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Leif Erlingsson
Site Admin
Joined: 03 Jul 2005
Posts: 309
Location: Tullinge, Botkyrka, Sweden, Earth
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 Posted: Sun, 2005 Jul 17 0:54:44 Post subject: Imagine, By Eric Patton, June 30, 2005 |
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| Eric Patton, June 30, 2005, at http://zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-06/30patton.cfm wrote: | June 30, 2005
Imagine
By Eric Patton
Imagine you're a member of whatever species replaces Homo sapiens in 10,000 years. There's no more oil, at least not enough to build your economy around, and the planet's climate is still feeling the aftereffects of what your biological, bipedal predecessors did to it. You don't have automobiles and MRI machines; well, you have them, but you can't use them.
Do you even know what they are? You start inspecting the remains of decaying automobiles, much as a present-day scientist inspects the bones of long-dead dinosaurs. You eventually determine that this metal object - and however did they manage to make that solid, lightweight, non-metal stuff that doesn't conduct heat very well and is seemingly everywhere on these contraptions? - was used for some sort of high-velocity locomotion.
But where did the energy come from to make it move? You dissect the large object as one might cut apart a cadaver, and eventually you determine that some sort of strange fire liquid made the large metal pod move. From its design (and whatever you've managed to learn about physics), you estimate that, its high speeds notwithstanding, it must have been a very inefficient utilizer of energy.
At some point in your investigations of the societal remains of what had to have once been a literal paradise, but now is only piles of decaying rubble, you inevitably stumble over large - very large - flat sections of some strange, hard, grainy material. Some of these rectangular sections stretch out for a mile or more. There are incredibly large metal pods here, only these pods have wings like whatever birds you've seen that managed to survive the Homo sapien onslaught.
What were these things? They are so large, and appear to have housed so many bipeds. You stumble upon ... a picture, perhaps. They flew? You mean, these people could fly? Oh my! Such incredible power they had! How did they do this? And what happened to them anyway...
You travel on, eventually making your way to ... what is this? There are pictures of the stars here. And that thing ... it is another metal pod, only different. It is more cylindrical, and has no wings. That is very strange. But what is this picture? That looks like the moon. Yes, that is indeed the moon, and ... what is that?
You are literally stunned as you see what appears to be a very strange-looking biped standing next to a flat rectangle on a pole on the surface of the moon. That is impossible! How ever could they possibly do that? It must be an illusion. But you realize, it is not. The first metal pod for ground transport, the second metal pod for air transport, and the third metal pod for space transport.
But why are they no longer here? How could they get to the moon, and now no longer be around? They had so much power, and now they are ... gone? But how? And suddenly it hits you, and you slink down to your knees, trembling in fear. They had too much power, and they annihilated themselves.
But that alone can't be the answer. That hot, yellow object in the sky obviously has great power, and it continues to shine, day after day. Excessive power alone can't account for the demise of our bipedal predecessors. It must have been something else too.
So you do more research. You discover that this "human" civilization had a strange way of allocating its resources. Goods were bought and sold without regard to anything but the acquisition of more power. Most people were subservient to a few. And those few made decisions entirely in their own interests, with no input allowed (or even possible) from the many.
The burning of these things they called "hydrocarbons" conferred upon the few great status and wealth, and destroyed the entire species in the process. We can't make the same mistakes they did, or surely we shall suffer their fate! We must organize a society with no classes, with no resource allocation via this thing the now-extinct Homo sapiens called "markets." We cannot organize a society where the many work solely for the few.
There is some writing here ... it must be translated. What does it say? Starts with a "P." Eventually, you do translate it. And you realize that its implementation is the only way you will avoid the Homo sapien fate. Will our people give up their class privileges in order to ensure the survival of our species? Or will they continue to determine that it's better to be at the top of a short totem pole, as opposed to being in the middle of a tall one - no matter how much the short totem pole might shrink?
Will people make the decision now to begin creating the kind of society we will have tomorrow? Or will people continue to keep their heads in the sand, or act like rearranging deck chairs while the ship is taking on water will prevent it from foundering? No more can the truth of our fate be blacklisted. No more can we avoid a discussion of that which we must do if we are to survive.
Placing pictures of those less fortunate than ourselves around a large room, while our steering committees meet in that room to discuss their fate, while still excluding them from having input into our discussion, will not solve the problem that we all face. Refusing to create structures that give everyone a say, even though those structures reduce our own individual power, will not keep us alive. Acting like race, gender, and sex deserve mention (which of course they do), while acting as if the true nature of class does not, will only ensure our eventual destruction.
We still have a choice, perhaps. But each day we wait - each day we remain silent, or refuse to act, or withdraw from honest assessments of the class privileges of those who manage and run our organizations - is a day that brings us closer to extinction. No species on earth lasts forever, but we are hastening our own demise with such rapidity, that those who follow us will not know whether to curse us or thank us. |
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Leif Erlingsson
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Joined: 03 Jul 2005
Posts: 309
Location: Tullinge, Botkyrka, Sweden, Earth
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| Posted: Thu, 2005 Aug 11 18:51:21 Post subject: Discussions |
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| Discussions on the above text should be made in one of the discussion forums. Click http://life.lege.net/. |
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