In my view, regarding the "perfect storm" of self-inflected crises staring mankind in the face right now, we are not going to effectively deal with the mega-problem because we insist on using band-aids when we need open-heart surgery, a new diet, and a good excercise program.
Jay Hanson says it is genetic. Even "emerging" industrial powers are repeating the same old mistakes of the past, indicating that we do not learn from past mistakes. Our governance is in denial, our capitalist mentality means we don't do much of anything unless there is personal profit involved, and thus we go for profitable fixes instead of painful solutions. Daniel Quinn described our society as an airplane that got its engines revved up and got slightly off the ground, but not able to remain airborn very long and about to crash. We have not stood the test of time, nor can we in our industrial/capitalist paradigm. It is not that we are not clever, we are VERY clever, but our knowledge does not translate into wisdom. And we are prone to violence as the ultimate means of dispute resolution. These are not indicators for the future of our unsustainable civilization, methinks. We are bringing other species to extinction at a far higher rate than of recent planetary history, but our biggest victims will be ourselves. The earth will survive, I feel certain humans will survive in relatively small numbers, and evolution will proceed as always... Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ Exercise your brain! Try Flexicon. http://games.msn.com/en/flexicon/default.htm?icid=flexicon_hmemailtaglineapril07
