tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post2258445413201762498..comments2024-03-29T05:55:02.417+00:00Comments on Restoring Mayberry: Comparing erasBrian Kallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11082602126850605083noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-69765071020273623072017-04-27T23:17:13.565+01:002017-04-27T23:17:13.565+01:00Steve, absolutely! And they can make good friends....Steve, absolutely! And they can make good friends. <br /><br />Anubis, I know! I find that both the blue and red teams in the USA have their own version of progress that they need to start questioning, and their own version of apocalypse that the other side laughs at. <br /><br />It's good to hear from you after the folding of JMG's blog; keep visiting!Brian Kallerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11082602126850605083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-62572378255322803212017-04-27T00:24:05.009+01:002017-04-27T00:24:05.009+01:00What could be more terrifying to confront than the...What could be more terrifying to confront than the idea that we humans could have chosen a better way of living? that the cowardice of all of our compromises, the globally-scaled stupidities of destruction and abandonment, our acquiescence to the madness of the herd, and the strangling of every murmur of imagination and conscience could all have been evaded. Better to assume that we are helplessly ensconced in the ruthless sweep of progress.Anubis Bardhttp://anubisbard.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-48991583083478563782017-04-26T15:35:27.916+01:002017-04-26T15:35:27.916+01:00Well said! I encounter the same sort of argument ...Well said! I encounter the same sort of argument myself on a regular basis, and couldn't agree more. However, to play devil's advocate here... Perhaps bringing back some of the "bad" from our past would solve a lot of our modern problems. As I see it, the present day triumph over the bad from our past is exactly what is taking us from bad to *worse*.<br /><br />For instance, let's take childhood mortality. Yeah, it's a terrible thing. But now that we have it greatly reduced, our population has exploded to the point where we're destroying our own life support systems. Thus, we've gone from bad to worse, and haven't really solved anything. In fact, I'd suggest we've likely traded away the lives of a million generations to come.<br /><br />I could make the same argument in terms of the green revolution in chemically assisted food production, easy global transportation on a whim, or the relative ease with which modern day people can now vacuum the oceans clean. <br /><br />Norman Borlaug, dubbed the father of the green revolution which saved millions in India and elsewhere in the world, also recognized that he'd done nothing more than buy us some time (which we've squandered). He promoted organizations such as zero-population growth upon realizing what he'd achieved.<br /><br />Just as deer need the bad wolf to keep populations from exploding and then crashing, we humans need some bad to keep us in check. <br /><br />The best option, of course, would be to restrain our own growth and consumption, so that we wouldn't have need of natural forces to keep us in check. It just doesn't seem to be part of human nature, however.<br /><br />The end of fossil fuels will in fact do exactly what we need in terms of bringing back our old demons, but I fear that it will come too late.<br />David Vealehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-21854487276352613942017-04-25T20:20:35.868+01:002017-04-25T20:20:35.868+01:00Hi Brian,
Your remark about horses reminds me of a...Hi Brian,<br />Your remark about horses reminds me of a favorite quote from an old Science fiction book. An old farmer extolls the virtues of his choice in appropriate technology, "Tractors make pollution and junkyards, horses make fertilizer and more horses."Curious Stevenoreply@blogger.com