Dear Guag,
Guag Meister wrote:
> Hi David ;
>
> You know I really believe that you are a nice person and you have really
> great thoughts and ideals, so there is nothing personal in my response.
>
No offense taken, none offered.
> ...cut....
>
>> We now stand at the threshold of a global civilization, diverse-- yes-- but
>> unified.
>>
>
> Sorry for that severe cut, I don't have too much time to write an eloquent
> response. I don't think the data fits your assertions. Total military
> spending worldwide for 2007 was an astonishing $1.2 TRILLION....
>
> Then we have the other effects I mentioned previously, ie. pollution (cost to
> the planet is how many US$Trillions?), crime, etc.
>
> This does not sound like we are moving in the right direction to me (the
> right direction being peace and harmony and unity). In fact, from my vantage
> point outside the US, I can say we are moving in exactly the WRONG direction.
> Please correct me if I am wrong.
>
If the world were one thing, moving on one path, then I would have to
agree with you. But of course, as happens even with individuals, the
world is moving, in a sense, in many directions, all at the same time.
As I said before, you are correct in listing such problems; they exist,
they are severe and intractable. However, there are likewise many trends
in entirely the opposite direction. The signs that I see are many of
them hopeful. These stand our in clearest relief when we look back over
the span of history, rather than merely reading the front page of
today's newspaper. The question which cannot be simply answered is which
of these tendencies will win out in the end. The point that I made
previously is that across the span of history what we see is evolution,
a clear trend toward progress in the "right direction" as you define it.
Consider the progress which is being made technologically and
scientifically, in public health, in the development of transportation
and communication, in medicine, and so on. We are beginning to explore
the cosmos and plumb the depths of the human mind.
To quote from an essay written in 1985 ("The Promise of World Peace"),
Among the favourable signs are the steadily growing strength of the
steps towards world order taken initially near the beginning of this
century in the creation of the League of Nations, succeeded by the
more broadly based United Nations Organization; the achievement
since the Second World War of independence by the majority of all
the nations on earth, indicating the completion of the process of
nation building, and the involvement of these fledgling nations with
older ones in matters of mutual concern; the consequent vast
increase in co-operation among hitherto isolated and antagonistic
peoples and groups in international undertakings in the scientific,
educational, legal, economic and cultural fields; the rise in recent
decades of an unprecedented number of international humanitarian
organizations; the spread of women's and youth movements calling for
an end to war; and the spontaneous spawning of widening networks of
ordinary people seeking understanding through personal communication.
The scientific and technological advances occurring in this
unusually blessed century portend a great surge forward in the
social evolution of the planet, and indicate the means by which the
practical problems of humanity may be solved. They provide, indeed,
the very means for the administration of the complex life of a
united world. Yet barriers persist. Doubts, misconceptions,
prejudices, suspicions and narrow self-interest beset nations and
peoples in their relations one to another.
When winter finally ends, the ice breaks up, a kind of necessary chaos
before spring takes hold and the green mantle spreads. In the same way,
what we now see around us is the changing of the world, with old and
outmoded institutions thrashing and dying, and new ones being born, as
yet imperfect and underdeveloped. As I indicated previously, many of the
problems we now have are the result of new capabilities that we have
which we are using in the wrong way. We should expect, however, that
when we are handed new tools to solve new problems we should, for a
time, use them as if they were old tools and the same problems. Thus we
can find hope in the new capabilities-- even, strangely, in the new
problems-- and a sobering caution in their misuse. In the end, the
message of that picture of the earth hanging in the nothing blackness of
space offers a very clear message: we are one. Our fates are
inextricably linked. That is our present reality, and history has
finally offered us the tools, is developing the institutions, and has
broadcast the thoughts we need to finally understand that reality, and
respond appropriately. I understand how fractured and wounded the world
is, but at the same time the strongest trend I see is toward unity and
healing.
I would not insist, however, that others share my thought about this.
It's more important that we would educate one another than that either
of us would "win the argument". If you have a different idea, I accept
that. Let me know, in return, when I am wrong.
> www.gac-seeds.com
>
Very interesting site! Do you think that Gâc fruits would mature in
Oregon? We had our first frost in November, we usually have our last
frost at the end of April and beginning of May.
d.
--
David William House
"The Complete Biogas Handbook" |www.completebiogas.com|
"Make no search for water. But find thirst,
And water from the very ground will burst."
(Rumi, a Persian mystic poet, quoted in /Delight of Hearts/, p. 77)
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