h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I dunno pillow, pick an evil empire -

The Romans - bread, circuses, slavery, gladiators

The British - sandwiches, lager, law/parliament, cricket

The States - hamburgers, television, TV execution, adverts and gladiators...

I'd prefer ditching the whole 'empire' thing. Who sez power should be concentrated into nation states and territory? (or money for that matter)

pj

Well, it just happens that power is not distributed equally among all humans. Money is power because it stands for resources and the promise it offers motivates people to do things. Territory is power if those territories contain resources wanted by others. Nation states are powerful because people in those states agree to be loyal to the governments of those states and will do lots of things when asked to do so by the leaders. It is not a case of 'should' it's just the way it is. Some people just have less resources at their disposal as others as a result of quirks of history. If we are lucky the fortunate ones will realize this and share some their power with others. If not, well then not. I am looking forward to a day when humanity is united in itself and with the rest of nature and there is true equality everywhere but I won't be surprised if that day is still a long way off!

Unfortunately that's how the citizens of those evil empires upstairs think.
If we are lucky to be the ones, so Almighty help the others - they deserved it. It's history's fault and we'll be all equal one day. If they leave the empire for a day, they either become sad from what they see, or try to help . And One knows what help means - so the day when we'll be all united speeds up away in the future...
Not to mention the prevalent notion in some empires that things are meant to be as they are now.

Hmmm...

I've been re-reading these postings and am clearly confused. I believe that there is a route to Utopia on earth, and that humanity is capable of achieving it. On the other hand, there are very massive real problems in the world that i can't imagine a solution to...

I suppose I am one of the lucky ones. I heard lately something - i think a factoid from the UN or somesuch - that if you have a roof over your head, money in the bank, and loose change in a jar then u r among the richest of the world. i have 2/3 atm, and the bank currently seems to think my credit's ok.

i do want to help everyone to get to utopia . Even if this is an unattainable goal i reckon we ought to be aiming to get a near as possible to happiness for everyone. D'you know the hierachy of needs? I think its food, shelter, stuff+knowledge, love and self-fulfilmet, or something similar, in that sort of order. i don't suppose that any societal structure can empower all to get all they need, but much more can be done to provide universal housing, nutrition, healthcare, employment, education. The world and its people have many resourses of materials and knowledge.

is that hopelessy optomistic???

pj

No it's not overly optimistic. It's realistic. If we co-operate with each other as well as possible and use the resources of the earth as well as possible we can certainly live very much better than the way we are living right now.

I agree with both of you. There's always place and time for optimisism (like utopia cafe). But we need to know more - we might know what the hierarchy of needs is, but the world (the west) does not have enough information as to who needs food, shelter etc, and how much, and where and how. We need more conversations like that so that people start wondering.

I totally agree - look at what happened in Italy!
Unfortunately Switzerland is getting there as well - the populistic (and therefore popular?) right-wing party has
the knack to put all the blame on 1) foreigners 2) socialists 3) anybody who won't concur with them. They instil the popople with fear and tell who's responsible. The apathic, uninterested and under-informed part of the population can identify with that - so much easier than looking for reasons...

The story is told of an American chap stuck in a traffic jam and someone knocks on his window. He winds it down (buzzzzzzz - electric window) and is told that evil kidnappers have captured Doubleyou and are demanding a million dollars ransom or else they will pour petrol over him and light it. We are collecting contributions from everybody. So he asks, how much are most people giving? "Well, on average a couple of gallons."

*tee-hee*

pj