So, 2011 has slipped away like a person who has woken up at 5am after a regrettable one-night stand. It was a year that had many memorable moments, many tragedies, many great innovations - and the iPhone 4S.
I mean, seriously, why do people keep on forking out huge sums of money for barely-tinkered-with gadgets such as the 4S? It's ever-so-slightly changed from the iPhone 4, and suddenly all the fashionable kids must have one for fear of being laughed at for not having the newest gear. You know what they say about fools and their money, and it's not that they go on to live a long and prosperous life together.
But the acceptance, as a race, to be satisfied with the status quo worries me. Why don't we strive to better ourselves, as our ancestors did? I want my floating cars, nutritional pill diets and dogs in space helmets on every street corner. It's like the sense of adventure has finally been repressed, now we're the number 1 species on this planet. We're top of the pile, and have become complacent. All it takes is one small termite uprising and we're done for.
What would have happened if, back in the Stone Age, Neanderthal man looked outside and thought "Ooh, looks a bit chilly outside, let's never venture out this cave again". We'd still be there, twiddling our thumbs, but at least you'd not be here, reading this. Every cloud and all that.
Right. Anyway. 2012 has lept upon us like some predator-related metaphor. It's going to be a year full of excitement and meteorites and armageddon. That's if you listen to the tin-foil-hat brigade who are shitting their pants because the Mayans couldn't be bothered to calculate any more days past a certain date.
Hey, look on the bright side... No more Christmasses. I wonder how many 'believers' will not buy any presents for their child, expecting the world to end, then have to go on a massive panicky buying spree when they wake up safe and sound on December 22nd.... Only for termites to take over on December 23rd.
You read it here first. I, for one, welcome our new termite overlords.
I don't know if that is fully true, but I agree that within the commercial world... easier to make the same product with a different face, than take a risk at an actual different product. Video games are showing this, but, as everything else, there will be a fool who moves us further.
ReplyDeleteHey, neveza, thanks for commenting!
DeleteWhile innovation certainly is rare these days in the commercial industry, I also believe, now money is the root of everything, that there will relatively few 'groundbreaking' discoveries made during our lifetimes.
I bet nobody would sink a vast fortune into a venture 'just to see what happens' nowadays, unlike what has happened in the past when science was championed by rich nobles.
And even with something such as a cure for cancer (something I can certainly see being discovered in the next few decades), there is so much money made from prolonged cancer treatment that I actually fear the pharmaceutical companies could pressure scientists into withholding the announcement of a cure in order to make more money.
I mean, look at films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, from 1968. They were made in a time when money didn't hold the power it does now, where anything seemed possible 40 years onwards. And look what our actual 2001 brought us. No missions to Jupiter, no computers able to converse naturally with humans, nothing. It was a memorable year, but for all the wrong reasons.
It's sad that money holds such sway these days, but with USA, the worlds most active superpower (I feel Russia is nowhere near its potential, and China is too secretive) being a capitalist economy, it only makes sense that the rest of the world follows...
Unfortunately, as the banks all implode, it didn't get us very far, and into a shitload of debt.
Ha, yeah, I understand where you are coming from. I suppose I tend to be rather optimistic, plus, not sure how it is in the UK, but here, while money rules, it is also the man with the loudest mouth and influence. As I said, there will always a be a fool to lead us further. For a good deal of our advancement seems to be from one to five people out of a million. If diamonds were everywhere, we'd be having sex with green aliens like Kirk right about now.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I think... it may be better here in the US if the economy did collapse. It'd slow everything down, potentially even taking a few steps back, but the process of innovation and need for advancement will be priority, as nobody wants to live like cavemen again.
Personally, I feel, as far as the US, that people ought to have an independent society like a cult, but less on religion and more on developing the community. Like a guild on video games where there are trained specialist who are organized into a political structure, but very low-power that they don't rule, but contribute through trade. (like a business that isn't about money, but community) Silly fantasy of mine, honestly... and I do plan to have something like that when or if I ever start my own Martial arts school.
Either way, there isn't much to be done with society than being the deviant of society and hoping others follow along the example. if all else, enjoy the current life the best one can and hope you are remembered to the future.
Unfortunately, the man with the loudest mouth and influence is all too often the man with the money. Money = power in modern society, and is no longer merely a byproduct of power as in the days of yore.
DeleteNo longer are the rich destined to be rich and the poor destined to be poor. There are many examples of someone from a poor background setting up a business that takes off, earning them millions. And, on the flipside, there are also many tales of rich people squandering their money and ending up in the poorhouse.
I agree that the economy collapsing is probably a good thing. Western societies are living beyond their means and it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst. Unfortunately, people are used to their cushy lifestyles and obstinately refuse to change in order to drag their country out of the proverbial.
And just to go back to your point about diamonds... I honestly don't think, if diamonds were so abundant, that humanity would be richer for it. They'd not be 'rare', and therefore would probably be on par with some lesser gemstone such as garnets, and worth a similar price.
Your idea about a 'communal' group is intriguing, and I wish you all the best with your Martial Arts dream. Society actually used to function like that many, many years ago - e.g. Get someone to pick your potatoes for you, give them food and shelter for the night as payment. However, money is so ingrained in the human psyche, I can see there being problems trying to bring that system back and integrate it into modery society.