Well, we discovered fire, but
there's still a lot of animals out
there that can eat us. This is a
hard life we lead.
Has humankind made any progress in the past 30,000 years? Well, men don't drag women around by the hair anymore and our clothes are more stylish, but other than that I don't think so. We are prisoners of our "human-ness." We are likely the most complex organism in the Universe, yet we are often irrational and emotional. We all want love, yet we hate and kill. We want happiness, yet we bring misery on ourselves and others. We are spiritual animals and worship a higher power in a thousand different ways, yet many humans think their way is the only "correct" way. Some are even willing to persecute and kill others over their beliefs.
Some say that it is part of our human-ness to destroy whatever environment we are placed in. Some say it is natural for us to murder our fellow humans for a thousand different reasons and causes. I do not believe this for a minute. Many indigenous cultures have survived for centuries in a sustainable, and sometimes even PEACEFUL, fashion.
What Next?
What does the 21st Century hold for us? In Russia we are seeing that a handful of well-financed terrorists can shake an entire society, maybe even to the point of collapse. Will the terrorists spend the next few decades blowing us up at home, blowing up our children, blowing us up in buses, blowing us up at work, sending anthrax in our mail, poisoning our air and water, beheading us, making us totally paranoid, and spooking us until our society collapses? Will the terrorists of the world force the great nations of the world to revert to Police States? Will we nervously hide behind our governments to protect us from the random murderers and anarchists? Will the terrorists blast us back to the Middle Ages?
Or... will we be united, be strong, and tackle this blight by defusing the sources of anger? Will we find a way to cut off the terrorist's money supply by becoming energy self-sufficient? Will we work closely with other nations to pro-actively destroy the cold blooded murderers before they can bring more harm on peaceful people?
One thing is for sure, and that is we are going to pack out this World with humans. There will be 9 billion people, and then maybe 12 billion all squeezed on our Little Blue Marble that's flying through space. And what about the "have" and "have nots?" Are we just going to sit around while the rich use their wealth to extract more wealth, while millions starve? Will the rich recede into gated compounds and keep us subdued with their hired security forces? Is this the New World Order that George Bush Sr. referred to?
Maybe ... Just Maybe
Maybe people will begin to listen to the Yellow Canaries of the Planet. The authors, speakers, and occasional politicians who scream, "We are not heading in the right direction" may one day be listened to and accepted.
But Christmas is coming and it's time to run up the charge cards, and the car lot is running a special on Hummers. And the kids have to go to dance, karate, clogging, and soccer practice. We have to keep those little children over stimulated and stressed just like us. We have to go to Hooters and slosh beer and check out women's bosoms, while others go to little country churches where preachers scream that you must give more, do more, and "be faithful." Who has time to listen to the Yellow Canaries who talk about crazy things like peacemaking and environmental protection? Who cares because God and Government (perhaps a synonym) takes care of all that.
Soggy Potato Chips
We humans are like soggy potato chips. We are all wet and slithering all over each other in the bottom of a bag. We are still salty, we still have our nutritional value, but who the heck wants to eat us now? We had our chance, but we are blowing it.
Maybe an asteroid will take us out, so maybe it makes sense to go to Hooters and be merry. Or, well, in a few hundred years we'll start settling planets and then maybe one day the entire Universe. Maybe one day there will be trillions of people all over the Galaxy, and other Galaxies, and we will all live in peace and harmony. We will mine planets, run giant farms, and build really fast space ships. And we can gather together and say, "Look at us, look what we've accomplished?" But then we will say, "Yikes, the Universe is about to burn up all the hydrogen, all the stars are dying out, and this Universe will soon be dark and cold. What the hell are we going to do?"
No comments:
Post a Comment