Short-sighted....

[mdehners]

I was recently watching one of the educational networks and on one of the shows a professor stated something I've always recognised;that Humans Evolved to deal with Problems directly Affecting them. If not Immediately Threatening...not very well for the majority.
Most folks don't think past their next paycheck, let alone how to make the life of their grandkids at least as comfortable as their own. The whole point of Leaders IS to overcome the Inertia of this Trait to get things done. A typical example is my folks. They literally can't Understand paying Taxes for things they aren't presently using, like schools, roads in areas they don't travel,police in places they don't live. They can both Vote to cut the taxes to pay for road repair AND complain that the roads aren't repaired...and NOT figure out why I'm shaking my head;>!
Truth is, they're pretty representative of most folks. Even some that have a "clue" about the Future don't quite "get it". I've family members and friends in the Survivalist Movement. They all have their stockpiles of MREs, Guns and Gold. As I've tried to get through their heads REPEATEDLY, if things get as bad as they think, those with ANY surplus will be trading for stuff they don't have and need....and what they'll NOT need is gold coins or bars.
Today I planted my Winter/Early Spring garden with crops that I would have laughed at you even a yr ago. When something that until this yr never got above 3 for a $1.00 now is more than a dollar each!?!!! Green Onions!?!! Turnips??!! If I didn't have my own well I couldn't afford to grow even this AND I LIVE IN FLORIDA!!!!!
But that's the world we live in and it ain't gunna get back to what it was even a few yrs ago. America is like Britain after WWII except there's no friendly ex-colony to give at least moral support to help them regain some of their former position and power.
Humans are, like all Scavengers, resilient. We'll survive and until Extinction we'll always be the Dominant "predator";> on the planet. But our chances of Seeding the Stars has Passed. The God/desses give each Sentient Species the resources to do so. Some destroy themselves in war. Some never get out of their system and some species are so short-sighted that they use those finite resources for individual enjoyment so that they never get anywhere.
Probably a good thing for the Universe anyway. If Humans had reached the stars, we'd have left a tail of trashed planets and systems behind us...
Truth,
Patrick Thomas Duffy

Comments

[ravan]

Sadly, I fear you are right. I am seriously thinking about investing in a food drier, so I can grow a few more things and then dry them for the off-season.

[mdehners]

What's amusingly Ironic about things to me is thatof all those I know, the one most equipped to survive ANYTHING that a Human could survive depends on Modern Technology to survive....ME;>!Probably why I HATE Bear Grylls so much. He isn't teaching Survival, he's "Infotanment" for those that never outgrew "Chew&Show" at lunch in Elementary school....
Guess if/when things "Float to the Top of the Tank" I'll have to Teach real quick:>. I've a number of "Outdoorsmen" friends but they wouldn't last all that long once they ran out of Ammo and/or Arrows. Besides,even if they didn't an all-meat diet has major drawbacks and they MIGHT recognise some Wild fruit CORRECTLY from preserves their wives and/or girlfriends put up but Starches? Greens?
Nope.
Cheers,
Pat

[heethen_crone]

The only reason I have a garden at all is because we have well water. Really need to pick up some of the courses offered by the botanic gardens on wild herbs and food.

[mdehners]

In highschool I read Yul Gibbons book and in college there was a course in Foraging. Everywhere I've lived I've made it a point to learn at least a dozen local plants. Add that to those learned earlier, recognising relatives and knowing how to test for Acute Toxicity(there aren't any for long-term uses of plants outside of a lab...luckly it's moot at present since you may Forage an unfamiliar plant once a month if you were really into it;>).
A big problem is folks confuse Edible with Tasty. Our subtropical crops list did a test a few yrs of processing Ornamental forms of Taro. They're the same species, but the food forms have been selected for both Taste and low Toxicity. In most cases, processing the Ornamental forms into non-toxic food left something that only someone Starving would eat....even though it would have the same good nutrient profile. Just a very VILE taste and texture!
Cheers,
PAt

[puca]

Without extinction there is stagnation and nature doesn't like that. We have to face the fact that we ARE slated for extinction as are all complex creatures (it is just a matter of when either through natural events or by our own stupidity). The archaeological record tells us this repeatedly. Judging by the 4 million year rule which is the average time of a species longevity, we are due. We know nature is great at nurturing life, but she is even better at eradicating it particularly those complex critters that specialize. Life in general likes just "being" but the bulk of it is not terribly ambitious. . .ask any lichen which are very successful at existing but not all that interested in being much more. So goes for most life on this watery ball. As for seeding space. . .hahahahahaha. We are a species wholly tied to this planet in a very thin biozone of roughly 12 miles thick, and only exist at the pleasure of microbes and bacteria. We are also a species currently ruled by fear and greed which is a recipe for doom. I firmly believe we bollixed up when we stopped being hunter-gatherers since that was our natural state that allowed us to exist in balance with this planet. Settling down has lead to over-exploitation of the environ and the resulting over-population and all the woes this brings. Stupid monkey.

[mdehners]

I personally don't blame Agriculture for our problems, it just stepped up the problems that already existed even during HG times; Pack and "Big Kill" Instincts. Even today most folks are looking for an "Alpha Male" to tell them what to do instead of Thinking(or Fixing Things) on their own.
I'm "Humanophilic" enough to wish that we didn't have all our "eggs" in one "nest". I'm realistic enough to Know that Chance Passed before Angel Flight pants went out of style;>.
Those I DO Feel sorry for is ANY species after us that does achieve Sentience, since their Chance to leave the "nest" well have been prevented by our Aquistitive,Wasteful Behavior.
A "Good Thing" about our present world is that the danger of Planetary Nuclear Sterilization has Passed with the loss of the US/USSR competition. Those that think China will bring it back forget Reality...that there isn't enough Resources left for China to bring itself up to that level. Well, unless they and us get Fundie Admins at the same time Hoping for a Divine Reset...
Cheers,
Pat

[puca]

IMO, we think we are so clever and indestructible but the fragility of our existence goes unheeded due to continued blindness of the facts. Our self-centeredness and sense of over-importance in the scheme of things will be our undoing. We also continue to over-specialize and within the general population we have had a massive loss of basics skills that were won over thousands of years that normally would allow folk to survive if ever the power went out. Our society and infrastructure is so high technologically based that any disaster man-made or natural would cause uncontrollable chaos and death. We will almost certainly be hooped if ever a supervolcano goes off, or some space object of some magnitude plops down on us, or the sun decides to have one of its huge solar belches that periodically wipes out 70-80% of all life on this planet.

[mdehners]

True. OTOH, as one of SM Sterling's characters in his EOTWAWKI book 'Dies The Fire'(great book, the rest of the series meh)points out, we are/were Rich enough that we had/have the time and resources to pick up hobbies like Smithing, Weaving, Spinning, Pottery, Swordsmanship, Archery, Bowry, etc. Those that do, will, those that can't WON'T.
For instance, I have the skills to do pretty much everything and make everything that would have been on a Pioneer's plot with the exceptions of Smithing(well)and Bow Making. They'd be Poor compared to an actual Pioneer but I'd survive long enough to get better at those skills.
Add that to both my professional skills (Nursing) and various hobbies(like Western Herbal Medicine) and if it wasn't for my Health problems I'd be in better shape than 90% of the folks I know Mid or Cybergard....
Cheers,
Pat