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A comment on I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life. Parent comment

Re:I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life by morgante on Sunday January 08, 2017 @03:07PM (#13351676)
What's the conceivable scenario where even heightened levels of "fear and uncertainty" lead to the collapse of the USA?

Also keep in mind that people are already extraordinarily pessimistic and unconfident about the country.

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Re:I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life by grzm on Sunday January 08, 2017 @03:26PM (#13351785)
How do you define "collapse of the USA"? Dissolution? Fall of the government? Effective dictatorship? Widespread police state? Something else?
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Re:I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life by morgante on Sunday January 08, 2017 @03:36PM (#13351838)
I'd say the end to constitutional governance would be a good definition. That'd be included in all your scenarios except the police state.

As much as I'd hate to live in a police state, I don't think you can call that the "collapse of the USA." China is very much alive.

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Re:I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life by grzm on Sunday January 08, 2017 @03:38PM (#13351847)
I think many Americans would no longer consider the USA the same country if it were a police state. It would be the US in name only.
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Re:I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life by morgante on Sunday January 08, 2017 @10:49PM (#13353869)
Eh, we're a country that also allowed slavery for decades and only allowed a minority of citizens to vote for most of its history. I'm willing to embrace an expansive definition of the "US."
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Re:I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life by grzm on Sunday January 08, 2017 @11:34PM (#13354037)
allowed slavery for decades

And doesn't anymore.

only allowed a minority of citizens to vote for most of its history

And now does.

These are both examples of how the US has improved over time. I would be very surprised to see a reversal on either of these. If there were, people would similarly question whether it was still the US in anything but name, even if this had been the situation in the past.

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