If you truly understand how primitive our current methods of lifting cargo, just into Earth orbit, are you will understand how far we are from that vision. We have hit a roadblock and no one has any realistic ideas how to bypass it. Fundamental physics challenge.
Next imagine, if we overcame that roadblock, that we are to leave the planet. And no, not that Mars BS. Imagine that we are able to settle some suitable planet. How will the humans behave just due to communications delay. You need many thousands, who would be willing to effectively sewer the ties with the rest of the humanity and start a new civilization. And they would need to toil for generations. Colonization of Americas but 1000x worse and much harder.
Yep! It's going to be the biggest challenge we've ever faced, and it'll be a never-ending one at that. We are indeed very far from that vision. That's fine — it's where we are right now.
If you were to explain Babylon to a hunter-gatherer from tens of thousands of years earlier, they wouldn't have believed you. If you were to explain modern global travel and communications to the people of Babylon, they wouldn't have believed you either. The problems of the future are largely incomprehensible to us, but that's ok. We are limited in our capacity and lifespans and can only each do so much. It's truly a team effort, whether we intend it to be or not.
The US was formed as an oligarchic republic designed to protect the interests of a small elite. Since then it has become the agent of a global oligarchy, be it localized (what we call the "comprador class" or just gobal - but that is mostly the higher eschelons of the PMC). And the US enforces this by hook, crook or by slaughter.
You could definitely make that argument, though it's far from what's on the label, so to speak — and it's not the reason millions came there. To get deeper into it, I'd say it's gone through multiple levels of purpose on many layers. For example, Andrew Jackson's defeat of the central bank followed by the creation of the Federal Reserve mark major turning points, as do US interventions in European wars. This could be good fodder for a future article. I say this, by the way, as someone who does not believe mass democracy has any future.
Millions went there because was all that land to take from the natives, to begin with. And then the persecutions by the feudal and oligarchic class in Europe, and then the many wars. Oh, that Potato Famine that drained the Irish greens, when the English let the "market forces" do their thing...
Why do you think that mass democracy has no future? Because it is not within us, or because the forces at play are too determined, at all costs, to not let it happen?
Yep, all that land to take, which was by a wild turn of history largely empty because of a plague that no one planned or predicted. What was left was basically a postapocalyptic society. Hard to imagine what the natives' ancestors went through.
IMO mass democracy has no future for a few reasons:
1) Societies that practice it are too pluralistic to have a cohesive common goal
2) Most people don't have enough knowledge to make wise decisions for the future of their country
3) Democracy as a moral mission is a spent force, especially after the last few decades of nation-building have proved to be so disastrous
4) Cycles of history turn this way regularly, and I think representative government's time at center stage is well past its prime
These are all just off the top of my head. Making it into a compelling argument could once again make for an interesting piece. What do you think?
Representative government? Nation building? You must be joking.
The Analects states that social disorder often stems from failure to call things by their proper names. Confucius' solution to this was the "rectification of names". He gave an explanation to one of his disciples:
A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.
If you truly understand how primitive our current methods of lifting cargo, just into Earth orbit, are you will understand how far we are from that vision. We have hit a roadblock and no one has any realistic ideas how to bypass it. Fundamental physics challenge.
Next imagine, if we overcame that roadblock, that we are to leave the planet. And no, not that Mars BS. Imagine that we are able to settle some suitable planet. How will the humans behave just due to communications delay. You need many thousands, who would be willing to effectively sewer the ties with the rest of the humanity and start a new civilization. And they would need to toil for generations. Colonization of Americas but 1000x worse and much harder.
Yep! It's going to be the biggest challenge we've ever faced, and it'll be a never-ending one at that. We are indeed very far from that vision. That's fine — it's where we are right now.
If you were to explain Babylon to a hunter-gatherer from tens of thousands of years earlier, they wouldn't have believed you. If you were to explain modern global travel and communications to the people of Babylon, they wouldn't have believed you either. The problems of the future are largely incomprehensible to us, but that's ok. We are limited in our capacity and lifespans and can only each do so much. It's truly a team effort, whether we intend it to be or not.
"But what purpose does the United States serve in a full world?" I would say one would need to look back at the biginning of the US origins...
https://squirrelbrain77.substack.com/p/the-lie-at-the-foundation
The US was formed as an oligarchic republic designed to protect the interests of a small elite. Since then it has become the agent of a global oligarchy, be it localized (what we call the "comprador class" or just gobal - but that is mostly the higher eschelons of the PMC). And the US enforces this by hook, crook or by slaughter.
You could definitely make that argument, though it's far from what's on the label, so to speak — and it's not the reason millions came there. To get deeper into it, I'd say it's gone through multiple levels of purpose on many layers. For example, Andrew Jackson's defeat of the central bank followed by the creation of the Federal Reserve mark major turning points, as do US interventions in European wars. This could be good fodder for a future article. I say this, by the way, as someone who does not believe mass democracy has any future.
Millions went there because was all that land to take from the natives, to begin with. And then the persecutions by the feudal and oligarchic class in Europe, and then the many wars. Oh, that Potato Famine that drained the Irish greens, when the English let the "market forces" do their thing...
Why do you think that mass democracy has no future? Because it is not within us, or because the forces at play are too determined, at all costs, to not let it happen?
Yep, all that land to take, which was by a wild turn of history largely empty because of a plague that no one planned or predicted. What was left was basically a postapocalyptic society. Hard to imagine what the natives' ancestors went through.
IMO mass democracy has no future for a few reasons:
1) Societies that practice it are too pluralistic to have a cohesive common goal
2) Most people don't have enough knowledge to make wise decisions for the future of their country
3) Democracy as a moral mission is a spent force, especially after the last few decades of nation-building have proved to be so disastrous
4) Cycles of history turn this way regularly, and I think representative government's time at center stage is well past its prime
These are all just off the top of my head. Making it into a compelling argument could once again make for an interesting piece. What do you think?
Representative government? Nation building? You must be joking.
The Analects states that social disorder often stems from failure to call things by their proper names. Confucius' solution to this was the "rectification of names". He gave an explanation to one of his disciples:
A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.