Morning Beach Walk
3 hours ago
Sunday, October 15, 2017
The Big Picture
We like to think of progress moving in a straight line. Humans have gone from living in caves to sending probes to explore the solar system. Our grunts and gestures evolved into literature and song. Crude ideas dimly imagined grew into philosophy and science.
The problem with all that is the fact it ain't true. Sure, in general we've advanced in many areas, but it hasn't been a straight line. Even the ancient Greeks went through periods of decline where few could read or write. The same thing happened to the Egyptians.
At the end of the Bronze Age civilizations collapsed. There were invasions from the mysterious Sea Peoples, of which little is known. Populations crashed, trade networks failed, advanced government functions ceased.
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold
-W. B Yeats
Things really could fall apart again. We've some pretty good examples what that looks like. Puerto Rico and a number of Caribbean Islands are excellent examples. However, as bad as things are there, they are lucky. The outside world is intact and aid can be sent in.
Imagine much bigger disasters. The Yellowstone volcano, when it blows will affect most of North America. Recently I was reading where a nuclear EMP could shut down America's grid and that would eventually kill 90% of the population. A huge coronal mass ejection from the sun could do even more widespread damage.
The list could go on and on. The big question is what are we going to do about it? Governments could get their act together and make our civilization more resilient. There are fixes for many known potential disasters. Our extremely vulnerable grid could be hardened for example. It's not magic and while costly, is a lot less costly than everything going dark. Actually, protecting their populations against huge dangers are what governments should be doing. It's not something that can be done on a local or personal level.
We've fixed big problems in the past. I'm old enough to remember horrible air and water pollution. The ozone hole has stabilized and is rebuilding. Y2K really could have done serious damage had not government and business gotten their act together and fixed most of the problems. Once there is political will, stuff gets done.
Of course, stuff does not always get done. Right now our leaders not only lack to the will to solve problems, they can't even agree what the problems are.
That's where we come back to being prepared on an individual level. Our needs are basic: food, water, shelter, clothing, security -it's not a long list, unlike the list of wants. Having survival skills and some preps makes all the difference. It's the right thing to do. You can't help anyone else until your needs are attended to.
We are at a unique point in history where our knowledge is vast. I only hope we have enough wisdom to use that knowledge wisely.
-Sixbears
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"I only hope we have enough wisdom to use that knowledge wisely."
ReplyDeleteSome will; most won't.
True, but I've got to sound the alarm now and then anyway.
Delete1. We rely too much on electricity.
ReplyDelete2. We are too selfish.
3. We are too ignorant.
All those things could be fixed -if there was the will.
Deletewisdom and knowledge are two diferent things.
ReplyDeletethose with knowledge and intelligence often use them to their own profit ,many times at the expense of what is good.
the greater good is neglected.
the rest of us either haven't the intelligence or the knowledge to make improvements.
On my better days I have hope for the human race. Other days . . . not so much.
DeleteYellowstone has been in the news a good bit recently. Apparently, a University of Arizona study indicates that when the super volcano blows, it works up to it in a few decades rather than hundreds of years. So the "hundreds of years" warning period isn't accurate. Then too, the "thousands of years" eruption cycle out there is overdue.
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing a lot about the NOK EMP threat and it makes sense to me.
You are absolutely right, human civilizations are cyclic and there is repeat pattern of development, followed by decay and then collapse.
Some years ago New Scientist magazine had a long , well reasoned article called "Is the Collapse of Civilization Inevitable."Their consensus was that the answer is yes.
Diamonds book "Collapse" and the subsequent Discovery Channel documentary took the same stance.
We now have what's basically a world wide civilization. Who knows how ugly that will be when it goes down? Sometimes I wonder if there was a technologically advanced civilization before ours, but it fell so hard just about everything was lost.
DeleteThings like Yellowstone or an EMP probably won't happen tomorrow, but should either of those things happen the impact will be horrible and tragic.
Volcano or EMP, I'm not sure I want to be one of the survivors ...
ReplyDeleteJust think how interesting things will be. We might not get to watch it for very long though.
DeleteAt my age and with my health issues, I don't worry about things like that. No matter how hard we try, nobody gets out of the world alive. . . except the astronauts (grin).
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty cold and lonely out in space. Until they spruce things up out there, I'll take my chances here. :)
DeleteI've completely given up on governments and politicians. There is hope for government, but we'd have to get rid of the politicians first. I think it's pretty clear since the last election that they care more about their stupid king-of-the-hill game than real problems and the needs of real people. But as you say, no civilization lasts forever.
ReplyDeleteOur elected officials certainly are acting like this is the end of the empire. Their focus is so petty and narrow.
Delete