10,000 years from now, when the archeologists are sifting

[left is right]

through the remains of our long dead society, they will surely declare that we were a people who early in the 21st century, went absolutely, bat-guano crazy. When will they say our decline began and what will they conclude was the cause?

[varkam]

1. McGriddles.

:)

[htuttle]

16. "We've found millions of indestructable styrofoam containers..."

"...with some sort of religious glyph on them...probably used for offerings and sacrifices..."

"Their god seems to have been a red haired man with mishapen, enlarged feet."

[jeff30997]

2. they will surely declare that ...

Hum..I think you got that covered.Nothing to ad .

[Skidmore]

3. They will find one of our landfills and believe that we

worshipped baby poop because we developed a whole technology to preserve it for eternity.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. They will say " They consumed so much and yet created so little" nt.

[Caoimhe]

5. As George Carlin said...

we will be known as the "garbage" layer. A thick layer of shit.

[Selatius]

6. Greed eventually overtook the US government like it overtook Rome

When the Senate finally voted to give Julius power, the Republic essentially voted itself out of existence and was replaced with a hereditary dictatorship.

The last two centuries of the Roman Republic were marred by corruption and power struggles and civil wars before it was replaced with a dictatorship. One could argue that the government even then was no longer representative of the will of people because now it was dominated by an exclusive group of people who just wanted power for power's sake.

There are parallels and differences between Rome and the US Republic, but the parallels prove scary enough as it is. I think the biggest difference between the US and Rome is that the US will not last as long as Rome as Rome had no major external enemy left except itself, and the US probably will not have an extended period where several dictators reign in succession. In all likelihood, the US would disintegrate like the USSR after just one or two dictators.

[left is right]

10. I appreciate the seriousness of your response

and agree with your conclusion. However, I was really thinking more on the lines of the Salem Witch Trials. One of the modern theories about the period is the whole society suffered from the toxic effects of rye mold (or was it a fungus). And that society righted itself after the moldy rye was no longer an issue. Of course, there were greedy individuals who took advantage of the madness but they didn't cause the madness.
Is there a parallel there with our own society--the Bush administration greedily taking advantage of a societal madness caused by some unidentified external source?

On edit corrected spelling due to slow spell checker and a shy x key. It often has to be persuaded to make an appearance

[H2O Man]

7. "Motel of the Mysteries"

by David Macaulay addressed just that question. This 1979 book predicted that on the morning of November 29, 1985, an accidental reduction in postal rates on 3rd and 4th class mail would resultin North America being literally buried under tons of brochures, fliers, and small containers labled "free!" This "cataclysmic coincidence of previously unknown proportion extinguished virtually all life forms" on the continent in less than 24 hours. In 3850, archaeologists, scholars, and souvenir-hunters chip through the creust covering the former USA, and begin a study of what life had been like.

It is a hilarious book, given to me some 25 years ago by one of the nicest people I ever met.

[havocmom]

8. Thanks, H2OMan. Gonna look around for that one.

Sounds like a writer after my own heart.

[left is right]

11. This is a book that I will have to look for

[H2O Man]

14. Published by

Houghton Mifflin Company Boston.

[longship]

9. They will find a thick, global layer of cheap, ill-fitting shoes.

Enough said?

Maybe not. Homage to Douglas Adams.

[TheDebbieDee]

12. They'll find Mt. Rushmore........

and think that we worshipped these men as Gods!

[SPKrazy]

13. Some Obscure Brain Syndrome Caused By Global Warming?

or maybe contrails

[Roon]

15. They will declare

that we amused our selfs to death

[Cha]

17. Styrofoam &

Corporate Assholes.

[Jara sang]

18. Why couldn't the new millenium be a symbol of peace and understanding?

Instead we got the Y2K computer bullshit then the shit hit the fan with the fear mongering of the so called War on Terror. The Neocons would have it no other way.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

19. my take

My guess is by then many other civilizations will have completed the standard cycle every single on is on and we'll just be the source of a hearty laugh and the remebrance that we are a race are as you said batshit crazy. Personally I kind of like it that way though I'd be open to trying something else. I wonder what sanity is like... I think if you had to sit down and explain anything human to a being completely objective in the sense of it's perceptions of reality it would be rolling on the floor with laughter.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT! you guys believe WHAT?!?! BWHAHAHAHAHAH... and you kill eachother over it! HAHAHAHAHAHA. oh man, oh man, no really come on be serious what do your human civilizations really do... oh wait... your serious... oh...

[Nikia]

20. Most of the cheap stuff will be gone

They will assume that we were far less advanced in technology than we are. After our fall, people will abandon technology and forget, just as they may have done before.
They will definitely wonder about Las Vegas and other places in the desert where people live in large numbers and waste scarce water. They will conclude that civilization fell because of overuse of ecological resources, which might end up being the case.

[ladjf]

21. What makes you think that there will be any archaeologists

10 thousand years from now? The human race is going to lucky if it last 400 more years.