Jack, this one's for you

Well well well,

It is just friggin amazing what comes into ones head when exhaustion is the staple of the day. As one sifts through the static that is a brain in neutral running redline, one can be amazed at the little gems that pop out. What's more is the fact that sometimes those gems are not yours alone, but have common threads in other people gems.

Now for those of you who don't know me and/or Jack, there are those who call us twins. We look nothing alike (as Jack's always got a shit-eating grin on his face, and let's face it I'm FAR more handsome). We do however think along similar lines. We were among a group of 15 people getting pilots licenses (GO POWER 99 - CENTRAILIA) and have been friends ever since. If you want to get a sense of what I'm talking about go to his blog in the side bar there (or for those of you who have NO clue what I'm talking about - http://jackwesselo.blogspot.com). But for now, I'm gonna write a little bit here about a post on his site. Pardon me if I address some stuff to Jack, this is really pertinent to civilization as we know it.

I fully agree that our progress as individuals, and indeed as societies, has stagnated in the last 50 years say. Our level of technology has sky rocketed, our understanding of science has increased exponentially. However our perception of other cultures, other societies, even other people has not progressed with equal zeal. As a macro we see the world, and even the universe, as territory, resources which can be fought for, annexed, exploited. Granted we have begin the move towards a more enlightened view, but we're doing it at a fraction of the pace we should be. So it goes without saying that any advances we make are fueled, at least in part, by the instinctive need to gain said ground.

Now stepping away from the Macro for a second, there are those who see things in a different light, and that number is growing. The simple truth of the matter is this: the power hungry, the greedy, the warmongers are a slowly dying breed, at least one would hope. And I'm not talking as a pacifist, or a religious nut. I'm talking in pure, cold logic. There are really only two foreseeable options here: We smarten the hell up, or we run the road to our own eventual demise.

Most species on this planet are territorial in some way or another. They will fight with each other for superiority, they will kill for a better hunting ground, or more females, or whatever. The strong survive, the weak are cleansed from the gene pool. I can't help but surmise that no matter how much we advance, we are still driven by these most basic and ancient instincts. To get anywhere we need to undergo an entire paradigm shift.

That's where people like the Wright Brothers come in. They built a machine, though not to conquer the world. The fact that Air Travel has reduced month long trips to a whiskey on the rocks and a few hours of uncomfortable sleep, or the ability to deliver an explosive device accurately enough to choose a specific pane in a specific window from thousands of miles away, probably never crossed those minds. They did it to see if they could.

Fast forward to the dawn of the space age. Our first steps into the void we made using machines designed solely to assist in the gaining of ground. All the sudden we needed to gain ground in a different way. We took the warheads off, and strapped people on. The fight was on, but not with guns. There was loss of life on both sides, but not because rifle shells and carpet bombing. All of the sudden we were in a race to get up there. Why you ask? Not to see if we could, although that's a lip service that was paid. We were locked in an ideological struggle.

I fully agree that, given an altered history, our planet would be MUCH better off, and the solar system would be at our doorstep. But it hasn't happened, yet. Who knows what the future holds, any sane person would hope it's a shy sight different then what we've had so far.

So here it is, it's now up to you. Do I have ideas on where we need to go and what needs to start changing? Of course. Am I not going to share them? You could only be so lucky. But I want your ideas. And I'm not just talking to Jack here, I mean anyone who's reading this. Comment, link some blogs, call me names. Who knows what might come of it. But for now, I've rambled enough. Sunrise is not far off and the static in my brain is overwhelming. Stay tuned, this is not over. Tune in for next time, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

Cheers, and good night