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First of all, I have qualified for the "Best Viewed with Microsoft® Internet
Explorer 2.0" logo. The main thing that you have to do to qualify is include a Internet
Explorer specific tag or two, and I have. For those of you suffering with some other
browser (such as SuckScape Annihilator 2.0 Beta, or even worse the AOHell Browser for
Macintosh [shudder]), here is what you're missing. The little Mystery Science Theater
quote at the top of the page scrolls across like a Times Square style marquee. Not that
cool, but who cares. Now I get to be a major dickweed like everyone else, and I get to
give a big old "Fuck off and Die" to SuckScape.
You also may have noticed a return to the sort of stream-of-consciousness style that this
page used to have. There is a reason for that: You try writing 500 words of original and at
least semi- humorous content every week or two. It's not easy, let me tell you. I have
agonized over it for the last two weeks, and finally just gave up. I mean, what's the point?
No one will listen anyway. People will go on in the little haze of conscious thought they
call life, read my diatribes on a regular basis, and still will be surprised when they are
killed in the dark times yet to come.
Seriously, why is it that the media continue to treat "The Net" as if it were some sort of
magic pill? This particular little bit of technology won't save your ass. Ever. Personally,
I recommend the Calico 9mm Carbine with the 50 round helical clip for that. A good knife
couldn't hurt either.
Right now there are two kinds of people: The connected and the unconnected. You are
obviously one of the former, or you wouldn't be reading this. When it comes down, there
will still be two kinds of people: the quick, and the dead. Being connected certainly can't
hurt your chances of finding out the news quickly, but that won't change your chances of
winding up dead, you just won't be surprised.
Lest you think that I am naught but a prophet of doom and gloom, read on, as there is a way
to avoid all of this entirely. However, I have a feeling you aren't going to like it. The
only way to avoid full scale race/class war before the middle of the last quarter of the
next century is to remove the gap between the haves and the have-nots. A lofty goal, sure.
Also, a goal that many before me have attempted to show the virtue of (Not the least of
which would be Engles and Marx.). Before you label me a communist, however, you have to
understand the whole picture.
The current economic system is not set up to handle the realities of the coming millennium.
We must, as a nation, and ultimately as a species, direct ourselves toward four goals in
order to avoid the iron age nightmare that awaits.
First, we must develop the means and ability to generate power cheaply and with a minimum
of pollution. We must also develop a way to deliver this power wherever it is needed. The
first is a solved problem. I won't go into the benefits of fission power (as a stopgap until
we develop fusion power, of course). If you are intelligent, you know them. If you believe
the bullshit put out by Greenpeace on the issue, I suggest you educate yourself. Heinlein
said it best in Expanded Universe. I won't bother to repeat it here. If you think fission
power is inherently bad, you are wrong. Period.
Second, we must develop the sciences of robotics and machine intelligence to a point were
we can rely on machines to do most of the work that humans do today. I am talking about
truly autonomous android type robots for the most part, but also the occasional "Doctor
Theopolus" type, along with those machines we recognize as robots today. Does this mean
putting literally billions of people out of work? Absolutely. Is that a bad thing? Not
really. Read on.
Third, the economic structure of the entire world must be changed to reflect the new
situation. Corporate entities must support those made redundant by machines. The trick is
to almost completely remove the human element from the industry required to upkeep the
civilization. There is no room for compromise here. Industry must be co-opted to support
humans. Profit becomes irrelevant. Personal wealth becomes irrelevant. For the first time
in history each and every man, woman, and child will face a life of endless leisure, their
every need met. Bill Gates made his fortune for nothing, as everyone will be just as rich.
Am I speaking of the end of capitalism? Yes. That is what must be done. Much like killing
a horse with a broken leg, it isn't pleasant, but must be done.
The last goal is perhaps the most controversial. Once the human race is freed from the need
to labor, we will be able to concentrate on the true goal: The successful migration of a
significant portion of humanity to the stars. While this doesn't seem to follow from the
rest of the goals, I assure you it is the only abiding solution. All of the work and effort
we as a species will have expended in order to reach the above goals would be for nought if
an asteroid crashed into Des Moines. Likewise for myriad other civilization ending scenarios.
Therefore, the true goal of all humanity must be to ensure that the species survives even a
truly cataclysmic disaster (e.g. A largish body, say Mercury, crashing into the Sun, thereby
bathing the entire system in deadly radiation and heat). The only way to insure survival is
to be elsewhere when something bad happens.
To those that may read this and scoff, I offer a little advice: You can be assured that
race/class war is coming. Not too soon to stop it, but soon enough to worry you. My first
order estimate is 10 years. I have minority friends who believe it will happen in the next
12 months. Not civilization ending at first, but bad enough to worry about. In any event,
I would be surprised if it had not happened by 2095. Even if you personally don't care,
your children or grandchildren will. Remember though, it doesn't have to happen. All it
takes is for you, personally you, the one reading this, to go out and do something about it.
Don't think I don't mean you, I do. Black or white, Republican or Democrat, Jew or Gentile,
Christian or Muslim, rich or poor, I don't care; I mean specifically you. You are personally
accountable for doing something to stop the collapse of civilization. So get to it.
Oh, by the way, may your traditional seasonal holiday or religious festival bring you untold
happiness and joy, and may you prosper throughout the coming year. You can read that as
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, in case you didn't know.
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