I was about to say... and this is different from the present just how exactly? I really can't recall any substantive discussion of a substantive issue in recent years. I think you're wrong about poverty though; you should brush up on your Charles Dickens. At least we don't have workhouses any more.
On a related note, I saw this on a bumper sticker today: Never have so few taken so much from so many Dana On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:46:47 -0500, S. Isaac Dealey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I wonder where the Earth will be 100 years after we're all > > dust. Do you > > think we'll have anything worked out by then? How will > > large conflict > > manifest itself? How will it be resolved? Are we doomed > > to always handle > > things the same way we've done for 1,000 years, but with > > better technology > > in hand? Will war and the desire to destroy still be the > > impetus for all > > new technological development the way it's always been, or > > will there be > > sufficient funds available for purely beneficial research > > and development, > > without the necessity of power or profit motives? > > > I don't think things will change much, because I don't > > think *we* will > > change much. I fear that we'll still have the same > > driving factors of fear > > and greed that we've had since we stood upright. > > I tend to agree... I think even if we did eliminate war on the larger > scale, we'd still end up with civil corruption, crime and violence -- > increasingly so in urban areas as has been the case with "progress" in > general over the course of the last hundred years or so -- the more > densely we pack our modernized cities, the harder life is for those of > us at the bottom, and the more they lash out. It's interesting to note > that poverty has become an "evil" in recent years, whereas it was > never considered so before. > > Though ultimately I think even "solving all our problems" would be a > big problem of another kind. In a book called the Coming Anarchy (some > years ago) Robert Kaplan surmised that a lasting peace would result > not in a generation of Star Trek Federation types interested in the > betterment of themselves and their communities, but in a generation of > asanine metrosexuals who gape and chatter only about trivialities > because in the absence of strife, the inane would become "news of the > day". Look what happens on "slow news days" now -- even with "the War > on Terrorism", et. al. > > > s. isaac dealey 954.522.6080 > new epoch : isn't it time for a change? > > add features without fixtures with > the onTap open source framework > > http://macromedia.breezecentral.com/p49777853/ > http://www.sys-con.com/author/?id=4806 > http://www.fusiontap.com > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:151887 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
