Honestly, is there hope for the human race? What say you DU?
I'm finding all the killers, gun maniacs, hate mongers, climate deniers, banksters, corporatists, factory farming, amazon forest destroying, animal killing, raping, abusing etc., etc., etc. in the world so overwhelming that as much as I try I can't see a way to fix it and it makes me so sad and left with feelings of despair for my fellow humans. I sometimes think that we are turning the corner, becoming more enlightened, more compassionate. I do see much of that happening but then I read the news and I just shake my head.
Uggggggggg!
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We have expanded our habitat to nearly every ecological niche on the planet, so we should be very difficult to completely eradicate.
Now our civilization, well, that's fucked and unsustainable, and probably won't survive the century.
your exposure to the news. They are part of the divide and conquer scheme, that's why there are only five corporate media sources.
I went through that recently and decided to work on being a source of positive energy and try to encourage others to do the same. That is what is going to bring about change, not anger or violent reaction to the BS that bombards us on an hourly basis. there's a lot of good out there, we are just kept from being told about it because it doesn't fit the pogrom.
Give it a try, it takes some self discipline but it gets easier the more you practice it. Find some starting point and tell yourself that you choose to have a positive perspective about it, no matter what it is. My New Year's resolution is to be positive on the two blogs I participate in, this being one of them, and promote positivity at every opportunity when I have chosen to say something. It will make a difference for you and everyone you communicate with and encounter.
What you did there, I see it.
What is the most precious thing, supposedly? Life. We are born, and then life becomes - what? - preservation of life, avoiding harm, going to doctors, staying healthy. We have this big industrial machine to do what? Defend us, keep us living. (Of course, so do other countries).
And what quickly happens? Conflict, fights, we abuse our bodies with bad food and drugs and overdrinking and smoking - we drive fast, we protect our guns....damn, look at all of the killing done in the name of religion and any particular group's deity.
What I was really thinking this morning, more than is there any hope, was that if you take a broad view, "it" often makes no sense at all. Humans are just such flawed creatures.
So what do we do? What we can - make a life, find a loved one, care for our children, learn, develop - we do whatever we can to give our lives some meaning and make sense out of it all. As I get older, I am tending to go more "micro" than macro - avoiding things that piss me off, doing more of the things I love.
Odd thing to think about on #57 birthday eve...but your post was in synchronicity with my thoughts today.
Tick tock. Tick tock
Nobody doubts that climate change has the potential to get pretty bad, that much is true.
However, though, being the rational person that I am, I've also been able(unlike some people!) to put things in perspective: If you're old enough to remember the Cold War, you'll know that, at one point we had about 40,000 nuclear weapons at our disposal, about a fifth of them strategic. Had we gone into it with the Soviets at any point after the Cuban Missile Crisis, particularly in the '70s or '80s and with our full strategic arsenal.....the more immediate short-term impacts (50-100 years or so) on civilization, would almost certainly dwarf those of ANY plausible climate change scenario....yes, even the worst cases. Hell, even Apophis blowing up central China or a pandemic wouldn't be enough to destroy civilization as we know it entirely! A thermonuclear war, on the other hand, might just have done the trick; we can continue researching ways to mitigate climate change(sadly, reducing emissions may not be enough to keep us below 2*C pretty soon.)over the years, as well as adapting, by changing personal habits and such(which is happening, albeit not quite as quickly as most of us would like, I'd imagine). But you can't adapt to radiation and the blotting of the sun by nuclear winter(and then nuclear summer which may follow afterwards). And once the missiles had flown, there'd be no turning back; the Apocalypse would then by truly inevitable. We should be very thankful that we face no such conundrum with climate change, and that we have an opprotunity to effect positive change.
I have tremendous hope.
I've always had great faith in Humanity, in spite of the horrors we see all around, but I do have more hope than ever.
The growing world population needs more jobs. Corporate capitalism is in the business of destroying jobs by squeezing out more productivity, downsizing, and automation, all in the name of greater profitability. More people + fewer jobs = all kinds of problems.
Your mission, should you accept, is to invent an economic system that rewards job creation instead of job destruction.
Well, firstly, we made it thru the Cold War, that's a major plus.....am I right? (I mean, come on, let's be honest with ourselves; if we, or the Soviets had pressed the button, and if we shot off our whole arsenal.....let's just say it'd make even the worst plausible climate change, or Apophis impact, or pandemic scenarios look like a walk in the park, in terms of the probability of the total destruction of civilization.)
Truth is, we do still have a ways to go, but based on my observations over the years, we are indeed turning the corner, bit by bit(And I'm not just talking about social progress, either?). Only question is, how many more hurdles will we have to face before we can finally do so?
All I can say is, never give up, and never give in, no matter what. )
You forgot the BFEE!!! 
