Greetings Oh Ramblers,
Let me just take this moment in time to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Don't get me wrong - I am not particularly taken with the whole Jeebus thing, nor am I taken with the whole Santa/Satan capitalist thing, but this is indeed a special time of year to be cherished and raised on a pedestal.
Christmas is the one thing that I have never gotten used to in Australia. I am originally from Denmark, so my idea of Christmas is freezing cold, fireplaces, roast duck and pork, mulled wine, real pine trees, communal bowls of nuts with the cracker always nearby, clementines (a type of mandarine) and snow all around.
35 degrees, prawns on the BBQ, cold salads and beers in the sun just don't seem to capture the spirit of my childhood Christmases.
Having said all that, I must admit to a certain fondness for this time of year. It is a time to get together with family, to eat fine food, to quaff fine wine, and it provides an important bookend to our lives, since we love to compartmentalise and label everything. Christmas and New Year for me, as it is for a lot of people, is a time to reflect on the year that has been and the year that is yet to come. It is a time of delight and of promise.
One of the most important things in life is to gauge where you are, for without personal progress we are just meat robots and oxygen thieves. By relfecting on where you were and where you are, you can exercise the amazing gifts of free will and intellect, and work on the most important job that you will ever have in life - that of personal improvement.
None of us are perfect. I am a particularly flawed individual who needs to do a lot of work to head towards the ideal that I have in my mind's eye. The only way that I can improve myself is to evaluate where I am, and to continue along the path that I have set for myself. Christmas and New Year provides me with the ideal controlled environment to (dare I say it?) scientifically evaluate how I have progressed (or regressed).
As the one or two idle readers of my blog, you may think that I have spent the last year at the edge of despair, ready to jump off the precipice, screaming as I embrace oblivion. However, this is very far from the truth. I am indeed eminently happy. Some of you may have guessed that this blog is just a pressure valve for me to vent my nasty thoughts, in order to stop them from taking over my life. By writing them down, I exorcise them and am free. Very cathartic.
So, take my word for it (as I listen to Mr. T selling his Flavour Wave (and his soul) on late night commercial television in the background) I am trying very hard to ignore the capitalism side of Christmas and see instead the real beauty of a time of togetherness with family and friends.
And, guess what? I am succeeding...
Happy happy joy joy, oh ramblers...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Letter Wars, Or How I Will Be Beaten To Death By A Veteran's Walking Stick
Greets to you oh Rambling Masses,
It is with a bitter but defiant smirk that I write this post. A number of weeks ago, I took the plunge and wrote in to the letters column of our local community newspaper, The Bush Telegraph. The week before I wrote in, a letter had gotten under my skin, and I just couldn't resist the urge to respond, and to stir the pot a little.
The letter in question was a typical old man rant about the youth of today not treating the Australian flag with the respect that it MUST be treated with. I suggested that the flag and the nationalistic tendencies that go with it are an irrelevance, and we should move past this to a spirit of worldwide cooperation.
Well, the pot most definitely got stirred, and a veritable avalanche of bitter old man letters threatened to bury your favourite Rambling Ranter. In fact, I now fear that if I mention my name in public, a group of old men will come up to me and beat me to death with their walking sticks.
Such a touchy subject, nationalistic pride. I don't have much time for it myself, because I believe, as I wrote in my letters, that we are one people on one planet under one sun, but that high ideal doesn't amount to a hill of beans when a veteran's blood is up. They keep dragging it back to the whole "we fought in the war for people like you to have the freedom to write rubbish like that" instead of opening their minds to the fact that we need to move on.
What I am trying to get through to these people is a wonderful concept. You may have heard of it. It's called Evolution. It doesn't just happen on the Galapagos Islands and in the textbooks of Charles Darwin, and is more than just the process of change on the genetic level in response to survival pressures.
The Evolution I'm talking about is one of the human spirit, intellect and ethics. Being a somewhat keen though pedestrian student of history, I can't see that we have evolved terribly much as a species on these fronts in the past 4000 years or so. I feel that we have an obligation to ourselves and our progeny to develop beyond the petty, warmongering resource wasters that we are, to step up to the plate and take on the role of protectors and nurturers of this great planet.
Through mundane physical evolution, we have become the dominant species. We have it within us to be so much more than we currently are, if only we would step beyond such irrelevant concepts as nationalism and vested interests. I don't, however, hold out much hope if the letters that I have reproduced below are anything to go by.
Having said that, I received a phone call from Commander Whitmore after I sent him a hand-written copy of my response to him (my second letter to The Bush Tele), and we talked for over an hour and a half, finding that we have much in common, and see the world in a very similar light. I take that as the warning it should be - we cannot always read a book by its cover, and I am humbled by it.
I am still keeping a watchful eye out for a swinging walking stick, though.
The letters are reproduced below, starting with the one that set the whole ball rolling:
Dear Bush Tele
It is disgusting to observe the gross disrespect for the dignity of the Australian National Flag, which is indulged by so many supposedly patriotic people.
A flagrant example of this abuse was depicted on the front cover of the Bush Tele, 11 September 2008, showing people who should know better using the flag as a table cover. Flag protocol, expressly forbids the use of our flag as a table cover.
Flag protocol does not include wrapping it around the shoulders of some sweaty, smelly athlete who may or may not have been successful. Nor should it form a wrap for some ignorant participant in a patriotic ceremony or venue. It does not improve the image of the subject and indeed, insults the dignity with which the flag must be treated.
Roy Mellier
Dear Bush Tele,
To Roy Mellier:
This is regarding your recent letter published in TBTW, wherein you expressed your extreme disgust at gross disrespect of the Australian National Flag.
I understand your comments (but am unable to sympathise with them), and I would like to counter your feelings with a few of my own.
Firstly, I cannot help but to feel uncomfortable to the core of my being whenever rampant nationalism rears its head. I am no less Australian than the next citizen, but I don’t believe that this antiquated belief in the sanctity of a piece of cloth gets us anywhere.
For a start, I believe that we are one people on one planet under one sun, and all of this "patriotic" flag waving does nothing but exacerbate tensions that should never exist in the first place. We should be focusing on breaking down nationalistic barriers, not strengthening the walls that currently exist.
I don’t know if you are perhaps one of the many who risked their lives "fighting for the flag" in one of our many wars, and have resultant strong feelings about it, but it should make no difference whatsoever. It is and remains a piece of cloth and an ideal that, in my humble opinion, is outdated, irrelevant and antagonistic. Frankly, it is an anachronism and an irrelevance that we should not waste our time on.
How can you speak of dignity toward the flag when we are living in a society that still struggles valiantly with the very concept of universal dignity for such marginalised members of the community as the aged, the infirm, the mentally disabled, and any who are different from the norm? In my opinion, the flag is a piece of cloth, vastly inferior to the integrity and value of the human race in all of its manifestations across the globe, no matter what colour of cloth you wave in accordance with flag protocol.
Peter Walder, A proud flag un-waver
Dear Bush Tele,
Yes Walder (German for Wood), I am one of the aged, somewhat infirm, perhaps mentally disabled and certainly very different from the norm, if you represent the norm.
As well as being all the above, I am also one of those who in two wars and nearly 40 years in the Navy as you put it, "risked their lives fighting for the flag", that piece of cloth described by you as an anachronism, an irrelevance and a waste of time.
That piece of cloth was not the item for which we were fighting, but it was the uniting symbol of our purpose. What we were fighting for was the freedom for the likes of you to live a good life in this country and several others that were involved, and yet for you to still have the freedom to write the nonsense you penned in your letter to The Bush Tele Letters.
In one of the wars had our opponents had their way, you would not have had that freedom. Had you tried you would have ended up in the ovens, or dead from exhaustion and starvation furthering one of the victors’ causes, as did many of those who were also fighting for the likes of you.
Remember Walder the old saying, "It is far better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt".
Edward Ronald Whitmore, Wahroonga
Dear Bush Tele,
I would like to comment on Peter Walder’s letter in TBTW in regards to his reply to Roy Mellier’s letter.
There is in fact an Act of Federal Parliament called the Australian Flag Act; look this up on the net if you are interested.
A piece of cloth you said.
Cop the tip mate; any man or woman who serves this country is a hero and when you are fighting for yours and your team’s life we do think of the Flag and how to best serve this OUR AUSTRALIA.
Have you had to kill the enemy or expect to give up your life?
Maybe you have.
There is no more dedicated Pacifist than an ex Service Woman or Man.
Your words Sir are an insult to those we have buried and the Australian Flag that is draped over their Coffin.
Roy is expressing his opinion as do you, the reason being that at least he fought for freedom to express your opinion.
The Flag shall NEVER touch the ground.
Go for it Roy.
Roger Okell, Berowra
Dear Bush Tele
Peter Walder, thank you for your long criticism of my reflections on abuse of our national symbol, the flag.
Your use of extravagant and occasionally malapropos phraseology does not disguise much of the waffle therein.
Whether or no, I served my King or Queen and country during time of war, does not influence my conviction that without dignity and respect, life would be untenable.
Maintaining one’s own dignity and striving to be worthy of the respect of others, along with recognising these attributes in other people and ideals, remains paramount to the continuance of an ordered and pleasant society.
The tenor of your letter provides me with little hope that a perusal of Sir Walter Scott’s famous work, "The Patriot" might create a less negative attitude in you. Perhaps though, its profundity may penetrate.
Roy Mellier, Cheero Point
My Dear Mr Whitmore,
I won't lower myself and start calling your personal quality of character into question as you did mine. I happen to believe that people can have differences of opinion without thinking their partners in open discussion are somehow deficient in wisdom or wit.
I am fully aware of the symbolic nature of the flag, and it was the concept of the symbol that I called into question through my postulation of the irrelevance of the flag. I still happen to think that, despite the very rare aberration represented by history's truly terrible dictators, wars are generally fuelled by nationalistic concerns. I further posit that mankind is facing mighty obstacles on this planet, with dwindling resources and growing population, that will see these arbitrary nationalistic barriers usher in a new age of sabre rattling.
Mr Whitmore, you obviously feel very strongly about these matters, which goes some way towards excusing your attacks on my personal character and your uncivil tongue. I would humbly remind you that discussion and differences of opinion are healthy in a free and functional society, and thank you for your timely reminder that sometimes great evils must be met by force and sacrifice in order to protect our precious freedoms.
In my rather naive way, however, I like to think that universal cooperation is far preferential to strengthening of nationalistic spirit. Who can deny that few of the world's flags can list an unsullied record of noble acts without at least a few drops of blood soaking through the cloth? I stand by my original high ideal that we are one people on one planet under one sun, and that nationalism should be abandoned in favour of, for want of a better word, "universalism".
I regret that your emotion has closed your mind to a genuine and valid difference of opinion. It was not my intent to cast aspersions on the sacrifices of those who fought for our freedoms. I know full well what was lost and what was gained. If this is simply a case of misunderstanding, then rest assured that I am grateful for your comments, and they have served to enhance my understanding.
If not the result of a simple misunderstanding and you honestly consider me a fool, then I can only say that is your right, and it saddens me. However, it does not change the opinions that my own reason, defective or otherwise, has led me to hold dear. On my part, I respectfully agree to disagree.
Regards to all of my fellow society members, with all of our delightful and stimulating differences of opinion,
Peter Walder
Proud to be foolish at times
It is with a bitter but defiant smirk that I write this post. A number of weeks ago, I took the plunge and wrote in to the letters column of our local community newspaper, The Bush Telegraph. The week before I wrote in, a letter had gotten under my skin, and I just couldn't resist the urge to respond, and to stir the pot a little.
The letter in question was a typical old man rant about the youth of today not treating the Australian flag with the respect that it MUST be treated with. I suggested that the flag and the nationalistic tendencies that go with it are an irrelevance, and we should move past this to a spirit of worldwide cooperation.
Well, the pot most definitely got stirred, and a veritable avalanche of bitter old man letters threatened to bury your favourite Rambling Ranter. In fact, I now fear that if I mention my name in public, a group of old men will come up to me and beat me to death with their walking sticks.
Such a touchy subject, nationalistic pride. I don't have much time for it myself, because I believe, as I wrote in my letters, that we are one people on one planet under one sun, but that high ideal doesn't amount to a hill of beans when a veteran's blood is up. They keep dragging it back to the whole "we fought in the war for people like you to have the freedom to write rubbish like that" instead of opening their minds to the fact that we need to move on.
What I am trying to get through to these people is a wonderful concept. You may have heard of it. It's called Evolution. It doesn't just happen on the Galapagos Islands and in the textbooks of Charles Darwin, and is more than just the process of change on the genetic level in response to survival pressures.
The Evolution I'm talking about is one of the human spirit, intellect and ethics. Being a somewhat keen though pedestrian student of history, I can't see that we have evolved terribly much as a species on these fronts in the past 4000 years or so. I feel that we have an obligation to ourselves and our progeny to develop beyond the petty, warmongering resource wasters that we are, to step up to the plate and take on the role of protectors and nurturers of this great planet.
Through mundane physical evolution, we have become the dominant species. We have it within us to be so much more than we currently are, if only we would step beyond such irrelevant concepts as nationalism and vested interests. I don't, however, hold out much hope if the letters that I have reproduced below are anything to go by.
Having said that, I received a phone call from Commander Whitmore after I sent him a hand-written copy of my response to him (my second letter to The Bush Tele), and we talked for over an hour and a half, finding that we have much in common, and see the world in a very similar light. I take that as the warning it should be - we cannot always read a book by its cover, and I am humbled by it.
I am still keeping a watchful eye out for a swinging walking stick, though.
The letters are reproduced below, starting with the one that set the whole ball rolling:
Dear Bush Tele
It is disgusting to observe the gross disrespect for the dignity of the Australian National Flag, which is indulged by so many supposedly patriotic people.
A flagrant example of this abuse was depicted on the front cover of the Bush Tele, 11 September 2008, showing people who should know better using the flag as a table cover. Flag protocol, expressly forbids the use of our flag as a table cover.
Flag protocol does not include wrapping it around the shoulders of some sweaty, smelly athlete who may or may not have been successful. Nor should it form a wrap for some ignorant participant in a patriotic ceremony or venue. It does not improve the image of the subject and indeed, insults the dignity with which the flag must be treated.
Roy Mellier
Dear Bush Tele,
To Roy Mellier:
This is regarding your recent letter published in TBTW, wherein you expressed your extreme disgust at gross disrespect of the Australian National Flag.
I understand your comments (but am unable to sympathise with them), and I would like to counter your feelings with a few of my own.
Firstly, I cannot help but to feel uncomfortable to the core of my being whenever rampant nationalism rears its head. I am no less Australian than the next citizen, but I don’t believe that this antiquated belief in the sanctity of a piece of cloth gets us anywhere.
For a start, I believe that we are one people on one planet under one sun, and all of this "patriotic" flag waving does nothing but exacerbate tensions that should never exist in the first place. We should be focusing on breaking down nationalistic barriers, not strengthening the walls that currently exist.
I don’t know if you are perhaps one of the many who risked their lives "fighting for the flag" in one of our many wars, and have resultant strong feelings about it, but it should make no difference whatsoever. It is and remains a piece of cloth and an ideal that, in my humble opinion, is outdated, irrelevant and antagonistic. Frankly, it is an anachronism and an irrelevance that we should not waste our time on.
How can you speak of dignity toward the flag when we are living in a society that still struggles valiantly with the very concept of universal dignity for such marginalised members of the community as the aged, the infirm, the mentally disabled, and any who are different from the norm? In my opinion, the flag is a piece of cloth, vastly inferior to the integrity and value of the human race in all of its manifestations across the globe, no matter what colour of cloth you wave in accordance with flag protocol.
Peter Walder, A proud flag un-waver
Dear Bush Tele,
Yes Walder (German for Wood), I am one of the aged, somewhat infirm, perhaps mentally disabled and certainly very different from the norm, if you represent the norm.
As well as being all the above, I am also one of those who in two wars and nearly 40 years in the Navy as you put it, "risked their lives fighting for the flag", that piece of cloth described by you as an anachronism, an irrelevance and a waste of time.
That piece of cloth was not the item for which we were fighting, but it was the uniting symbol of our purpose. What we were fighting for was the freedom for the likes of you to live a good life in this country and several others that were involved, and yet for you to still have the freedom to write the nonsense you penned in your letter to The Bush Tele Letters.
In one of the wars had our opponents had their way, you would not have had that freedom. Had you tried you would have ended up in the ovens, or dead from exhaustion and starvation furthering one of the victors’ causes, as did many of those who were also fighting for the likes of you.
Remember Walder the old saying, "It is far better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt".
Edward Ronald Whitmore, Wahroonga
Dear Bush Tele,
I would like to comment on Peter Walder’s letter in TBTW in regards to his reply to Roy Mellier’s letter.
There is in fact an Act of Federal Parliament called the Australian Flag Act; look this up on the net if you are interested.
A piece of cloth you said.
Cop the tip mate; any man or woman who serves this country is a hero and when you are fighting for yours and your team’s life we do think of the Flag and how to best serve this OUR AUSTRALIA.
Have you had to kill the enemy or expect to give up your life?
Maybe you have.
There is no more dedicated Pacifist than an ex Service Woman or Man.
Your words Sir are an insult to those we have buried and the Australian Flag that is draped over their Coffin.
Roy is expressing his opinion as do you, the reason being that at least he fought for freedom to express your opinion.
The Flag shall NEVER touch the ground.
Go for it Roy.
Roger Okell, Berowra
Dear Bush Tele
Peter Walder, thank you for your long criticism of my reflections on abuse of our national symbol, the flag.
Your use of extravagant and occasionally malapropos phraseology does not disguise much of the waffle therein.
Whether or no, I served my King or Queen and country during time of war, does not influence my conviction that without dignity and respect, life would be untenable.
Maintaining one’s own dignity and striving to be worthy of the respect of others, along with recognising these attributes in other people and ideals, remains paramount to the continuance of an ordered and pleasant society.
The tenor of your letter provides me with little hope that a perusal of Sir Walter Scott’s famous work, "The Patriot" might create a less negative attitude in you. Perhaps though, its profundity may penetrate.
Roy Mellier, Cheero Point
My Dear Mr Whitmore,
I won't lower myself and start calling your personal quality of character into question as you did mine. I happen to believe that people can have differences of opinion without thinking their partners in open discussion are somehow deficient in wisdom or wit.
I am fully aware of the symbolic nature of the flag, and it was the concept of the symbol that I called into question through my postulation of the irrelevance of the flag. I still happen to think that, despite the very rare aberration represented by history's truly terrible dictators, wars are generally fuelled by nationalistic concerns. I further posit that mankind is facing mighty obstacles on this planet, with dwindling resources and growing population, that will see these arbitrary nationalistic barriers usher in a new age of sabre rattling.
Mr Whitmore, you obviously feel very strongly about these matters, which goes some way towards excusing your attacks on my personal character and your uncivil tongue. I would humbly remind you that discussion and differences of opinion are healthy in a free and functional society, and thank you for your timely reminder that sometimes great evils must be met by force and sacrifice in order to protect our precious freedoms.
In my rather naive way, however, I like to think that universal cooperation is far preferential to strengthening of nationalistic spirit. Who can deny that few of the world's flags can list an unsullied record of noble acts without at least a few drops of blood soaking through the cloth? I stand by my original high ideal that we are one people on one planet under one sun, and that nationalism should be abandoned in favour of, for want of a better word, "universalism".
I regret that your emotion has closed your mind to a genuine and valid difference of opinion. It was not my intent to cast aspersions on the sacrifices of those who fought for our freedoms. I know full well what was lost and what was gained. If this is simply a case of misunderstanding, then rest assured that I am grateful for your comments, and they have served to enhance my understanding.
If not the result of a simple misunderstanding and you honestly consider me a fool, then I can only say that is your right, and it saddens me. However, it does not change the opinions that my own reason, defective or otherwise, has led me to hold dear. On my part, I respectfully agree to disagree.
Regards to all of my fellow society members, with all of our delightful and stimulating differences of opinion,
Peter Walder
Proud to be foolish at times
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Capitalism And A Simple Petri Dish
Hello Oh Ramblers,
Here's hoping that the current worldwide financial crisis will be ever so much worse than everyone fears. I have a dream - I hope to see all of the fat pig executives, those uber-greedy tools of the monied powers, open up the windows of their top-floor offices and take a great big dive into thin air, raining down on the streets below.
Hopefully this rain will wash away an evil that has hypnotised three generations of people who have been living way beyond their means without regard for their fellow humans or the planet on which we all live.
I can't believe that people are surprised at the current state of affairs. It is merely the natural conclusion of capitalism left to grow and abuse resources unchecked. The grand, sweeping towers and monuments of capitalism are built on foundations of greed and an unwavering aim to become the biggest, the strongest, the greatest, irrespective of the physical and ethical boundaries in its way.
It always amazes me that people complain about monopolistic behaviour in capitalism. Isn't that the natural end game? Eventually, one big corporation will swallow up everything else, in a grand parody of Darwinian evolution. The most efficient and ruthless player will best all of their competitors on the economic field of battle, and will then be free to unleash their insatiable thirst for greater profits on the ragdoll bodies left strewn on the battlefield.
This very thing has been happening with China for years now. Seen as a poster child for economic success, everyone points to China and says what a great success they are. I've been there. It's smelly, polluted and disaffected, with a billion people ready to spend up big as soon as they realise the capitalist dream that we've all been chasing for the past hundred years or so. Just what the planet needs - at a rate of about one coal-fired power plant per week.
As China has become the dominant production force that feeds the insatiable hunger of the consuming nations, they have paid a heavy toll indeed. Pollution is only one small part of it. The rest of the world has been only too happy to abrogate responsibility - let's face it, we get all this neat stuff from China, and don't get to see how much damage it's doing to our planet, because their backyard is suitably far away, locked behind the Great Wall and too many rabbits.
Before this fine economic meltdown came along, my greatest fear was that, once China had strangled every country's manufacturing industries by out-competing them, they would be able to control the world markets and name their price. After all, it is the end game of capitalism - best your competition to control the market.
My fear now is that we will not learn our lessons. Capitalism will continue to be the ruling power on our planet, and the really tough issues, like pollution, resource depletion, species extinction, chronic overpopulation and declining quality of life, will continue to remain unaddressed.
The current response by the ruling governments of the world is to encourage their fine people to spend their way out of the looming recessions. The undeniable equation is this - we have too many people on this planet, and many of them are living way beyond any reasonable or sustainable means. Continual growth is what has kept the fallacy of capitalism going way past its use by date. Continual growth will not solve the problem. Continual growth is the problem.
Just look at a simple petri dish in a laboratory. The dish has a finite food source and a bacterial culture. Simplicity itself, and a wonderful scientific construct that acts as more than just a simple metaphor for our planet and our current situation. The bacteria will thrive, experiencing exponential growth. Times are great, and the bacteria are throwing expensive parties left, right and center. Wow! This growth is great! We will keep growing forever. Go bacteria!
Then the bacteria run out of food and all of them die. Duh! Go figure. Now that's hardly rocket science.
So, go out and spend, oh rambling masses, like good capitalist puppets. Everything will be fine. Mankind will find a way to satisfy insatiable greed with finite resources. It can't be that hard to transcend immutable laws of nature, right?
Here's hoping that the current worldwide financial crisis will be ever so much worse than everyone fears. I have a dream - I hope to see all of the fat pig executives, those uber-greedy tools of the monied powers, open up the windows of their top-floor offices and take a great big dive into thin air, raining down on the streets below.
Hopefully this rain will wash away an evil that has hypnotised three generations of people who have been living way beyond their means without regard for their fellow humans or the planet on which we all live.
I can't believe that people are surprised at the current state of affairs. It is merely the natural conclusion of capitalism left to grow and abuse resources unchecked. The grand, sweeping towers and monuments of capitalism are built on foundations of greed and an unwavering aim to become the biggest, the strongest, the greatest, irrespective of the physical and ethical boundaries in its way.
It always amazes me that people complain about monopolistic behaviour in capitalism. Isn't that the natural end game? Eventually, one big corporation will swallow up everything else, in a grand parody of Darwinian evolution. The most efficient and ruthless player will best all of their competitors on the economic field of battle, and will then be free to unleash their insatiable thirst for greater profits on the ragdoll bodies left strewn on the battlefield.
This very thing has been happening with China for years now. Seen as a poster child for economic success, everyone points to China and says what a great success they are. I've been there. It's smelly, polluted and disaffected, with a billion people ready to spend up big as soon as they realise the capitalist dream that we've all been chasing for the past hundred years or so. Just what the planet needs - at a rate of about one coal-fired power plant per week.
As China has become the dominant production force that feeds the insatiable hunger of the consuming nations, they have paid a heavy toll indeed. Pollution is only one small part of it. The rest of the world has been only too happy to abrogate responsibility - let's face it, we get all this neat stuff from China, and don't get to see how much damage it's doing to our planet, because their backyard is suitably far away, locked behind the Great Wall and too many rabbits.
Before this fine economic meltdown came along, my greatest fear was that, once China had strangled every country's manufacturing industries by out-competing them, they would be able to control the world markets and name their price. After all, it is the end game of capitalism - best your competition to control the market.
My fear now is that we will not learn our lessons. Capitalism will continue to be the ruling power on our planet, and the really tough issues, like pollution, resource depletion, species extinction, chronic overpopulation and declining quality of life, will continue to remain unaddressed.
The current response by the ruling governments of the world is to encourage their fine people to spend their way out of the looming recessions. The undeniable equation is this - we have too many people on this planet, and many of them are living way beyond any reasonable or sustainable means. Continual growth is what has kept the fallacy of capitalism going way past its use by date. Continual growth will not solve the problem. Continual growth is the problem.
Just look at a simple petri dish in a laboratory. The dish has a finite food source and a bacterial culture. Simplicity itself, and a wonderful scientific construct that acts as more than just a simple metaphor for our planet and our current situation. The bacteria will thrive, experiencing exponential growth. Times are great, and the bacteria are throwing expensive parties left, right and center. Wow! This growth is great! We will keep growing forever. Go bacteria!
Then the bacteria run out of food and all of them die. Duh! Go figure. Now that's hardly rocket science.
So, go out and spend, oh rambling masses, like good capitalist puppets. Everything will be fine. Mankind will find a way to satisfy insatiable greed with finite resources. It can't be that hard to transcend immutable laws of nature, right?
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Give Me Strength
Hello Ramblers,
As the title suggest, this is a desperate attempt to gain strength from any quarter possible.
Give me strength to fight the ever-present pervasive forces of capitalism as they continually sap my energy with their soul-destroying in-your-face injections of poison. Every time I see an advert, whether on the idiot tube, in the ongoing bombardment of what used to be good trees but is now glossy mass media advertising in my mailbox, or the annoyance of advertising on the internet or radio, a little piece of my soul is transformed to pure rage instead of the peace and joy that it should be experiencing.
I cannot countenance advertising in any form other than the purely informational. If I had my way, every single media mogul, advertising executive, marketing guru and demographic surveyor would feel my Viking anger, slowly slipping down the edge of my blade as their bodies came to rest on the hilt of my tightly held sword of righteous vengeance.
I know their tricks too well, and can spot their fake posturings a mile off. Their little psychological games and NLP tricks cannot sway me - in fact I have a severe knee-jerk reaction every time I am targeted by their vapid mass-media fumblings. I am very much a channel surfer. Every time an advert spoils my viewing or listening pleasure on the TV or radio, I am instantly transformed from a passive participant to a militant hater of all things capitalist.
I work hard to try and maintain my sanity in a world gone mad. Whenever advertising or any of the multiple manifestations of the capitalist machine invades my consciousness, I am left feeling embittered, personally violated, and full of rage and hate for the vapid masses of human detritus that waste the resources of this great planet.
Fuck off and leave me alone. The futuristic views of Minority Report, where public stations everywhere scan your iris, identify you, and target advertising to their stored profiles of your spending habits are not so far away. I would put it to you that they are already here, except for the high-tech delivery of their poisonous messages.
And what are the rulers of our world doing in this current "economic crisis"? Encouraging all of us to spend, spend, spend; wanting us to continue to feed the rabid, rampant capitalist monster that has destroyed our planet and prostituted our souls. Great solution, assholes.
Where is my sword? Where is my sanity?
As the title suggest, this is a desperate attempt to gain strength from any quarter possible.
Give me strength to fight the ever-present pervasive forces of capitalism as they continually sap my energy with their soul-destroying in-your-face injections of poison. Every time I see an advert, whether on the idiot tube, in the ongoing bombardment of what used to be good trees but is now glossy mass media advertising in my mailbox, or the annoyance of advertising on the internet or radio, a little piece of my soul is transformed to pure rage instead of the peace and joy that it should be experiencing.
I cannot countenance advertising in any form other than the purely informational. If I had my way, every single media mogul, advertising executive, marketing guru and demographic surveyor would feel my Viking anger, slowly slipping down the edge of my blade as their bodies came to rest on the hilt of my tightly held sword of righteous vengeance.
I know their tricks too well, and can spot their fake posturings a mile off. Their little psychological games and NLP tricks cannot sway me - in fact I have a severe knee-jerk reaction every time I am targeted by their vapid mass-media fumblings. I am very much a channel surfer. Every time an advert spoils my viewing or listening pleasure on the TV or radio, I am instantly transformed from a passive participant to a militant hater of all things capitalist.
I work hard to try and maintain my sanity in a world gone mad. Whenever advertising or any of the multiple manifestations of the capitalist machine invades my consciousness, I am left feeling embittered, personally violated, and full of rage and hate for the vapid masses of human detritus that waste the resources of this great planet.
Fuck off and leave me alone. The futuristic views of Minority Report, where public stations everywhere scan your iris, identify you, and target advertising to their stored profiles of your spending habits are not so far away. I would put it to you that they are already here, except for the high-tech delivery of their poisonous messages.
And what are the rulers of our world doing in this current "economic crisis"? Encouraging all of us to spend, spend, spend; wanting us to continue to feed the rabid, rampant capitalist monster that has destroyed our planet and prostituted our souls. Great solution, assholes.
Where is my sword? Where is my sanity?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
A Capital Idea
Greetings Ramblers,
Let me firstly say sorry to any pensioners I may offend in the following post, for they are the only real undeserving victims of our current economic woes. Everyone else deserves all that they have coming to them.
So, let's launch straight into it - I cannot keep the smile from my dial. In fact, my cheeks (both sets) are sore from smiling. It is almost impossible for me to contain my mirth resulting from the long-deserved stumble into the wilderness for the worldwide fraternity of eternally greedy fat capitalist pigs.
I personally hope that no whiff of a rescue package ever makes it to Wall Street. It's worth the financial pain of a few million people just to see the greedy bastards get their come-uppance.
My wife put the whole world financial crisis into fabulous context with some very simple words to me yesterday. She said:
Let's face it - it's all crap anyway, this whole stock market thing. To think that a company that floats on the stock exchange goes from being an ordinary business to being a megalomaniacal financial construct that puts the mythical "shareholders" on a golden pedestal and forsakes all of those quaint, antiquated concepts like customers, employees, community obligations, morality, sustainability and modest/achievable growth. All decisions become a cynical exercise of determining the resultant effect on the share price. Not only that, but a genuinely solid company can hit the skids just because a bunch of rich assholes get spooked and decide to sell their shares. I've never understood it, and I never want to, because it would dirty my soul and crush my spirit irrevocably.
I cannot believe the amount of time and energy wasted worldwide in speculation, hedging and all of the other crap that is involved with the capitalist movement of money. The way I see it, until mankind realises that there are waaaay more important issues currently facing us (such as our continued existence on this planet), we are screwed. What we need to do is to make some very hard decisions on a multitude of issues (pollution, deforestation, energy depletion, resource depletion, mass extinctions, etc). Unfortunately, nobody has the political will or the desire to change anything if it affects our precious economies. For craps sake people - if we don't do something within the next few years (not decades) then all of the money in the world will count for nothing. Money won't make all of the pollution magically disappear, nor will it make us suddenly understand the nearly infinite complexity of the creation around us that we are trying to play God with.
Now I know that millions of people worldwide are going to suffer the consequences of this so-called financial meltdown. Tough. I have little or no sympathy for them (except for the aforementioned undeserving victims such as pensioners). My wife and I won't have any problems at all, and do you know why? Because we've worked our butts off to minimise our debts. We've made concessions and compromises throughout our lives to ensure that we live within our means. We have not relied on all of that easy credit that's been sloshing around for a decade or so, because we are realists. And lastly, we are not nearly as materialistic as the vast majority of spoiled brats that populate the modern developed world.
So, to everyone who has overextended themselves, has lived beyond their means, has reaped fruits that they have not yet sown - well duuuuuuuuuh! It's not like you didn't have it coming to you. Serves you right.
And if it ever got as bad here in Australia as it is in the good ole U S of A, then I would fight tooth and nail to block any taxpayer-funded bailout. Why should the fruits of my hard labours be used to fund a bunch of people who have been hypnotised by the bouncing carrot that capitalism offers oh-so-tantalisingly out of reach?
I would much rather settle for the potato at my feet than the golden carrots all those idiots jump blindly for.
One of my greatest hopes is that this isn't just a temporary blip on the financial radar. I've always hated capitalism with a passion, and yearn to see the day when the greedy fall to their knees and realise that their soul-destroying ways have all been for nothing. I want to see the whole damn system ground into the poisonous ooze from which it was spawned, and the sooner the better.
Most likely, the fears on Wall Street will have been overplayed, in a typically cynical effort by the monied powers to obtain yet another get-out-of-jail-free card. This hated capitalism will continue unchecked, destroying all hope for rhyme or reason. The real issues will remain hidden behind reality TV, media conglomerates, fluffy news organisations that fail to disseminate the fundamental truths to the vapid masses, the latest celebrity scandal, soap operas, marketing blitzes that brainwash the stupid into buying more things they don't need, and a bunch of politicians driven by the economic backers that got them where they are.
I fear that there's life in the old whore yet, and she will rise from her deathbed and screw the world again.
Maybe it's for the best. If we truly fall for the same old tricks yet again, then we don't deserve to continue as a species on this planet. Time to let Darwin's evolution take us to the inevitable consequence, and the sooner the better. Let the chimps or dolphins have a go before we kill them off... they surely can't do any worse.
Let me firstly say sorry to any pensioners I may offend in the following post, for they are the only real undeserving victims of our current economic woes. Everyone else deserves all that they have coming to them.
So, let's launch straight into it - I cannot keep the smile from my dial. In fact, my cheeks (both sets) are sore from smiling. It is almost impossible for me to contain my mirth resulting from the long-deserved stumble into the wilderness for the worldwide fraternity of eternally greedy fat capitalist pigs.
I personally hope that no whiff of a rescue package ever makes it to Wall Street. It's worth the financial pain of a few million people just to see the greedy bastards get their come-uppance.
My wife put the whole world financial crisis into fabulous context with some very simple words to me yesterday. She said:
Yesterday, there was a lot of pretend money. Today, there isn't quite as much pretend money.
Let's face it - it's all crap anyway, this whole stock market thing. To think that a company that floats on the stock exchange goes from being an ordinary business to being a megalomaniacal financial construct that puts the mythical "shareholders" on a golden pedestal and forsakes all of those quaint, antiquated concepts like customers, employees, community obligations, morality, sustainability and modest/achievable growth. All decisions become a cynical exercise of determining the resultant effect on the share price. Not only that, but a genuinely solid company can hit the skids just because a bunch of rich assholes get spooked and decide to sell their shares. I've never understood it, and I never want to, because it would dirty my soul and crush my spirit irrevocably.
I cannot believe the amount of time and energy wasted worldwide in speculation, hedging and all of the other crap that is involved with the capitalist movement of money. The way I see it, until mankind realises that there are waaaay more important issues currently facing us (such as our continued existence on this planet), we are screwed. What we need to do is to make some very hard decisions on a multitude of issues (pollution, deforestation, energy depletion, resource depletion, mass extinctions, etc). Unfortunately, nobody has the political will or the desire to change anything if it affects our precious economies. For craps sake people - if we don't do something within the next few years (not decades) then all of the money in the world will count for nothing. Money won't make all of the pollution magically disappear, nor will it make us suddenly understand the nearly infinite complexity of the creation around us that we are trying to play God with.
Now I know that millions of people worldwide are going to suffer the consequences of this so-called financial meltdown. Tough. I have little or no sympathy for them (except for the aforementioned undeserving victims such as pensioners). My wife and I won't have any problems at all, and do you know why? Because we've worked our butts off to minimise our debts. We've made concessions and compromises throughout our lives to ensure that we live within our means. We have not relied on all of that easy credit that's been sloshing around for a decade or so, because we are realists. And lastly, we are not nearly as materialistic as the vast majority of spoiled brats that populate the modern developed world.
So, to everyone who has overextended themselves, has lived beyond their means, has reaped fruits that they have not yet sown - well duuuuuuuuuh! It's not like you didn't have it coming to you. Serves you right.
And if it ever got as bad here in Australia as it is in the good ole U S of A, then I would fight tooth and nail to block any taxpayer-funded bailout. Why should the fruits of my hard labours be used to fund a bunch of people who have been hypnotised by the bouncing carrot that capitalism offers oh-so-tantalisingly out of reach?
I would much rather settle for the potato at my feet than the golden carrots all those idiots jump blindly for.
One of my greatest hopes is that this isn't just a temporary blip on the financial radar. I've always hated capitalism with a passion, and yearn to see the day when the greedy fall to their knees and realise that their soul-destroying ways have all been for nothing. I want to see the whole damn system ground into the poisonous ooze from which it was spawned, and the sooner the better.
Most likely, the fears on Wall Street will have been overplayed, in a typically cynical effort by the monied powers to obtain yet another get-out-of-jail-free card. This hated capitalism will continue unchecked, destroying all hope for rhyme or reason. The real issues will remain hidden behind reality TV, media conglomerates, fluffy news organisations that fail to disseminate the fundamental truths to the vapid masses, the latest celebrity scandal, soap operas, marketing blitzes that brainwash the stupid into buying more things they don't need, and a bunch of politicians driven by the economic backers that got them where they are.
I fear that there's life in the old whore yet, and she will rise from her deathbed and screw the world again.
Maybe it's for the best. If we truly fall for the same old tricks yet again, then we don't deserve to continue as a species on this planet. Time to let Darwin's evolution take us to the inevitable consequence, and the sooner the better. Let the chimps or dolphins have a go before we kill them off... they surely can't do any worse.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Staring Into The Mirror
One of the greatest problems facing mankind's future existence and the wellbeing of our planet is one of attitude. The sooner mankind reins in their rampant arrogance the better. We tramp our way through our lives, believing both individually and collectively that we have a divine right, a universal mandate, to exist. By rising to the top of the food chain on this planet, we have become blind to the fundamental facts as they are.
Here are a few of my thoughts on the matter...
Here are a few of my thoughts on the matter...
- Just because we have the ability to take what we want from the Earth does not mean that we should. We see the world as a big pile of resources without end, to be used as we see fit. There are little or no long-term considerations for sustainability and management of our devastating effects on all of the myriad delicate and interconnected ecosystems on the planet.
- We consider ourselves a law unto ourselves, above and beyond the laws of nature. We continually distance ourselves from the natural rhythms, ebbs and flows of natural cycles and systems.
- Way back in the dim dark past of pre-history, our ancestors were much more in tune with nature, and able to live as part of the world around us, not apart from the world around us. This must count as one of the greatest losses that we have ever encountered.
- We have been incredibly lucky to balance on the knife edge of survival in the evolutionary game. This has made us arrogant, and we assume blithely that we will continue to exist as a species on this planet, no matter the odds or self-destructive behaviour that we engage in.
- We should see ourselves as custodians of this planet. The continued existence of this world, and the maximising of its potential (not just for our sake alone) should be our primary goals.
- In our superficial modern lives, 90% of what we believe matters, doesn't.
- We seem to be squandering the gifts that we have been given, gifts such as the ability to rationalise, reason and empathise. Properly applied, these gifts can save us and our planet.
- People don't generally take the time to sit down and think about things for a while. If we did, the realisation of our true position would surely switch on billions of light bulbs above our heads, illuminating our way forward.
- Rarely do we consider more than just initial consequences before we act.
- Peace and harmony are not ideals, but essentials.
- No matter how naive it sounds, there are no conflicts that cannot be resolved.
- Money does not make the world go round.
- The industrial revolution set us on a path to greatness and mastery over the world around us. What a crock! We should sit down and have a good hard look at the simple equation of what we have gained from it versus what it has cost us. I believe that the world has lost out in this particular transaction.
- The free market will not regulate itself and settle into a best-fit position where the interests of all people, the environment and the world in general are guarded and balanced.
- A planned market economy will also not deliver a cure to our rampant destructive ways.
- There are at least 3 billion too many people on this planet. We do not think twice about culling rampant destructive populations of pest animals and plants when we see an obvious imbalance or problem, but the population issues of mankind are left to grow unchecked.
- The very nature of modern economies, whether capitalist or planned, relies on constant growth. We are locked into a dangerous spiral wherein we need more people to fund the people we have, and we need more funds to keep the ever-increasing peoples at the standard of living to which they have become accustomed. Thus the cycle continues ever onward, and the rape of the planet goes on unchecked.
- Governments of the world, whether democratic or autocratic in nature, will continue to put self-preservation of power first, to the detriment of the hard decisions that should be made to ensure sustainable and ethical existence.
- Science alone cannot hope to save us, nor can religion or philosophy alone. A combination of beliefs and endeavours is required.
- The clock is ticking. We can't expect to continue on our merry way and let the following generations take care of it.
- Whilst the boffins argue about the validity of the science behind climate change, there is still no denying the basic facts that chopping down old growth forests, pumping pollution into our ecosystems and depleting the world's resources are bad things.
- Temporary job losses in major industries that greatly damage our ecosystems are no excuse to do nothing. If the solutions to our problems were easy, we would have fixed things generations ago. Inaction is not an option.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Lighter Side Of Life
Hello Rambling Readers,
I thought that it was time for a bit of a detour into the positive side of life for a change. Yeah, I know - not exactly what you have gotten used to with me, as I've been kind of focusing on the negative aspects of existence that bring out the rant in me...
Anyhoo, I tried to write something flowery and sweet, but, as you will see below, it just didn't pan out that way. So, I guess, more of the same from your favourite ranting psychotic...
It can be very hard for even the most rudimentary intelligence alive on this planet to keep positive, since the more you know, the more you tend to hate the self-imposed destruction all around us. The vast, vapid majority of mankind is too busy caught up in the day to day, the materialistic pursuit of an elusive happiness that, were it properly thought out and defined, is actually within us all, to bother with the eternal verities of life.
Happiness is fairly easy to achieve, so long as you are a shallow meat robot that requires little more than gluttony, greed and sexual gratification to get your rocks off. However, if you are a reasoning being with a questing mind and a spirit that refuses to accept the horribly deficient status quo, then happiness is a little harder to find and, once found, keep a hold of.
Many people find it in religion. Good for them. I am happy for them that they have found solace in their faith. However, that avenue is closed to me, as I cannot bring myself to believe in fairies, pixies, little devils with forked tails, a "God" who imposes some ridiculous concept of original sin and divinely granted grace, or (for that matter) any "God" who speaks through the words of a bunch of fat old men with beards who sat around a camp fire a couple of thousand years ago wondering how they could wrest power from the bully of the day. And don't even get me started on the whole modern christian revival Hillsong thing - the hills are alive with the sound of music (and the ringing of cash registers).
Others find it in materialism - money buys happiness. That maxim has become so much a part of our every day existence in this capitalist world that it is rarely even questioned by the masses. Those countries that have been lucky enough to wrest resources from the rest of the world, to carve out a bigger slice of pie than they deserve, do not question their position of priviledge, nor do they give more than lip service to a worldwide equality, because the pie is only so big, and there really isn't enough to go around. Thankfully, my things do not own me, nor do I aspire to contribute to the capitalist system that I have so much vitriolic hatred for.
Yet others find it in family. Nice. I have heard many espouse their views that their lives and values were so meaningless until they pumped out a couple of little miracles. Through their children, they find a sense of worth and meaning that eclipses all that came before. How wonderfully biological for them, but I can't help but think that the last thing this overtaxed planet needs is more resource hogs, eating their way through the forests, oceans, plains, mountains and deserts.
Unfortunately, I do not have a deep desire to "live on through my children" or to aspire to any kind of immortality, if that were even remotely possible, so that avenue, too, is closed to me.
So, what is left? Yeah, well, I'm still working on that one. I have a small group of family and friends that I love dearly, and that give me great pleasure. I even hope that, during my less moribund moments, I give them some form of happiness. I hope to write something that I personally am truly happy with. One day I will. I hope to be around long enough to see the beginning of the end of the great capitalist mistake that really took off with the industrial revolution. I also hope to eventually provide a fine meal for some worms.
Can one really hope for more?
I thought that it was time for a bit of a detour into the positive side of life for a change. Yeah, I know - not exactly what you have gotten used to with me, as I've been kind of focusing on the negative aspects of existence that bring out the rant in me...
Anyhoo, I tried to write something flowery and sweet, but, as you will see below, it just didn't pan out that way. So, I guess, more of the same from your favourite ranting psychotic...
It can be very hard for even the most rudimentary intelligence alive on this planet to keep positive, since the more you know, the more you tend to hate the self-imposed destruction all around us. The vast, vapid majority of mankind is too busy caught up in the day to day, the materialistic pursuit of an elusive happiness that, were it properly thought out and defined, is actually within us all, to bother with the eternal verities of life.
Happiness is fairly easy to achieve, so long as you are a shallow meat robot that requires little more than gluttony, greed and sexual gratification to get your rocks off. However, if you are a reasoning being with a questing mind and a spirit that refuses to accept the horribly deficient status quo, then happiness is a little harder to find and, once found, keep a hold of.
Many people find it in religion. Good for them. I am happy for them that they have found solace in their faith. However, that avenue is closed to me, as I cannot bring myself to believe in fairies, pixies, little devils with forked tails, a "God" who imposes some ridiculous concept of original sin and divinely granted grace, or (for that matter) any "God" who speaks through the words of a bunch of fat old men with beards who sat around a camp fire a couple of thousand years ago wondering how they could wrest power from the bully of the day. And don't even get me started on the whole modern christian revival Hillsong thing - the hills are alive with the sound of music (and the ringing of cash registers).
Others find it in materialism - money buys happiness. That maxim has become so much a part of our every day existence in this capitalist world that it is rarely even questioned by the masses. Those countries that have been lucky enough to wrest resources from the rest of the world, to carve out a bigger slice of pie than they deserve, do not question their position of priviledge, nor do they give more than lip service to a worldwide equality, because the pie is only so big, and there really isn't enough to go around. Thankfully, my things do not own me, nor do I aspire to contribute to the capitalist system that I have so much vitriolic hatred for.
Yet others find it in family. Nice. I have heard many espouse their views that their lives and values were so meaningless until they pumped out a couple of little miracles. Through their children, they find a sense of worth and meaning that eclipses all that came before. How wonderfully biological for them, but I can't help but think that the last thing this overtaxed planet needs is more resource hogs, eating their way through the forests, oceans, plains, mountains and deserts.
Unfortunately, I do not have a deep desire to "live on through my children" or to aspire to any kind of immortality, if that were even remotely possible, so that avenue, too, is closed to me.
So, what is left? Yeah, well, I'm still working on that one. I have a small group of family and friends that I love dearly, and that give me great pleasure. I even hope that, during my less moribund moments, I give them some form of happiness. I hope to write something that I personally am truly happy with. One day I will. I hope to be around long enough to see the beginning of the end of the great capitalist mistake that really took off with the industrial revolution. I also hope to eventually provide a fine meal for some worms.
Can one really hope for more?
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Internet - Saviour or Sinner?
Hi Ramblers,
Long time no post. Been kinda busy, living life, getting caught up in the whole capitalist slavery thing, as you do, whether you like it or not. The whole concept of capitalism is rather complex, and quite a subtle trap for all of us (those that live in the developed chasing-the-carrot western world, that is). For the rest of you, survival is still one of the main battles...
I was thinking a bit about my post a while ago about universal values, and I kind of got to tackling the whole issue of the existence of the Internet. I forgot to mention at the time that the advent of the Internet is one of the great developments for mankind in the modern era. Once again, I need to mention that this is only the case for those countries where the Internet is readily available, and where mere survival has become more of an academic problem than a practical one.
My thoughts on the Internet are as follows - I believe that it has the potential to save us. However, it is fraught with danger. Let me explain...
Firstly, let me point out that any worldwide cultural change takes time to manifest itself. The effects of the Internet are far-reaching, and are only just beginning to filter through to our day-to-day existence. With the time-lag effects of generational change, and the inertial effects of existing power bases, it is realistic to assume that any truly significant changes will take some time to reach critical mass and break through the barriers of existing power bases.
It is already a rather exciting phenomenon that rapid technological change has become part of our every day lives. What would once have been considered impossible in the space of generations is now taking place in mere decades or years. This acceleration of change affects us in every facet of our existence. It would be an extremely dangerous act to simply embrace this acceleration without questioning it, despite the many perceived advantages that it may have.
What we are facing is a very interesting time. We are perched upon a precipice, with major advancements in multiple fields of endeavour bombarding us from all sides. One of the criticalities of this is that we need to remember our past to ensure that we do not make the same mistakes again and again.
A difficult proposition, considering the ever greater body of knowledge that is accumulating, and the continued abstraction of the reality that surrounds us. One of my main concerns is that we are climbing further and further up the ladder, without realising that we need to maintain a firm footing on the ground in order to survive.
Who amongst us is able to say that, given a catastrophic failure of the systems around us (the systems that we so take for granted), we would be able to apply basic survival techniques to live out the next few days without easy access to the fundamentals of life (food, water and shelter)? We may still have survival instincts hard-coded into our animalistic nature, but have we not become so far removed from the real world that we would struggle to stay alive given a removal from our comfortable lives of takeaway pizzas, water at the turn of the tap, and a safe warm house at the flick of a switch?
Safety in the modern world is merely an illusion, and has always been so. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding themselves. The whole concept of the modern world is that mankind is king, that we are able to control everything in the material world, and that no catastrophe can touch us. The danger that faces us is that we are a spoiled couple of generations who have never known real hardship, have never known the cold, hard edge of survival at its rawest. The spoiled generations will come crashing down to earth with an incredible bang when the systems that we rely on are no longer able to cope with the harsh realities of existence.
A great universal quote from some nameless genius states that mankind is only 2 or 3 meals away from total chaos. We can manage skipping a couple of meals, sure, but when a major catastrophe or challenge disrupts our day-to-day existence to the point of destroying our essentials (food, water and shelter), then the thin veneer of society will break down, and we will be left fending for ourselves without any recourse to all that we once placed our faith in.
Whether that threat comes from disease (antibiotic-resistant strains, etc.), peak oil, global climate change or other unforeseeable factors beyond our control, the illusion of safety will be stripped from us in mere instants. The undeveloped world will most likely fare better than the fat, spoiled developed western world, because they are used to the daily struggle for survival. We will have to relearn this valuable skill, and quickly, to avoid extermination.
So, where does the Internet lie in all of this? I see the Internet as a possible saviour - through the dissemination of knowledge to the masses. But for as long as it remains an irrelevant source of porn, peer-to-peer piracy, proprietary products and a great new marketing tool for the monied powers of the capitalist machine, I fail to see how it can possibly achieve its true potential of informing the masses and preparing us for the fall that inevitably lies before us.
I only hope that we are ready for what I personally believe will come to pass - a cataclysmic event from any of the hundreds of possible timebombs, happily ticking away. Call me a pessimist, if you like. I choose to think of myself as a realist. When the shit hits the fan, come and see me. I'll be ready, and looking forward to the challenge of day-to-day survival. Let's face it, when all of the veneer of modern living is stripped away, that is what life is all about.
Till next time, oh ramblers, your humble servant is calling to you from the wings of the wasteland...
Long time no post. Been kinda busy, living life, getting caught up in the whole capitalist slavery thing, as you do, whether you like it or not. The whole concept of capitalism is rather complex, and quite a subtle trap for all of us (those that live in the developed chasing-the-carrot western world, that is). For the rest of you, survival is still one of the main battles...
I was thinking a bit about my post a while ago about universal values, and I kind of got to tackling the whole issue of the existence of the Internet. I forgot to mention at the time that the advent of the Internet is one of the great developments for mankind in the modern era. Once again, I need to mention that this is only the case for those countries where the Internet is readily available, and where mere survival has become more of an academic problem than a practical one.
My thoughts on the Internet are as follows - I believe that it has the potential to save us. However, it is fraught with danger. Let me explain...
Firstly, let me point out that any worldwide cultural change takes time to manifest itself. The effects of the Internet are far-reaching, and are only just beginning to filter through to our day-to-day existence. With the time-lag effects of generational change, and the inertial effects of existing power bases, it is realistic to assume that any truly significant changes will take some time to reach critical mass and break through the barriers of existing power bases.
It is already a rather exciting phenomenon that rapid technological change has become part of our every day lives. What would once have been considered impossible in the space of generations is now taking place in mere decades or years. This acceleration of change affects us in every facet of our existence. It would be an extremely dangerous act to simply embrace this acceleration without questioning it, despite the many perceived advantages that it may have.
What we are facing is a very interesting time. We are perched upon a precipice, with major advancements in multiple fields of endeavour bombarding us from all sides. One of the criticalities of this is that we need to remember our past to ensure that we do not make the same mistakes again and again.
A difficult proposition, considering the ever greater body of knowledge that is accumulating, and the continued abstraction of the reality that surrounds us. One of my main concerns is that we are climbing further and further up the ladder, without realising that we need to maintain a firm footing on the ground in order to survive.
Who amongst us is able to say that, given a catastrophic failure of the systems around us (the systems that we so take for granted), we would be able to apply basic survival techniques to live out the next few days without easy access to the fundamentals of life (food, water and shelter)? We may still have survival instincts hard-coded into our animalistic nature, but have we not become so far removed from the real world that we would struggle to stay alive given a removal from our comfortable lives of takeaway pizzas, water at the turn of the tap, and a safe warm house at the flick of a switch?
Safety in the modern world is merely an illusion, and has always been so. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding themselves. The whole concept of the modern world is that mankind is king, that we are able to control everything in the material world, and that no catastrophe can touch us. The danger that faces us is that we are a spoiled couple of generations who have never known real hardship, have never known the cold, hard edge of survival at its rawest. The spoiled generations will come crashing down to earth with an incredible bang when the systems that we rely on are no longer able to cope with the harsh realities of existence.
A great universal quote from some nameless genius states that mankind is only 2 or 3 meals away from total chaos. We can manage skipping a couple of meals, sure, but when a major catastrophe or challenge disrupts our day-to-day existence to the point of destroying our essentials (food, water and shelter), then the thin veneer of society will break down, and we will be left fending for ourselves without any recourse to all that we once placed our faith in.
Whether that threat comes from disease (antibiotic-resistant strains, etc.), peak oil, global climate change or other unforeseeable factors beyond our control, the illusion of safety will be stripped from us in mere instants. The undeveloped world will most likely fare better than the fat, spoiled developed western world, because they are used to the daily struggle for survival. We will have to relearn this valuable skill, and quickly, to avoid extermination.
So, where does the Internet lie in all of this? I see the Internet as a possible saviour - through the dissemination of knowledge to the masses. But for as long as it remains an irrelevant source of porn, peer-to-peer piracy, proprietary products and a great new marketing tool for the monied powers of the capitalist machine, I fail to see how it can possibly achieve its true potential of informing the masses and preparing us for the fall that inevitably lies before us.
I only hope that we are ready for what I personally believe will come to pass - a cataclysmic event from any of the hundreds of possible timebombs, happily ticking away. Call me a pessimist, if you like. I choose to think of myself as a realist. When the shit hits the fan, come and see me. I'll be ready, and looking forward to the challenge of day-to-day survival. Let's face it, when all of the veneer of modern living is stripped away, that is what life is all about.
Till next time, oh ramblers, your humble servant is calling to you from the wings of the wasteland...
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