Many of you might want to skip this rather lengthy polemic by Herbert Meyer. I tried to keep my response brief: http://braden.weblogger.com/2007/02/24 the first so called transformation - the war in iraq completely overlooks the disastrous consequences of modern warfare. this is not about a conflict between islam and the infidels. it is about oil. traditional religion is out dated in the 21st century, especially orthodox monotheism, whether it is judeo-christian, or islam. the enlightenment was indeed progress for the human race, but there are still powerful forces of dogmatism loose in america as well as in islamic countries. we live in the 21st century yet the religious right niche is a powerful tool of the republican party, holding back progress in stem cells, tolerance and womens' rights, etc. these people have much in common with the same jihadists who remember what happened in vienna on 9/11/1683. the beatitudes are not about waging war for god; this is not what jesus taught in the sermon on the mount. there is hope, however, that philosophers like shaw and spinoza are finally reaching an educated audience. scientists like einstein and dawkins are changing the way the informed think of the deity, yet the internet is a means of spreading dis-information as well as exposing the truth. the clash between cultures may end in chaos and collapse, or it may lead to modernity. the emergence of china and their relationship of codependency with the united states is fragile and could collapse. they need our markets, we need their products to maintain our opulent lifestyle, but they want the same as us. imagine the result of all those consumers driving automobiles and flying in airplanes. our poor planet is already or the verge of ecocide. we need to find renewable sources of energy and reduce materialist greed to save our planet. this guy completely overlooks global warming. what happened in the ussr was due to investing their economy in trying to match our military might and what have we learned? we continue to invest in military industrial hegemony and are so over extended we cannot defeat a bunch of jihadists using primitive weapons against the mightiest military machine the world has ever know. as for demographics, third world undeveloped nations will always surpass the affluent nations in population and their governments will continue their despotism as long as it benefits the west. democratic countries like india are an exception and are able to provide universal health care. this fellow suggests american familes should be sub contractors for their own health benefit and pension plans. he is terrified white anglo saxon christians will be overwhelmed by hispanics, arabs and other people of color. finally, this corporate capitalist talks about how american hegemony can maintain it's dominance of world trade through globalization, the same new world order hitler, and george herbert walker bush envisioned. this planet can not substain this vision of massive world wide industrialization. so it goes... jon mann
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