Shift

Today is a day for dreams. 

Today is a day for endless possibilities, distant horizons, and imminent adventure. 

Today is for you; today is for me. 

Today does not care about yesterday, and does not wait for tomorrow.

Today is the dawn of the realization of hopes, of goals, of the rewards of hard work.

Today is the fulfillment of desire.

Today is in your hands.

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Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in the lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists…it is real… it is possible… it’s yours.

 

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
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featured artist: Mark Langan

Well versed and adept with numerous artistic mediums, Mark has concentrated his focus since the year 2004 by working strictly with a reclaimed material. A rather unlikely choice for which he creates fantastic sculptural works using nothing more than mere corrugated boxes, non-toxic glue, a razor knife, a cutting edge and mat. Artwork that is intriguing and unique because of its composition but also cries out making the visual statement…reduce, reuse, recycle!

 


 visit Mark's site, here. 















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And in the news, we have:
(via NYTimes.com)

Despite Signs of Recovery, Long Term Unemployment Rises

Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in past recessions, failing to create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed.

Some labor experts say the basic functioning of the American economy has changed in ways that make jobs scarce.

Large companies are increasingly owned by institutional investors who crave swift profits, a feat often achieved by cutting payroll. The declining influence of unions has made it easier for employers to shift work to part-time and temporary employees. Factory work and even white-collar jobs have moved in recent years to low-cost countries in Asia and Latin America. Automation has helped manufacturing cut 5.6 million jobs since 2000 — the sort of jobs that once provided lower-skilled workers with middle-class paychecks.

From the Clash of White Dwarfs, the Birth of a Supernova

For the last 20 years, astronomers seeking to measure the cosmos have used a special type of exploding star, known as Type 1a supernovas, as distance markers. They are thought to result when stars known as white dwarfs grow beyond a certain weight limit, setting off a thermonuclear cataclysm that is not only bright enough to be seen across the universe but is also remarkably uniform from one supernova to the next. Using them, two teams of astronomers a little more than a decade ago reached the startling and now widely held conclusion that some “dark energy” was speeding up the expansion of the universe.

But astronomers have not been able to agree on how the white dwarf gains its fatal weight and explodes, whether by slowly grabbing material from a neighboring star or by crashing into another white dwarf. These observations leave open the possibility that accreting dwarfs might be responsible for more of the supernovas in spiral galaxies like our own, which tend to have younger, more massive stars.

Devastating Earthquake Strikes Chile

A deadly, 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday, collapsing buildings, shattering major bridges and highways across a long swath of the country, and sending tsunami warnings along the entire Pacific basin. The earthquake struck at 3:34 a.m. in central Chile, centered roughly 200 miles southwest of Santiago, at a depth of 22 miles. 122 deaths have been confirmed within the first 12 hours of the quake, doubtless with many more to follow.

The earthquake occurred along the same fault responsible for the biggest quake ever measured, a 1960 tremor (9.5-magnitude) that killed thousands in Chile and hundreds more across the Pacific. Both earthquakes took place along a fault line where the Nazca tectonic plate, the section of the earth’s crust that lies under much of the Eastern Pacific Ocean south of the Equator, is sliding beneath another section, the South American plate. The two are converging at a rate of about three and a half inches per year. 

Earthquake experts said the strains built up by that movement, plus the stresses added along the fault line by the 1960 quake and smaller ones in the intervening years, led to the rupture on Saturday along what is estimated to be about 400 miles of the fault. The quake generated a tsunami, with wave heights of about five feet recorded along the Chilean coast and larger waves forecast for Hawaii and elsewhere in the Pacific. 

This earthquake appears to have no connection to a magnitude 6.9 quake that struck off the southern coast of Japan on Saturday, nor to the magnitude 7.0 quake that occurred in Haiti on January 12th.

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That's about it for today.


wildcoyote

Friday

Friday's feature:

Jared Leto

Actor, singer, and otherwise incarnation of human perfection

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I also have the spontaneous urge to discuss my Zodiac sign:

Aries

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, the leaders of the pack, first in line to get things going. Whether or not everything gets done is another question altogether, for an Aries prefers to initiate rather than to complete. The leadership displayed by Aries is most impressive, so don't be surprised if they can rally the troops against seemingly insurmountable odds -- they have that kind of personal magnetism. An Aries won't shy away from new ground, either. Those born under this sign are often called the pioneers of the zodiac, and it's their fearless trek into the unknown that often wins the day. Aries is a bundle of energy and dynamism, leading people along with its charm and charisma. The dawning of a new day -- and all of its possibilities -- is pure bliss to an Aries.

The symbol of Aries is the Ram, and that's both good and bad news. Impulsive Aries might be tempted to ram their ideas down everyone's throats without even bothering to ask if they want to know.Along with those qualities comes the sheer force of the Aries nature, a force that can actually accomplish a great deal. Much of Aries' drive to compete and to win comes from its Cardinal Quality. Cardinal Signs love to get things going, and Aries exemplifies this even better than Cancer, Libra or Capricorn.

Aries is ruled by Mars, the God of War. Unafraid to do battle, these folks are bold, aggressive and courageous. They can summon up the inner strength required to take on most anyone, and they'll probably win. Aries do not lack energy or vitality, and they can stay in the game longer than most anyone else. Now that's a winning edge. Rams are also, for the most part, independent and well aware of their own interests in a given situation.

The element associated with Aries is Fire. Think action, enthusiasm and a burning desire to play the game. Aries love physicality, so they won't sit on the sidelines for long, if at all. They'll jump into the fray full force and will contribute much in the process. Aries also play as hard as they work ;)

In personal relationships, Aries natives are frank, high-spirited, direct and candid. They make for enthusiastic and generous friends, but need to curb their competitive impulses and the manner in which those impulses affect those around them. Subjects of this Sign also need to learn how to temper their natural aggressiveness and use reason--coupled with diplomacy--when dealing with others. Since those governed by Aries like to get their own way and often pit the wishes of self against what is best for any partnership, this can frequently lead to conflict. The capacity for deep affection should result in faithfulness with regard to both love and friendship, but these natives need to guard against an inclination toward jealousy and/or over-possessiveness. 

The great strength of the Aries-born is in their initiative, courage and determination. These folks love to get things going and are fearless along the way. Their dynamism and competitive spirit add considerably to any of their endeavors. 

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yep. that's me in a nutshell.

wildcoyote

Hiatus

Dear Modern Synthesis:

I am terribly sorry for being entirely too preoccupied to post for a week. Oh well; life happens.

Let's get down to business:

Today's featured artist:

Morgan Blair, from Brooklyn, NY

visit Morgan's wildly colorful website,

here

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And we have a quote for today:

If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.

 
- Isaac Asimov

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A couple of worth-while articles to read and consider: 

Reduced Brain Size of Homo floresiensis Hints at Her Likely Ancestors

this is from Anthropology.net

...And, for the record, brains tend to UTTERLY DISINTEGRATE over time (sometimes, the brain case is filled in with minerals, a process called petrification, but this does not happen often.)

Using cranial cavity volume as a general estimate of brain size is legitimate, but theorizing over compositional elements like an expanded neocortex, and comparing these theoretical measurements with those of other extant primate species, is bad science. It can't really be proven or dis-proven. 

However, these fellows' study makes an interesting case for using new investigative scientific techniques to re-examing evolutionary and phylogenetic relationships.

This article comes complete with abstract, summarized conclusion, and additional scientific criticism and commentary. ENJOY!

Spinster Aunt Begins Post with "I", Tells Anecdote

from IBlameThePatriarchy

I Blame The Patriarchy is the patriarchy-blaming blog that has been advancing the radical feminist views of Jill Psmith and/or Twisty Faster, a gentleman farmer and spinster aunt doing the butt-dance in Cottonmouth County, Texas since 2004.

This hilarious article is (mostly) about the hideousness of chanting and brainwashing that comes along with organized religion; in this case, it just happens to be Christianity (imagine that). 

here's an excerpt:

I recently blew out a lobe laughing a cold, ulcerated laugh. It happened yesterday, when my sibling Tidy told me a sad tale of Christian insanity, which tale I now relate to you, right after I bore you with some background details.

For reasons that, to my surprise, turned out to be none of my goddam business, Tidy has started sending my niece Rotel to one of those honky upper-middle-class god-affiliated schools where the kids wear uniforms and attend mandatory “chapel” sessions. For the past few months I have been nervously eyeballing the child, ever alert for signs that the faithy godbag indoctrination has begun to take, so that I might countermand that moron crap with an auntly intervention of Question Authority-ism. So far it’s been all clear, which is why it was quite a jolt when, during a recent babysitting gig, young Rotel broke into song, and the song she broke into was not “Fried Ham, Fried Ham, Cheese and Baloney,” but a horrifying ditty about dewdrops of mercy and Jesus and how he is the “light of the world.” The goopy dewdroppy Jesosity blew my mind. There was only one possible response.

“Holy shit!” I said...    read on...

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To end the post, let's finish with a comic, via XKCD

 

and here's a classic LOLZ example:

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That's all, today!

wildcoyote

Strepshirine of the Day: the Slow Loris!

Slow Loris Loves Getting Tickled.

But really, Slow Loris should not be a pet...

 

 here's why.

Slow Loris belongs in the wild;

Illegal animal trade is dangerous for her, and all other Slow Lorises.

 Even if she's so cute and adorable!

These are T-shirts designed by Slow Loris co.:

slowshirts.com

...and cute boys. What's not to like?


In case you forgot what Slow Loris looks like:

Let's keep our new friend Slow Loris around for our children to see, in her natural habitat!




wildcoyote

All bombed out.

Today's post was going to be about a very exciting little strepsirhine primate, the slow loris. In the face of nuclear armament, however, it will simply have to wait until tomorrow. *sigh*

So, it would seem like all of the issues up for discussion today have a good side and a bad side. Let's start with an issue that has largely fallen out of public favor these last few weeks:

First lady on health care: 'Doing nothing ... not an option' 
via CNN.com (for the full article, click the link above!)

"We don't have a choice," the first lady told CNN's Larry King in an interview that aired Tuesday night.

"When we look at these statistics, we're spending billions of dollars on preventable diseases, and new health care legislation could go a long way to improving prevention, first and foremost."

She addressed the need for people to have access to specialists such as pediatricians who can gather critical information and track it.

"So we have to get this done and I'm hopeful that Congress will come together, that the American people will recognize that doing nothing is absolutely not an option."

At least she's still confident in lawmakers' ability to enact effective, efficient health care policy. The rest of us aren't so sure--especially after that horrid Stupak Amendment.

But she is right: doing nothing is not an option. Everyone deserves affordable health care. Everyone.

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An update on the positively scandalous affair that is the Prop 8 Trial:

Judge Overseeing Prop 8 Trial is Gay (*yays!*)
 via American_Asylum

It would appear as though Judge Vaughn Walker (I knew I liked him...) has been outed from his closet. Which is a two-edged sword, really; it certainly isn't fair for this man's private, personal life to receive such celebrity and publicity, regardless of what it may mean in lieu of his ruling. This from TheKnightWhoSaidNi:

 Before you get all excited, though, keep in mind that this district judge – Vaughn Walker - is a closet-case who has only been outed through media speculation and annonymous sources. Also, he has made homophobic rulings in the past.

It’s unclear whether or not he’ll rule in favor of or against Prop 8. If he rules against it, it’s a victory for us, but the opponents will now almost certainly appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and they’ll make an issue of the judge’s homosexuality, claiming that it’s a conflict of interest.

Given that the nation’s Supreme Court recently ruled that corporations have personhood, at least when it comes to political campaign contributions, they might just be stupid enough to get railroaded by a petty complaint about Judge Vaughn Walker.

 Here, here!

more on this article @ PinkNews

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and last, but certainly not least...

Nuclear Armament:  

mankind's most depressing innovation

or,

Why atomic weaponry scares me shitless.

Let's examine the issue, most recently brought into media, political, and public focus by:

Iran to begin enriching its stockpile of uraniumvia NYTimes.com

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency on Monday that it would begin enriching its stockpile of uranium for use in a medical reactor, prompting officials from the United States, France and Russia to call for stronger sanctions against Tehran.

Late Monday in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that it had received a letter from Iran declaring its intent to begin enriching uranium up to 20 percent.

If Russia does join the other world powers in backing President Obama’s call for tougher United Nations sanctions, that would isolate China, which has said such action could make finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis even more difficult.

The United States has begun circulating ideas for possible sanctions among its closest allies on the Security Council and is hoping that Iran’s announcement might convince China that Tehran’s real purpose is to create a weapon, and not the civilian use of nuclear energy.

 Well, that should sit well with the UN. And Obama. NOT.

“We have bent over backwards to say to the Islamic Republic of Iran that we are willing to have a constructive conversation about how they can align themselves with international norms and rules and re-enter as full members of the international community,” President Obama said in a news conference on Tuesday. “They have made their choice so far.”

The United States, Mr. Obama said, will be working on “developing a significant regime of sanctions that will indicate to them how isolated they are from the international community as a whole.”

The goal would be to increase the cost for those who do business with Iran so much that they would cut off ties.

French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, (France currently holds the position of Security Council chair) has been aggressive in pushing for new sanctions, especially in the energy sector, according to American and European officials.

So what's our solution? Keep reading:

U.S. ready to offer Iran alternative to nuclear plan
via CNN.com

In what appears to be an attempt to call Iran's bluff on its nuclear program, the United States is poised to offer Tehran a way to obtain medical isotopes that Iran says it desperately needs to treat cancer patients, according to the State Department.

The United States, along with "other countries," will present a new proposal to the International Atomic Energy Agency to provide Iran with those isotopes, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tuesday.

"Our point is, if Iran feels it has a specific need, we are willing to engage constructively and try to identify ways in which the international community and potentially the United States can meet that need," Crowley said.

 This is all well and good, except that the UNITED STATES STILL POSSESSES A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF NUCLEAR CAPABILITY. Including weaponry. So, who are we to decide who can and who can't participate in nuclear development?

Why only Western European nations? When N. Korea, China, Russia, and Iran express intent to develop or possible stockpiles of nuclear technology, the rest of the world (by which I mean the privileged elite controlling the United Nations) has a conniption. And rightly so, honestly, although WE certainly are not offering up any plans to disassemble or stop developing our own arsenals, are we...?

However, I do respect Obama's intentions. I respect that at my age, he was writing about the necessity of nuclear disarmament, and a vision in which the world was free of the threat of nuclear and atomic warfare.

Twenty-six years later, the author, in his new job as president of the United States, has begun pushing for new global rules, treaties and alliances that he insists can establish a nuclear-free world.

“I’m not naïve,” President Obama told a cheering throng in Prague this spring. “This goal will not be reached quickly — perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence.”

Yet no previous American president has set out a step-by-step agenda for the eventual elimination of nuclear arms. 

(via NYTimes.com)


For a real--and very much disturbing--understanding of the horrors of nuclear and atomic warfare, check out this book:

The Last Train From Hiroshima

 by Charles Pellegrino

 From the NYTimes:

The term “ground zero” originated with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those who survived up-close encounters with these new American bombs did so thanks to sheer, blind good fortune. They were in exactly the right place at the right time, sheltered from the gamma and infrared death rays, and then from the flattening blast, in spots that acted as natural shock cocoons.


The Hiroshima survivors learned invaluable lessons about surviving a nuclear detonation, but they were discouraged from disseminating this knowledge in the immediate aftermath. Japan’s military leaders did not want to spread “bad stories” and “rumors of defeat.” Some of these survivors talked anyway. They surely saved some lives.


The Japanese called the atom bomb the pika-don, the “flash-bang.” One lesson about it was this: If you see and survive the pika, you have a few seconds to duck. The don is on its way. Another lesson: wearing white helps. One doctor, Mr. Pellegrino writes, “reported numerous instances of women and children wearing patterned clothing, sometimes displaying flowers on white cloth. The dark flowers were now branded permanently onto their skin.” 

The atomic bomb blast over Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 1945

Yet another lesson: the sound of a B-29 bomber diving and flying like hell, straining its engines to get out of the way, is a sound to take seriously.


Many, many other things were still to be learned about these bombs, each worse than the next. People who wore wristwatches were branded where the metal met their skin, and quickly developed radiation sickness. The bombs acted like a microwave oven, heating metal until it glowed.


Many people reported that the smell of burning human flesh was “quite similar to the scent of squid when it was grilled over hot coals,” Mr. Pellegrino writes, “with a few pieces of sweet pork thrown alongside.” And then of course were the lingering horrors of what the Japanese called “atomic bomb disease.”


“The Last Train From Hiroshima” is a clear-eyed catalog of every such horror, and not for the weak-stomached. Mr. Pellegrino follows his survivors as they trudge through wastelands that make “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy read like “Goodnight, Moon.” He describes the so-called “ant-walking alligators” that the survivors saw everywhere, men and women who “were now eyeless and faceless — with their heads transformed into blackened alligator hides displaying red holes, indicating mouths.”


The author continues: “The alligator people did not scream. Their mouths could not form the sounds. The noise they made was worse than screaming. They uttered a continuous murmur — like locusts on a midsummer night. One man, staggering on charred stumps of legs, was carrying a dead baby upside down.”

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Among the worst tragedies of America's brutal, bloody history, the bombings are to date the ONLY attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare, killing nearly 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day.

The point I hope you take away from today's post:

NUCLEAR WEAPONS SUCK.

And no one should have them.

Period.

wildcoyote

The Good, The Bad, and The Undead

Today features the good, the bad, and the undead. Here goes:

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the Good:

Artwork from Laura Bell, from Atlanta, Georgia.

  visit her site here!

Laura, on her artistry:

This current work explores the possibilities for disruption and fluctuation that grow out of an orderly structure.
The images reference the natural, physical world, drawing on forms from deep-sea flora and fauna, microscopic organisms and cellular structures, and cryptogamous plants such as algae, lichens, fungus, and mold.
The astonishing and often unsettling beauty found in natural phenomenon is explored through the use of imaginary, hybrid, and existent imagery.

The repeating marks and forms are derived from patterns of repetition found in biological systems, as well as by the regularity and repetition found in computer generated fractals and lace patterns. While the images are built on symmetrical and orderly forms, the drawings evolve and develop into a semi-chaotic tangle of ropy vines, bulbous growths, and spiky creatures. This rampant growth could recall the enchanted, yet sinister world of a child’s fairy tale, the strange and unsettling beauty of deep-sea life, or the mutation of a cellular structure by a virus or disease. The delicate intricacy in the drawn and painted marks lures one in for a more intimate experience, and presents a dream-like, interior world populated by forms that are both familiar and mysterious. 

And this brief Google Search Story, via WordTravels:

Search On.

That opening phrase, of course, from Jack Kerouac's On The Road.
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the Bad:

Sarah Palin never fails to entertain. At a convention where she gave a $100K speech, she apparently had a bit of help to remember her main points:

That's right. She had notes on her hand. And these were not notes about the pre-screened, PREPARED questions she was to answer, but notes about her party's main issues?! In case you're wondering what those little scribbles say:

• Energy
• Budget cuts
• Tax
• Lift Americans                                                             .            Spirits

I think my favorite part of this is that no one is really surprised that, oh, SHE'S STILL A MORON.

This next article is really depressing and infuriating:
from dailymail.co.uk

A soldier waterboarded his four-year-old daughter because she was unable to recite her alphabet.

Joshua Tabor admitted to police he had used the CIA torture technique because he was so angry.

As his daughter 'squirmed' to get away, Tabor said he submerged her face three or four times until the water was lapping around her forehead and jawline. 

Tabor, 27, who had won custody of his daughter only four weeks earlier, admitted choosing the punishment because the girl was terrified of water.

The practice of waterboarding was used by the CIA to break Al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay. Detainees had water poured over their face until they feared they would drown. President Barack Obama has since outlawed the practice.

Tabor, a soldier at the Lewis-McChord base in Tacoma, Washington, was arrested after being seen walking around his neighbourhood wearing a Kevlar military helmet and threatening to break windows. 

During a police interview Tabor allegedly admitted grabbing his daughter, placing her on the kitchen counter and submerging her face into a bowl of water. 

Sergeant Rob Carlson said the punishment was carried out because the girl would not recite the alphabet. 

Police have not revealed Tabor's military service, but his base is home to units that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read more...

 The controversy over this issue seems not to be the culpability of the father, rather, that he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his service, which led to his actions concerning his child's compliance.

I think, to serve on the front lines, one must have a bellicose, pugnacious, and abusive personality to begin with. This man clearly only feels at home when he is actively harming another human being, be that his child or someone else's. NOTHING excuses his actions, and ONLY HE may be held liable: HE made the decision to use WATER TORTURE on his little girl, a pre-schooler.

However, it does make one wonder what damages the horrors of war are capable of doing to the human psyche... WHICH IS WHY WE SHOULDN'T HAVE WARS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

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Phew. To let off some steam, let's move on to:

theUndead

Alhambra Art Exhibit Brings Zombies to Life

via Pasadena Star-News

A Zombie Walk down Main Street in Alhambra signaled the opening of Zombies in Love exhibition at the Gallery Nucleus, Saturday, February 6, 2010. 

(Correspondent photos by Mike Mullen)

My thinking is, I would have gone for my loved ones and my machete first... and then once I figured out that it was only a faux-zombocalypse, I would certainly have enjoyed it. 

...I might have enjoyed it a little bit if it were real, too.

wildcoyote

PS: Enjoy :)

 

(you can find it up over there ↝ )

Inspirato

Today, I give you wisdom, beauty, and a double dose of humor. No, I'm not talking about Demetri Martin.

Let's start with Wisdom:

What moves me, what gives me exquisite pleasure, is to find in each of the creations of man an artist, a brother, who shows me with all his strength and with all his tenderness the face of Nature under a different guise.

- Emile Zola

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And on to Beauty:

Today's handsome man is Project Runway's Jack Mackenroth, designer, athlete, and activist.

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And for the close, I present to you two bits of humor I found floating around in the cybersphere:

And this gem from a past SNL, ft. Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, and Paul (his hotness) Rudd:

Happy Sunday Fun Day!

wildcoyote

Present and Future Realities of a Globalized World

I

t is sometimes hard to see clearly in our present world of cyber fog. This fog blurs us—and nearly everyone around us—to present and embarrassing social realities; it traps us in our leather office chairs; it clouds our brain with stories, images, criticism, and the public exploitation of private lives.  This is simply an unacceptable way of life.

We must venture forth from this selfish ignorance and blatant disregard for what goes on around us. We can no longer tolerate intolerance, discrimination, or inequality. We must no longer disrespect our planet’s natural resources, with which we build all of the various technological additions that become increasingly necessary for determining our quality of life.

We shall embrace the credo of recycling, reusing, and sustaining. Ours is a world in which we shall seek to preserve, coexist, create, and re-create. Ours is a world full of wonders innumerable, experiences unimaginable, and sometimes, the ability to recognize our deficiencies as a population. The human race has reached an interesting tribulation in our newfound responsibility for the stewardship and maintenance of our celestial body.

We must instill in the world a sense of unity, cooperation, and progress; we must end war, nuclear armament, and find mutual agreement in contracts of peace, equality, and responsibility—the highest and most glorious of human ideals.

In a world where we have the ability to correct our past mistakes of war, ignorance, arrogance, and the worst of human emotions—hatred—we have the duty and the responsibility. We, as a beautiful and magnificently complex organism, have the obligation to help any of our fellow species in need. This altruism will lead to the success of the human race. What do I mean by “success”? Let’s take a look at this word:

            Success /səkˈsɛs/ noun, from Latin successus, (see succeed):

            The accomplishment of an aim or purpose:

                        - a person or thing that achieves desired aims and attains prosperity.

                        - obsolete: Outcome.

In order to be successful, we must come together and agree on terms of peace, prosperity, and protection. Only then may we achieve, as a united and committed global people, our desired aims of liberty, equality, and cooperation. If we cannot agree that whenever it is in our power to make the world a better place by harnessing our own ingenuity to resolve inequality and share information, it is also our duty, then it may well be the last meaning of the word “success” that best applies herein. Thus, in this “obsolete” sense, success can mean either for good or for ill.  Humanity is faced with a choice: to be the engineers of our own destruction, or to put aside our differences and give up our disposable and ignorant lifestyle.

How is this to be achieved? Only through an education: one that doesn’t exclude any human person for any reason, whatsoever. Every human child deserves the benefit of sharing in the vast multiplicity of human experiences, and to learn, from many different perspectives and points-of-view, about the world around them.

This education must be granted to all peoples of the Earth, without class favoritism, elitism, or inaccessibility. The universal availability of exemplary education should already be a social reality, not a goal. It is only by making it so, that we may redeem the guilt we deserve for the present social realities of those less fortunate than ourselves. An extreme divide in class and the persistence of ethnocentric prosperity at the misfortune and exploitation of others, as well as excessive partisanship, has characterized the tumultuous history of mankind. As we enter a new era of incredible possibility, it is time to embrace a new destiny, one of continued innovation, motivation, and prosperity.

This also means an agreement on a symbiosis with and on our planet. We cannot keep abusing our resources, and we cannot keep proliferating at such a parasitic rate. Again, we turn to education: education without moral subjectivity concerning biological processes, life experience, and the acceptance of many ways of explanation of extant and past phenomena. We must learn how to live in harmony and homeostasis with our planet, even as we discover ever more of her most intriguing and beautiful mysteries.  We must invest in sustainable technology, research, and programs. We must find ways to secure our abundant subsistence without damaging our land or ourselves; we must share these ways equally and the subsequent rewards of the detriment-free fruits of our shared labor. We must understand the human body, mind, and spirit; we must utilize our knowledge therein to the benefit of each and every person, as suitably as we are equipped to do so.

We must make it possible and plausible for every citizen of the world to partake in this prosperity. We must provide this ability and opportunity to anyone willing to achieve the common goal of peace, learning, love, and success through cooperative effort. We must give people the tools to explore and create their own destinies; to learn to make a meaningful contribution—to impact the world, be it in entirety or in a community—while doing something in which they both excel and enjoy.

Profit, in my mind, always comes at someone else’s expense. It does so necessarily, because the only way to get ahead in the rapid, senseless, and largely oblivious social and economic foray is by exploiting other people. This happens on many different levels, some of which are a disgusting blemish on the face of humanity. The sex trade, gender inequality, extreme poverty, prevalence of disease, and ethnic exploitation are the most shameful realities we face as a species; our recent legacy to the planet is one of barbaric manipulation, senseless accusation, and unforgivable examples of cruelty to our sisters, our brothers, and to our fellow human beings.

We must away with the methods, strategies, and inadequacy of marginalization. We must embrace fair, free trade, through a system where none have substantially more than the rest. We must extend our innovations in transportation and communication to network these systems of trade, commerce, and the flow of goods and services. We must harness our potential for technological ingenuity to make these systems efficient and non-destructive.

It is also essential to encourage the preservation of the human tradition. Art, music, literature, astronomy, the study of the natural world, archaeology, history, the study of language and philosophy must be allowed to flourish and embrace the various methods and products of individual and collective expression. We must encourage and accept this expression in its many forms. We must look at what we have been, what we are, and what we wish to become, with eyes focused on the holistic benefit of all. We must also look through many different eyes to find a vision—and a reality—in which we can all bring to pass.

We want our children, and their children, and beyond, through countless generations of human existence, to learn the value of tolerance, goodwill, and of responsibility. We want them to look back and realize that the decisions, cooperation, and action of our generation closed the gap between haves and have-nots, and ensured the future prosperity of humankind: our natural environment, our traditions, and our planet.
 
©  2010 wildcoyote                        See the side panel for information about who writes this site.  ⇒