ScottKnowsBest on 27/2/2008 at 03:57

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You know, i thought being a part of the 21st Century would mean the world would be brought together, and we could unite and collectively solve all the world's stupid problems, one by one. After all, what might can stand against the onslaught that is humanity? Nothing and no one thats who. Unless we're all just barricaded in a dark room surrounded by all our expensive gizmos, lovingly stroking our greed, looking out for #1, as it's always been, and, i fear, how it shall always be.
Why arent we united? Is there no hope for change? Should we all just turn away cause the horror isn't unfolding in our lives? Someone else's problem? Yeah, there's starvation plaguing this planet, buuutttttt..... were running out of fuel so were gonna grow some fuel. And no, foolish poor Ethiopian child, you may not eat it! Rich people need to drive to work and make MORE money. Any why is the West unstoppable? We have all these rules, we have the UN, but its all just 'optional' for America. None of the rules have a chewed-up leg to stand on if they plan on standing in the way of American interests and glory. Yes... we NEED to invade Iraq. African genocide? Who cares. We NEED to invade Iraq! Yes. Because perpetuating conflict is how we make peace. Or it is when the potential and power of all (powerful) humans is in the hands of politicians like Cowboy Bush. Who clearly does not understand what a human being is, or that it has rights equal to his own, or that blood is not worth oil, in ANY measurement. I say to all of you who kill for profit, who rape steal and murder in the name of God or worse, in the name of The Almighty Dollar, your day is coming, and on my Earth you will not have a square inch or dirt to stand on. Viva Revolucion!!!!

heretic on 27/2/2008 at 04:18

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Because no one paid enough attention to PIL's lyrics in that Timezone - 'World Destruction' song and now Lydon is busy swimming with sharks and petting cave spiders.

flexbuster on 27/2/2008 at 07:13

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On one hand, I see what you're saying.

On the other hand, you can't expect things to happen overnight. Slavery, for instance, ended in the US only 150 years ago. That might seem like a lot of time, but in the long run, that's fairly recent for such a serious step in the right direction. Hell, currently, also in the US, we've got a black guy with a "foreign-sounding" name who has a good shot at actually becoming President, not to mention a woman competing with him. I'm not saying the US is the world or anything (living there means my examples will most likely involve that country), just that we have seen progress, and that the timescale involved is stretched beyond that of our lives; ignore what movies have been saying for the past few decades about how the world is going to be entirely different by the time you have kids or whatever. We didn't have robot butlers and flying cars in the year 2000, and we can't be expected to have global communion and peacemaking by the year 2050. These things take generations, not years or even decades. Hell, some of it takes a lot longer than that.

Things are more or less the way they have been, and they will continue to be as such, more or less, for a while. This isn't to discount the change that is occurring or will occur. I mean, look at the British Empire. I'm not saying imperialism is dead in its entirety (it sure as hell isn't), but that isn't the kind of thing you could get away with anymore, and even that was fairly recent.

I might sound kind of contradictory here by giving examples of recent positive changes in the world, while also saying that these changes are extremely gradual. Maybe there's a bit of punctuated equilibrium in effect, with certain events and advancements effecting certain amounts of change. Either way, I guess what I'm saying is that you can't expect too much change even during your entire lifetime, but also that change does occur, and things have gotten better for the most part, and hopefully will continue to do so.

As far as recent situations are considered, yes, they're pretty bad, and people should care more. However, people in general are more concerned about their own lives and maintaining their current standard of living than they are about the lives of others far across the world, or even those across the street who they just don't have to talk to very often. It's sad, but that's just human nature. I'm not saying there isn't a way around it, either; governments exist for a reason, and people can be educated about these things. It's all just a matter of thinking in the longterm and acting in the now, i.e. not being too short-sighted in how we observe, react to, and influence trends, while also realizing that small, gradual change is generally the only change we're capable of, even collectively.

Shayde on 27/2/2008 at 07:41

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Awww and here I thought the powers-that-be had changed scots' name to something snotty for funsies. Instead it's just some new ranting guy. :(

Vivian on 27/2/2008 at 13:44

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Because people politics is complex and time-consuming and most people have better or easier things to occupy themselves with. Like you said, look out for #1, this is how humans think. Because we're semi-individualistic we're an imperfect social-colonial organism, probably something to do with it being thrust upon us fairly quickly in the last few million years or so? Anyway, the only way things get done is if one of the less common geniunely altruistic types finds a way to make it easier for everyone to do the right thing, or if one of the more common selfish types finds a way to make personal gain out of making everyone do the right thing. Otherwise, we're screwed.