Civilization Reinvented
If anyone happens to ask, I happily and optimistically describe myself as a Christian, a believer in God, a writer, a published novelist, story-teller, poet, blogger, reader, creative dreamer, explorer, outdoors enthusiast, prospector, inventor, gardener, carpenter, builder, DIY'er, Jack of all trades, farmer, family man, father, husband, grandfather, and loyal friend to one's end, however challenging. The list is long, but as long as it may be, it feels inadequate and incomplete for any human being, much less an aspiring writer full of words and ideals. Wanting to change the world for the better. What then? Perhaps more importantly, I consider myself a dedicated observer of humanity; at times it seems we exist somewhere in the outlying fringes and watch, undaunted, as an experiment on a blue bubble in space drags us ever onward out to the unknown. Undaunted? The old adage 'there's nothing new under the sun' comes in handy, and 'the only thing sure in life is change itself' might be applicable. No matter; in the last few years we can easily suggest there have been changes on earth, in the environment, in weather, in probabilities; There have been disturbing changes in civilization, as usual not necessarily for the better, warfare, racism ugly politics, manipulation, not for 'improvement' of society, but for the benefit of social feel-good manipulators, the profit of power-mongers, self-awarded perks of the self-entitled rich, the development of seemingly uncontrollable, unethical corporate interests, parasitic freaks with over-the-top one-world agendas, and blatant, exponential growth and expressions of shameless, insatiable greed pursued at any cost to humanity as a whole. In the humble beginning of IncomingBytes.com it was my dream,"The modern world remains subject to the same economic disparities, with groups of defined peoples divided into ‘have’ and ‘have-nots’ –relative at all levels, from the personal and individual to the largest universal, international scale. The rich and poor struggle bitterly in established classes, while ideological and political warfare is shamelessly propagated. The powerful and political exploit individual weaknesses. Ambition coupled with greed, hedonism, and mindless power preys on fear and apathy of the masses to realize and maximize their own entitlements regardless of lack of compassion or ethics. " (1.0)
It seems the concept of logic or reason, somehow, is not only individually, but universally difficult to understand —or is it perceived as treason to become genuinely human, accept, initiate, and practice civility, which is currently trumped by hedonism, corporate culture, brainwashing, corruption, power and greed? Is there a silent collective, disheartened acceptance of destiny doom,and self-destruction? Disenfranchisement of the poor is perpetrated not only upon the poor as individuals, but as complete segments, classes of people, and ethnicities, all conveniently exploited by the powerful. The same indignities are suffered by complete nations of peoples on a global scale; the international community of nations itself is divided into 'haves and 'have-nots', exacerbated by historical exploitation of the resources of poor countries with little or no social benefit or remuneration, and abandonment when resources are depleted —a historical plague which continues unabated. Poverty, hate, racism, unrest, uprisings, civil war, ugly, uncivilized expressions of disenfranchisement and ambition surface, fueled by hate. Terrorism, expansionism, and most recently, arbitrary, lunatic 'declarations of imaginary states of perfection based on questionable ideology and misinterpreted religion' ensue-- and are today being forced upon populations with horrific genocide, murder and terror at a huge cost in innocent lives. As human beings, we must object strenuously to the essential wrong and foundation of evil of many existing processes; the pretense of 'advancement of civilization' is blatant hypocrisy. As previously noted:" Civilization at times is most uncivilized; and humanity is, at times, the least humane entity observable upon the face of this earth. It will not change until quantum changes are made in basic thinking. Humanity and civilization itself needs to be reinvented. " (ibid)
Can civilization be reinvented?
Civilization reinvented —essential for survival of the human species, —to be sustainable —will require a planned, thoughtfully-executed and somewhat brave quantum leap from the status quo. There remains little doubt a major overhaul is essential with current environmental, economic and socio-political models clearly unsustainable. Why?Think and consider:
- Interference by powerful nations in the political affairs of third-world nations and the Middle East have long-reaching and unintended results including the establishment of undesirable, ugly regimes. Can this policy be continued?
- There are enough nuclear bombs in modern nuclear arsenals to destroy the globe several times over;
- Can the world continue to consume resources at the existing rate? No.
- Is it logical to waste millions of lives and limited resources on warfare that could be used for the betterment of humanity?
- Is it logical or feasible to burn non-replaceable fossil fuels with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels already at the highest levels in 800 years—when clean technology and superior materials are readily available?
- Should the population of the earth continue to grow, uncontrolled, without adequate resources, without food and clean water, —when many world nations are already suffering starvation, poverty, overpopulation and inadequate water?
- Some 50% of known species of all wildlife have gone extinct in the last 50 years
- Deserts and dry lands are expanding
- Underground aquifers are dropping as ocean levels are rising
- Underground aquifers are being polluted with gas and oil fracking processes with toxic contaminated fracking fluids being disposed of underground
- Thousands of spills of crude oil and other petroleum products occur every year;
- Polar ice caps are melting and glaciers are retreating at an unprecedented rate
- Large 'dead zones' already exist in the oceans; traditional ocean fisheries stocks are depleted or contaminated with chemicals
- The oceans have been used as dumps for raw sewage and garbage; huge 'gyres' of floating garbage including plastic endangering sea life and birds are known to exist
- Choking and deadly smog already blankets major Asian cities a result of uncontrolled industrial pollution. Industrial pollution is ignored.
- ____________________________ (the reader is encouraged to fill in the blank)
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Is that Incoming I hear? 1.0 Civilization: https://incomingbytes.com/civilization/
Excellent post Raymond, but how very depressing.
Hi Conny, thanks…and yes, we do not know what the real answer will be–it does seem futile at this point, and also pointless–but we must NOT stop trying. It is our duty as writers to PERSIST, raise questions that must be asked–and if at all possible, offer hope.
Why should we persist? It’s kind of like baking bread, practice makes perfect “:) Thanks for commenting, Conny “:) ~R
Very poignant points and keen observation Raymond. And yes, we have to think for ourselves; for that miraculous plan B that can change the whole desolate situation that us humans are heading to. It’s like everywhere we turn there’s some calamity or the other. But then again … I hope. Just like you. Hope. That is one thing we have that can or should never be taken away.
Thanks, Mandy, I am hoping humanity can mature and take appropriate steps to reason–the whole of civilization is at risk with the status quo. Individuals must begin thinking for themselves –the steps we take now–will determine if humanity survives at all. Perhaps hope is all we can offer individually… Thank you for commenting, Mandy ~R
I have a saying ” There will not be a revolution as long as there is sports on TV” it seems that you can control the focus of millions of people at one time. Sadly it is the sign of the times. You ask a question of how to get people to think for themselves. I believe that is the current problem. People don’t want to think for themselves. The rise of Fox News as a trusted source of information is evidence to the fact that people will believe what they hear and never question that information. The people who do, well their numbers are small, and getting smaller. The powers that be know history all too well. It takes something disastrous to get things to change , for the better, or worse. I love people who try to change the status quo. You have to start somewhere.
I would ask you, how dire do you think things are here in the U.S.? I can see some very bad times coming. Sinclair Lewis’ book “it can’t happen here” comes to mind I recently got applications for passports for my entire family. I want the ability to leave this country before it gets too late to do anything “freely” I will not be a Doreemus Jessup and stay behind and fight. He ended up in a camp. The signs of fascism are on the wall. You list many of them. Great reading and you nailed it on all accounts.
Hi Don, first, welcome to Incoming Bytes!
Right ON. People do not WANT to think for themselves, too much effort is required. “Critical thinking” about reality and difficult issues– is outside of the ‘comfort zone’ of mainstream society, which is groomed and brainwashed to shop, consume, have fun and “be entertained.”
You have touched on a couple of astute observations –one of them being big sports on television–serving as a distraction for the masses.
“Big sports’ on television offers the viewer ‘proxy victory’ as their ‘teams’ win, offering them a ‘feel-good’ opportunity to ‘belong’, and be ‘loyal’ to a ’cause’ –without any effort or action on their part. Your observation re. revolution is closer to the truth than most people may care to admit. Why? “Sports” offers viewers proxy warfare, delusional battles, fights, blood occasionally, a chance to participate, revenge, and the high of “killing off” other teams (enemies) —much like the sickening syndrome of spectators watching the gladiators of old, battling to the death in coliseums. Greater glory, cheers and another beer, supposedly. Vicious cross-checks, fights in hockey, broken bones, ‘armour’, car crashes in facing–all keep the masses mesmerized and distracted. Another example of the SAME use of bloodlust. is the appeal of “The HUNGER GAMES”. The theme of the show itself is dystopian bloodlust used for titillation of the rich–complete with tacky “show hosts” and more distraction from REALITY. Subjugation and exploitation of the poor is the reality.
About Fox News…ha!…great point….. It is no coincidence that “Fox” is the American pronunciation of “faux” which is a French word for “false”. How perfect is that? —-But the masses never question the ‘news’ no matter how outrageous and full of lies and distortion it may be. That is all part of the media game of distraction–run conveniently by corporate interests and political bobble-head puppets. I call that the ” #corporateaucracy” –governance and legislation custom-designed to appease corporate interests, but operated by paid political puppets…to create the illusion of ‘democracy’.
How dire are things in the USA now? Budding Fascism may be closer than you think–the existing system has clearly spun out of control –if history is any lesson, it is the abuse and corruption of political ideology which ultimately causes downfall of nations, regardless of the political system in use.
That suggests other options, redesign of the whole political status quo, addressing and correcting all of the deficiencies, or sadly– replacement with another system by revolution or NOT….fact is, it would not be that surprising to see Davey Crockett-land fragment much as occurred in the USSR. And same with Canada, by the way.
Re. passports, will that help? As you are aware, when ‘rights’ are arbitrarily given, they can be arbitrarily taken away, as in any ‘commandeering of authority’.
Americans fled Europe to escape British imperialism –and have now created their own disaster that must now be dealt with. My favourite saying “Those who flee oppression oft’ flee to oppression of their own” comes to mind.
Problem is, there is no longer any place in the world to run off to. Canada seems to be following the footsteps of the USA. Ultimately, everyone may have to stay behind and take those small steps, hopefully, with wisdom and peacefully– before it’s too late.
Thanks for commenting, Don. Great points, and much appreciated. ~R
This is an excellent post, Ray. I would even say it’s one of your best. I understand the want to change the world with our writing. I do think that if we each did our part to help alter our environments for the better that those individual actions would together create an amazing result. However, many people aren’t looking at the long-term picture. They don’t see that future generations are going to be seriously harmed by actions they take today, such as polluting the earth. You encourage readers to think independently and for that I thank you!
Christyb, thank you so much for your encouraging words. Even if it is one small detail at a time, we have to try to at least preserve, if not better the world for future generations. I think as writers it is so important for us to influence a few people to think, examine what they do–they in turn may do the same; exponentially we can make a huge difference with the ripple effect; tiny pebbles, a few words of hope, –seeds that may sprout.
Your comment is very inspiring, Christyb…we will continue to smile and keep at it….thank you my friend. “:) ~R
Thank you Ray for the kind comment in return. As well, your feedback on my poetry was quite encouraging for me! I am glad we influence others and also one another as writers. Keep writing and we will keep reading 🙂 Wishing you a wonderful rest of your day!