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submitted 1 month ago by Irelephant@lemm.ee to c/facepalm@lemmy.world

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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[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 28 points 1 month ago

Wait till these people find out about Japan.

[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 16 points 1 month ago
[-] barneypiccolo@lemm.ee 14 points 1 month 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 13 points 1 month ago

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

[-] epicstove@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago
[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago
[-] greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago

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 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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 1 month ago

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

[-] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 1 points 1 month ago

You're conflicting state and nation I think. Both are also pretty loose terms. Nations didn't really exist before nationalism in the 1800s and states are just big ships of thesiii

[-] greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago

I was thinking more along the lines of governmental continuity, which has just as arbitrary lines. But less arbitrary in some cases like conquest or dynastic change. Like there was something that happened between Julius Caesar and Agustus. The line isn't super clear, but the Republican government and the empire definitely have some key differences even if the Senate was never really disolved.

But I remember Louis XIV saying something like "I die, but the state remains". So I think in some proto form "the state" or something larger than just the ruler has existed on and off throughout history.

this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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