Brent: 'But they lasted a lot longer than we have.'
MP: Indeed this is probably true in most cases, but what none of them
had, which we DO have access to, is scientific method. Now I know Bruno
is dismissive of scientific method as applied in the modern world, but I
think Bruno is being idealistic. The fact is that we live in an ecology
made of dirt. I mean, what is good soil if not bug pooh! And we live in
a real world in which entropy is king, so to speak.
You are right that modern American culture seems irretrievably, and
perhaps fatally, dependent on burning oil in car engines. Well that may
just be the doom of the USA. It does not have to be the doom of the rest
of humankind!
In fact, if 'Americans' were really smart they would realise that not
only do they have one of the most well watered continents, supplied with
very fertile soils [compared to Australia anyway], and abundantly
supplied with useful minerals accessible to safe and sensible mining,
endowed with beautiful landscapes, beaches, snow fields, lakes,
wonderfully diverse flora and fauna. Not only ALL THAT which so many
USA-ns either ignore in mind boggling ignorance or just take for granted
in a media mesmerised torpor but, under Yellowstone National Park [or is
that 'Jellystone'] there is a vast reservoir of heat energy which needs
to be tapped or else one day it's going to blow and spread deep ash from
Harlem to Hollywood.
The caveat will be DO NOT BREACH THE TOP OF IT! The trick to successful
usage will be to sink water-filled shafts down many kilometres in the
cooler rock around the perimeter of the hot spot and then tunnel and
drill horizontally into the hot mass so as to gradually liberate the
heat energy and gas pressure. Remote control mining underwater should
not be hard to master for the spiritual descendants of Edison, Bell,
Ford, and so forth.
When I contemplate things like that I find myself boggled by the amazing
stupidity of the so-called 'free market' ideologues who cannot
understand how come cooperation is billions of times more powerful than
the puny efforts of the so-called captains of industry who advocate
scientifically discredited concepts of social Darwinism in order to
maintain a dysfunctional, unfair, inefficient and life-threatening
status quo.
[Amen! Amen! In the Name of Capital, Money, and Market, Amen! Hail
Banks! Mothers of Money, Blessed art Thou amongst Companies!]
Hmm think of it ... Father Capital, Dollar Bill the Son, and the Unseen
Hand of Market, the Comforter who is always with us and is never wrong
... :-)
But really, my point is that in this modern era we finally have the
intellectual tools we need to liberate the human race from slavery. Only
some of it is 'rocket science', the rest is common sense and hard work,
coupled with the realisation that a person who is truly smart and truly
strong, is also truly kind. Why? Because his/her cup runs over, and
there is nothing nobler than to help those in need who share our world
during our transient passing through.
Regards
Mark Peaty CDES
mpeaty.domain.name.hidden
http://www.arach.net.au/~mpeaty/
Brent Meeker wrote:
> Mark Peaty wrote:
>
>> No Brent, what I AM saying is that they are GONE! Well and truly
>> gooooorrrrrrnnnnnn!
>>
>
> But they lasted a lot longer than we have.
>
>
>> We could get side tracked into all sorts of discussions about how each
>> of the civilisations you named, waxed and waned more than once in the
>> face of environmental changes and the inherent instability of feudal
>> societies, but I haven't got the time [fascinating though it would be :-].
>>
>> My point is that, with all due respect to the late Douglas Adams, and I
>> suppose to whoever it was who wrote the book of Daniel in the
>> Judaeo-Xian Bible, the TRUE
>> "Writing on the Wall" AKA God's last message to humankind, is five short
>> words in plain-English:
>>
>> * Shape up or die out!
>>
>> What I say is if we really want to 'shape up' and survive, then
>> compassion, democracy, ethics and scientific method are four essential
>> ingredients without which our modern world will go the way of all those
>> other civilisations your mentioned.
>>
>
> It will go the way of those other civilizations anyway because: a) it's dependent on energy from cheap oil and b) all civilizations rise and fall, none last forever.
>
> Brent Meeker
> Nations and empires flourish and decay,
> By turns command, and in their turns obey.
> --- Publius Ovidius Naso
>
>
> >
>
>
>
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Received on Fri Mar 02 2007 - 07:11:32 PST