of an American SS, a material change in allowable language used in the public sphere, including racist appellations, profanity, decriminalization of perversity involving minor children, abject lying without consequence, and a pandemic of hatred which is consuming the country as would a fire storm destroy a forest.
With all of these tenets in place, we can only go down from here. The problem is our fundamentals, the bedrock of Americanism is and has been essentially wiped out. It is Nazi Germany without the vision, it is Nazi Germany without the brain power, it is Nazi Germany without the idealism. It is Nazi Germany of nihilism. The vast number of people are distracted by sports, music, celebrities, fashion, and make up, and are comfortable sitting in their living rooms, ordering from Amazon anything in the world that they want with ease. Gone are the requirements that we be somehow motivated to stand up and actually do something, anything in our lives.
When I was young, I knew a guy who used to fly arms in and out of Rhodesia, a country which no longer exists, and he had been a pilot in World War II and the Korean War. He told me something once I have never forgotten: he said that when you learned to be a pilot at first, youre very, very careful and pay attention to everything, but as you become more experienced, you become cavalier. And then you have your first close call. Assuming you survive it, how you act after that determines whether you will live or die in that aircraft.If you say to yourself, I need to return to being obsessively attentive at all times you will probably survive, but if you say well, Im invulnerable because nothing happened, you are doomed.
This country I believe, came close a few times to major malfunction, the last time on January 6 in Washington DC, and when we survived, we took it all for granted. That was quite possibly our last chance to salvage the country and we are in a death spiral at this time. I hope Im wrong. I really do, but there is no sign of recovery And no matter how much we pull up on the yoke, the plane is spiraling down through the clouds toward the ground.
Is it too late, have we begun the inexorable approach to the black hole of fascism? Quite possibly. I believe we now require a modern version of the classical Deus ex Machina because mortals cant do what needs to be done.

MrWowWow
(1,461 posts)Even the best test pilots will tell you that there is most of the time, no escape from a flat spin except to egress the aircraft above 1200 ft (minimum).
https://pilotinstitute.com/what-is-a-flat-spin
FalloutShelter
(13,896 posts)Beautifully expressed.
Oddly, I am currently working on a novel in which Deux ex Machina literally figures in a political power struggle in the 14th century.
Of course, it was exponentially easier to manufacture a miracle in the 14th century.
Who will descend from the heavens to save us now?
Nice to hear from you. Been a while hope all is well!
All good
as good as can be expected.
My head is firmly duct taped to my body
It works for now. LOL
Tom says Hi too. Hes a lurker, but follows your posts.
Be well.
bucolic_frolic
(52,809 posts)Trump, or Stephen Miller, is operating in a power vacuum. Power vacuums don't last forever. Hold that thought and seek opportunity.
Butterflylady
(4,580 posts)Think Hitler and Mussolini. They thought they would last forever, but they were so, so wrong.
jmbar2
(7,376 posts)They don't plan for what happens after they are gone because it is only about them.
Trump may have destroyed the last vestiges of whatever attracted so many Americans to his side. Batboy Stephen Miller, Vance, Russell Vought don't have the charisma to to step into his nasty shoes.
Succession infighting will be interesting...
Trueblue Texan
(3,876 posts)...I keep saying, their arrogance and stupidity will eventually devour them. Let's hope that it doesn't devour those like us first.
edhopper
(36,723 posts)We are far from the bottom.
Because there is no bottom.
RandomNumbers
(18,939 posts)The bottom might be this: the destruction of the planetary ecosystem to the point where few, if any, human beings survive. If any survive, it will be those with a combination of huge wealth, incredibly good luck, and/or just the foresight to create and escape in time to a bunker sufficient to survive the cataclysm. The cataclysm most likely will involve nuclear weapons. That said, if few enough of those survive, and the damage is widespread enough, they won't last long, and the true "bottom" for homo sapiens will be extinction. The "bottom" for the planetary ecosystem? I guess in that scenario it is debatable - but I would put it at the point where recovery can begin (species survive and slowly, new species evolve to live in the new reality). That assumes any sort of recovery for biological life CAN occur. If not, then "bottom" is when all biological life on planet Earth is dead.
2naSalit
(98,121 posts)That's pretty much how I see it.
JustAnotherGen
(37,262 posts)Last edited Sun Oct 5, 2025, 11:27 AM - Edit history (1)
It's also why I believe that the Regime will have to fall - and we have to take drastic measures so we never pass this way again.
We had a chance in 1877 - and we failed.
We had a chance 2021 - and we failed.
That includes harsh, cold treatment of traitors to the constitution. I'm sure some online gamer or goody goody status quo upholder will come along and say I sound ominous to try and bait me into being specific. My response?
We did it your way after the Civil War and and for 50+ years after the CRA and VRA.
As Nina Simone sang: I don't trust you anymore.
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh, but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you anymore
You keep on saying, "Go slow"
Go slow
But that's just the trouble (too slow)
Desegregation (too slow)
Mass participation (too slow)
Reunification (too slow)
Do things gradually (too slow)
But bring more tragedy (too slow)
Why don't you see it? Why don't you feel it?
I don't know, I don't know
Get out of our way. Sit down and do what y'all have done for decades. Give me platitudes and
mollycoddle racist, sexist, anti-semitic, evil Christo Fascists.
That approach has been an epic failure. I'm fucking done.
Kaleva
(40,016 posts)usonian
(21,526 posts)before they even realize that there is a problem.
We are approaching that point for cult members.
In addition.
Epstein will be the tipping point.
Chaotic systems have tipping points. I am nit sure that aircraft do.
RandomNumbers
(18,939 posts)Because once they get far enough free of their addiction for long enough, they forget how bad it was ... and something snakes them back in, and there they go again.
( I have / had a couple addicts in my life, sigh. I thank the universe every day that my excursions into various substances never took me quite that far; although certainly I made some bad choices during those times. )
I *HOPE* you are correct that Epstein is the tipping point - in that case it might be soon enough to save us from true disaster. This time.
usonian
(21,526 posts)He's trying to cover them up with more atrocities.
Pray, chant, rain dance, burn candles, wish daily for justice.