I like the sentiment. I like the impassioned tone and the call to action.
I'm sitting here thinking: where can I go to help run some machines, lathes, 3D printers, CNC, etc? How can I roll up my sleeve and help build what's needed in these times? How can I help move humanity forward through this pandemic and climate change?
In these times I often turn to the wisdom of Buckminster Fuller, who was more prescient about these times 50 years ago than most contemporary leaders:
> Think of it. We are blessed with technology that would be indescribable to our forefathers. We have the wherewithal, the know-it-all to feed everybody, clothe everybody, and give every human on Earth a chance. We know now what we could never have known before - that we now have the option for all humanity to make it successfully on this planet in this lifetime. Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment.
In so much of what is discussed, here, on HackerNews, and elsewhere, people express their solutions. What does it take for us to build and mobilize to bring those solutions to fruition? Why are we spending so much time spinning our wheels, our time and attention elsewhere, distracting ourselves, and putting our heads in the sand when problems need to be solved? Are the barriers political, educational, financial, etc? What systemic changes can be made if the current system is not working?
Thanks for the Buckminster Fuller reference! Such an underrated thinker.
I hate being overly cynical, but I think that there is a simple answer that can be found by looking at who’s incentivized to not make these systemic changes.
To take that further, there’s a subset of that group that is incentivized to actively prevent such systemic change.
It just so happens that those 2 groups wield the most authority, power, and influence.
So, that leaves me with a view that some may call ‘dystopian’, but I consider ‘hopeful’:
I try not to be too cynical, especially when the article was such a call to action, but I am often prone to it as well.
I feel like I do live a life of privilege and as such I must try to exercise that privilege in ways that won't contribute to the systemic problems as best I can--that I don't contribute to a loss of rights, nor a loss of our essential ecosystems. I do my best not to empower those who wield their power and influence to the detriment of others.
When it comes to the internet, I try to keep McLuhan in mind:
> Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don't really have any rights left. Leasing our eyes and ears and nerves to commercial interests is like handing over the common speech to a private corporation, or like giving the earth's atmosphere to a company as a monopoly.
I'm sitting here thinking: where can I go to help run some machines, lathes, 3D printers, CNC, etc? How can I roll up my sleeve and help build what's needed in these times? How can I help move humanity forward through this pandemic and climate change?
In these times I often turn to the wisdom of Buckminster Fuller, who was more prescient about these times 50 years ago than most contemporary leaders:
> Think of it. We are blessed with technology that would be indescribable to our forefathers. We have the wherewithal, the know-it-all to feed everybody, clothe everybody, and give every human on Earth a chance. We know now what we could never have known before - that we now have the option for all humanity to make it successfully on this planet in this lifetime. Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment.
In so much of what is discussed, here, on HackerNews, and elsewhere, people express their solutions. What does it take for us to build and mobilize to bring those solutions to fruition? Why are we spending so much time spinning our wheels, our time and attention elsewhere, distracting ourselves, and putting our heads in the sand when problems need to be solved? Are the barriers political, educational, financial, etc? What systemic changes can be made if the current system is not working?