this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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TranscriptA threads post saying "There has never been another nation ever that has existed much beyond 250 years. Not a single one. America's 250th year is 2025. The next 4 years are gonna be pretty interesting considering everything that's already been said." It has a reply saying "My local pub is older than your country".

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[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 20 hours ago

I believe the ottoman empire (1299–1922) would like a word.

[–] Sunflier@lemmy.world 7 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

England would like a word. It formed in 927 AD. That means it is 1,098 years old.

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[–] Matombo@feddit.org 13 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (7 children)

i think the first poster misunderstood a quote and I can't reproduce it anymore either. it was something about no empire lasted more then 250 years? or no government form or something among these lines? it was not about the country disapearing in name or anything, but that it damatically changes in one way or another like completly changing the form of government

[–] Jack_Burton@lemmy.world 8 points 21 hours ago

I remember it as most empires collapse before or around 250 years. If I remember the quote correctly it mentioned most not all, and empire not nation or country.

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[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Who did the US get independence from, buddy?

[–] Zess@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

The Kingdom of Great Britain, which ceased to exist in 1800 and lasted less than a century.

[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 6 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

Use the same definition (unchanged political institutions) and tell me how long the Roman Empire lasted.

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[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well there’s that… but these people are free from the restraints of logic.

[–] syreus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

They think of countries as dynasties or times of uninterrupted, peaceful transitions of power. Britain has changed dynasties and government types over the years. It's semantics.

[–] Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org 17 points 1 day ago

There's a certain irony that there are a couple of cases of "my local pub is older than your entire country" in the country in question. For example the White Horse Tavern in Newport, RI.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] barneypiccolo@lemm.ee 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I once read that we are closer to Cleopatra's time than Cleopatra was to the building of the pyramids. Weve got 250 years under our belts, while Egypt had thousands.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Wait till these people find out about Japan.

[–] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] barneypiccolo@lemm.ee 13 points 1 day ago

I used to be in the record business, and worked for a time for a Chinese record company who was releasing indigenous folk and classical music.

Western music traces back about 1000-1200 years, while Chinese music has an unbroken written musical tradition going back several thousands of years.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

China gets a bit fuzzier in between dynasties and revolutions. But there are definitely multiple post-Unification dynasties that lasted longer than 250 years.

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[–] greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I mean sure they've still got a royal line, but the royal family wasn't always in power. Like is it fair to say that the Tokugawa government is the same as the meiji restoration government, is the same as the modern government?

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

Like is it fair to say that the Tokugawa government is the same as the meiji restoration government, is the same as the modern government?

The Edo Period alone spanned 268 years. The Heian Period nearly made it to 400.

Even if you evaluate these as distinct, they individually outstip the US.

[–] greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 21 hours ago

That's absolutely true! I just didn't want it to seem like Japan was some sort monolith of unbroken rule.

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Rome lasted for 2,000 years because I consider the Byzantines as true Romans.

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 5 points 23 hours ago

So did they, "byzantine empire" is a modern conceit

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[–] pcalau12i@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (11 children)

While the US is pretty old as a state, most societies have a direct continuation from one state to the next. It's not like when France overthrew its monarchy they stopped being France or seeing themselves as French. So they may see their continuous history as much older than the current state, with the Kingdom of France going back to 987.

The US doesn't have a continuous history prior to 1776 because they mostly come from Britain but they denounce their British heritage and they settled in NA but also denounce the heritage of the local peoples there. So the average American sees their entire history as starting at 1776, maybe a little bit further back to include the initial colonies and that's about it.

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[–] rockettaco37@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You guys think it's bad reading all this online?

Try living here...

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I bet outside of the US they have a very different perspective of what it's like living here right now.

Specifically, the fact that things like some of our largest protests ever aren't even being covered inside the states. There are huge public displays thousands and thousands of people being completely ignored by media. I wonder what else we're not being allowed to see here.

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[–] Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 36 points 1 day ago (32 children)

France, Switzerland, england, bavaria, brandenburg, vatican, spain, netherlands, denmark, sweden, portugal

I could go on and on

[–] Blinsane@reddthat.com 40 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Americans have been brought up on national exceptionalism in school. This is what they've been told since they were children. The "logic" being that other countries have reformed their governments once in a while for different reasons while the U.S haven't. Sweden for example was according to american logic founded in 1994.

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[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Man, imagine being so fucking dense you literally ignore the nation that created yours, which is still around. Inglun? Wazzat?

[–] Fluke@lemm.ee 27 points 1 day ago (14 children)

About 15 years ago, I got to go on a road trip across the states. 6 weeks, driving from east coast to west coast.

On more than one occasion, when we were inevitably asked where we were from and dutifully replied "England.", we were met with utterly blank stares.

"Uhhhhhhhh, Engerland?" "You mean New England? Never met anyone from there before..."

"No, England. Old England. The original England, capital city, London. That England."

"London? That's just north of here... I don't get it."

I swear, the sheer ignorance and lack of basic understanding of the geography of our world was fucking staggering in some places. Not always the armpit of nowhere "towns" either.

[–] aim_at_me@lemmy.nz 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I got asked what state New Zealand was in. I felt my American tour had been worth it at that point.

[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 hours ago

Ha ha, one guy I met guessed Wisconsin. I was told I spoke very good English.

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