Topics

1

Geopolitics / We need peace

« on: April 07, 2017, 08:51:04 AM »

I am deeply saddened by mans ability and desire to harm his fellow man in more heart wrenching and cruel ways. I personally have seen nothing but the best of times relative to much of  humanity, having lived in a free, safe, peaceful and prosperous society, and yet I fear the worst of times lay ahead for all mankind. We have indeed seen some of the best of humanity and a lot of the the worst of humanity on display this week.

It is already hard enough as a parent to come to the rational conclusion that your children will inherit a much worse future than I inherited from my parent, let alone think of the possibility of seeing one of then reduced to a shattered bloody pulp by the meat grinder of war we all too often embrace.

I am not a religious person; I am an atheist who sees no evidence of a gods; yet I daily wish for intervention from any source either natural or supernatural to this most horrendous self inflicted malady of man, and indeed all life on earth. Were I a believer  I would pray for peace. I am not, so I sit here late at night at my computer and it hope for sanity instead.

On the eve of another deadly day I ask all of the people who read this to tell me what I can do to help untie the knots of war we seem to be tying. Every day I see the politicians pulling on the rope making the knots tighter, urged on by the ignorant, injured or profiteers of such wars.
It is not right.
It is not just.
It is not fair.
It is unethical and immoral to condone, encourage or ignore.
War is planned by the old, directed by the middle aged and paid for by the young with their lives.
Anyone who has seen first hand the demonic vision that is modern warfare would do all in their power to to extinguish the mere spark of a conflict before it could ignite the tinder and kindle the flames of war.

Mankind needs to find a way to peace. I am an ex-soldier who is lucky enough to not ever have to put my military training in to practice. Please believe me, we do no want war.

We need peace.

Edwin said it better than I ever could.

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
Ohhh, war, I despise
Because it means destruction
Of innocent lives
War means tears
To thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go to fight
And lose their lives
I said, war, huh
Good God, y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain't nothing
But a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Ooooh, war
It's an enemy to all mankind
The point of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die
Aaaaah, war-huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it, say it, say it
War, huh
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y'all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War, it's got one friend
That's the undertaker
Ooooh, war, has shattered
Many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is much to short and precious
To spend fighting wars these days
War can't give life
It can only take it away
Ooooh, war, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace, love and understanding
Tell me, is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there's got to be a better way
Ooooooh, war, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
You tell me
Say it, say it, say it, say it
War, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Stand up and shout it
Nothing

JOW

2

Doom Psychology & Philosophy / Thoughts & Ideas in the Philosophical World of Doom

« on: January 27, 2017, 02:49:02 AM »

Wow, go to work for a day and this small quiet blog goes crazy!
Good thought provoking threads. Lots of incorrect assumption, but we cant all be right all the time. Not even RE. I am still trying to catch him out....

Quote
No, what we need here is Rainbow Shitting Unicorns or the Ferengi arriving in Starships loaded with DiLithium Crystals and Gold Pressed Latinum.
There is no solution to this problem here on Earth other than vast numbers of DEAD PEOPLE.  None.  Live with it..
RE


Yep, there are plenty of people not only hoping for solutions much more improbable than unicorns and space ships,  but actually relying on them. They are plan A, B, C and D to get through what lays ahead!

One of the few truly head exploding dismissals of the coming catastrophe I have ever had was when I was told with a straight face by an ex-school friend how we didn’t have to do anything to fix any of the current issues because their god would save the true believers. Those that are not true believers would die apparently.... Well I’m screwed then! This is as about as logical as most of the other solutions put up to solve our dilemma. Supernatural deities, benevolent alien botanists, undiscovered or hidden government conspiracy technologies, including but not limited to alien technologies, hidden orbiting space stations, moon bases and worm holes will save us to name just a few.

The really insidious, evil ideas are those put forward by “intelligent experts” as technically possible engineering solutions: The space reflectors, or salt chrystal cloud seeding, or ocean fertilizing with iron, or any other climate modifying technology.... Cant get people to give up bacon.. . How we going to get people to fund space mirrors?

The other group of crazies are the deniers. Nothing is happening. The arctic being ice free is normal and will have no effects, populations can grow forever, peak oil is a myth as we have enough oil for 1000 years, fracking will make us energy independent, or my favourite: The government would have told us if these problems were real...
 
Nope, once again RE is right damn it!
We are screwed. (Doh!)
There is no way to ski down the energy slope with 7 or 8 billion people. 7 Million maybe. I am trying to figure out how to keep 7 or 8 alive until old age!

I often find myself to be naive. I am shocked on a daily basis by the stupidity and ignorance of the general public. My wife scolds me when I talk like this. I keep telling her: We are all born ignorant, but in this day and age of connectivity, science and communication it takes a special deliberate effort to remain so. I dislike ignorant people. Ignorant people are a danger to other people. Ignorant people will be the first I will eat when we get to the cannibalism stage of collapse. There are a lot of them too.

I realized a long time ago the truism: No matter how cynical you become it is never enough.
 
Now I just do what I do and go my own way. To some respects I have given up on finding solutions, and now do what I can to help me and mine get by as long and as comfortably as we can when the SHTF big time.
A pleasant irony has been the fact that giving up some luxuries others deem necessary such as cutting down on meat, using 2nd hand and/or old things, having a vegetable garden and fruit trees instead of a pristine lawn no one’s kids play on, has actually made me healthier, wealthier and less stressed.

The time to bicker about what object the ship has struck is over. We just need to got to the lifeboats. There will be time to work out if it was a reef, an iceberg or a torpedo later.

That line reminds of a Kenny Rogers song I think::
“There will be time for counting money when the dealings done!”
I have not heard that song for a while. Not sure if it is relevant actually.
I am wandering. Time to finish up.

On reflection Eddie is right too, some things are harder to give up than others. Its the little luxuries. Eddie has his bacon. Red wine is mine. For others it is their entire way of life being not negotiable; not one inch.

JOW