Human's Inevitable Downfall - Page 5

"don't understand why you protect corporate interests. Just because they are not as bad as other things does not mean that they are good. Much of what they do today our great grand children will curse us for allowing."
Corporations as we know them were born during the industrial revolution. Those countries who had free, powerful corporations are now the richest and (perhaps coincidently) most free nations on earth. Corporations are the manifestation of an entity paying for a service (employment) and providing a service (consumer goods). Its no coincidence that we live comfortable and obscenely rich lives and have free corporations in our countries.
The things corporations have done in the XVIIIth century for us, is grossely underappreciated today. Without that capitalistic, free, industrial and corporate society, we'd still be third world or post-soviet style countries.

Do not think I blindly defend corporations. But it so happens that oftentimes corporate interests are the same as the people's interests. There are quite a few things that corporations are for, yet I am against. These include excessive and uninformative advertising (which creates "artificial" demand) as well as the necessity in America to have huge amounts of cash to run for president (which almost always means corporations will end up buying X or Y candidate).
However these things seem to be none-issues today, although they are bad, people have grown so used of them that the problems have become invisible.

" While my generation may live into the hundreds, yours will not. Our life spans are dropping."
In the develloped world, that is incorrect. Even if pollution has a minute effect, it will (and has) be more then cancelled out by advances in medicine.

"Heart disease, cancer, stroke, asthma"
Cancer and strokes are innevitable consequences of our prolonged lifespans. Blood vessels get old, brains grow rickety and sooner or later they pop. The reason neither of these were issues before our age is that these diseases rarely devellop before old age.
Heart disease (and asthma to a lesser extent) only kill in America because the majority of americans have degenerated into overweight and unfit people. If americans did more sport (or better yet if the gov encouraged them to) then heart disease would not be such a killer.
Asthma's place as 4th killer has two main reasons that I know of. The first is that deaths from other causes have become so low thanks to medicine, that the original number of deaths because of asthma is now relatively bigger compared to other sources of death. The second (which I'm sure you'd agree more with) is that dust, cigarette smoke and gazeous pollution is common today. However, even if this is the cause, I'm not willing to abandon everything else industry has given us (including comfort, wealthy, security and medicine, which saves far more lives then asthma ever will kill).
You may weep, and right you are, if a loved one suffers from asthma. But don't underappreciate (as SO many do) the fact that medicine and the industry which brought it, have saved countless lives, and without medicine is not unlikely that loved one would have died of smallpox, rabies, syphillis or any other disease medicine has cured.

The earth is not going down the tube. Things are well, things are good and the thing which is most likely to kill us is our appetite.

You believe what you believe, I'll give you that, you don't waver. That's faith.

I don't think the world is going down the tubes. Even though my ideas might lead in that direction. I have a strong belief in God, and I believe God who is more loving than most religions teach, protects us, so gently and silently, we don't even realize.

Living off the land is not so bad, actually its a wonderful thing if as a community we could all do that once again. In America, our past didn't make it look so easy only because we were the religious fanatics and criminals settled here because nobody else wanted us around. In other countries they still do successfully live off the land in communities. And even here, the Amish. I have pondered on this, and the truth be known: We all can't live off the land. There just isn't enough earth for us. We can't go backwards, to do that, a lot of people would have to die, we can only go forward. So technology is our savior. We must go forward and learn how to build cars that don't pollute, etc., etc., etc. God, though we do not realize it, is giving us a chance to do this. (I believe). It is corporations who will make this saving technology come forth, this is true. But only because people like me will bitch and gripe. If we kept silent they would run us in the ground.

Let me add - yes you are right. A mother would have 5 children, two would die, and this was normal, not so anymore.

BUT - I'll leave it at that.

"Living off the land is not so bad, actually its a wonderful thing if as a community we could all do that once again."
Well yes and no, for various reasons. Living off the land means stability and little impact on the enviro, but people like that always end up being wiped out by something or another..

" But only because people like me will bitch and gripe. If we kept silent they would run us in the ground. "
Yeah, you're right. When corporations were first created, things were pretty bad for workers and peasants, so yes.

Einstein said once : I don't know how WW3 will be fought with,but I know that WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones.

That's my two cents on this subject, but no need to get depressed,Jehova is coming ! (smirking)


stillmind

So called "humans" are unlucky creatures endowed with a brain that is superior in many ways, yet the ability, skills and intelligence, is inseperable from its instinctual animal ethos, so sadly any futuristic technologies or positive advancements can and are used in violent conquest, usually backed up with moral statutes or pretexts, there is no escape from this, as peoples and cultures think that what they do is proper, and they are the lesser evil. There is only the land to live off, and the sea unless your going to go fishing in black holes, it is a lot easier as machines do a lot of back breaking work dont forget. On the subject of disease no medicine is an ultimate panacea, as bacteria are becoming more resistant to drugs and evolving all the time, and for every vanquished disease a new contagion arises or is on the horizon, its like some kind of continual existence flux, if you live in a third world country you cant afford aids drugs, if you live in the so called civilised world you cant afford to let aids or e-bola turn into a pandemic, corporations do good things but are also capable of creating some mad scientist doom to afflict us all, advertising isnt the worst of it if you think about it, just like a natural fungi could develop and destroy crops, is aids the 20th century equivalent of the plague? Not really going down the tube but not climbing fast either, maybe treading water, could sink if people dont fight their corner. If you couldnt get some health care for your wife or brother or son im sure youd be pretty unhappy at the sight of someone with enough money to pay the top doc to make them well in time, for some people their world is going down the tube and they cant do anything. Going forward could bring us full circle to square 1 second time round infinity occuring. people have got a choice to smoke or not, or get fat or thin, and die from heart disease or anorexia, but im damn sure someone will be making money off it whether they are nailing your coffin shut or getting rich off a new diet fad. Criminal religious fanatics, banished by even bigger morally justified wealthy religious fanatics to settle elsewhere, probably did more or less the same as the original settlers on the shores you were banished from, I reckon technology is capable of being a harbinger of doom as much it is of being a saviour, just depends on the unpredictable intelligent creatures wielding it, anyway thats enough from me.

continual flux and a travelling respite

I think that the game of chess is the picture of human fate. In the future there will be a black president, and he will be a great president, but like every other president some will disagree with actions he will choose. This will cause more tension b/c of racial differences. Then a civil war among black and white will emerge. This will be the end.

Are you saying that because this hypothetical future president is black or coloured or technicolour polka dotted that there would be more chance of a racially motivated civil war? If its just a disagreement with the actions he or she chooses then wouldnt people black or white agree and people black or white disagree so you would have a mix of both agree and a mix of both disagree? Well I dont think it would be the end, but it would be bad, I thought all that ended with the death of Adolf Hitler.

I lived in Mississippi for a while. I know that there is a tremendous amount of racial tension that still exists. The town I was living in ( Clarksdale ) was still segragated. Over the world there is a lot of animosity between races and religion. In my opinion, I believe if people faught in a war with those virtues, it would be pretty ugly. After the battles or war tactics were over, you wouldnt be able to look at a chess board and not see the prediction.

Oh, and yes I'm saying there would be more motive for a civil war. Right now if John Kerry punched a republican, that would definately be a civil right there. I can't imagine the furiosity of the racial turmoil that will be boiling through the races minds when there is another race running the country. All eyez will be on the racial factor and not on the human being understanding.

Racial tension will fade and be replaced by xenophobia. This media - internet - will become society. I don't know what color you are or what sex you are. I don't have to look you in the eye (or lower) when I 'talk' to you. I can say exactly what I want to say and not have to temper it and I can refrain from reading your response if I want to be closed minded - thus both of us getting in the last word. We have created the doomsday machine and are peddling it full speed into the brick wall of all walls. Down fall of man? You're looking at her!

I'm curious. Explain why you think computers are the end.

What you're telling me none of us have social lives outside our PCs?

I'm saying we are well along the road to allowing the computer to become our link to society. We don't need to go out anymore as everything can come to us. We can do many things already, including meet our 'soul mate' and get married on the internet. When virtual reality becomes a daily reality we won't need to go out at all. We will be able to do virtually everything on-line. It will end society as we know it. Think of what Star Trek NG taught us about needing outside intervention. With the replicators and the holo-deck they lacked for nothing, just put in once and a while for replenishment of supplies and repairs. At that point we won't need humanity for the world to function, just robots or androids.

"and the way of peace have they not known"Romans 3:17

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