The end of war?

[rgraham666]

An interesting article by one of my favourite writers.

It makes me hopeful. But not too hopeful. There are still too many chauvinists of all stripes around.

 

[Goldie Munro]

We can but live in hope RG - interesting article

 

[rgraham666]

True. I was once without hope and I know how bad it made everything else.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

Gwynne Dyer is ever an interesting read, and always informative — a pragmatic military commentator with a humanist outlook.

His justification of the United Nations is both valid and timely, considering that there are neocons working to get the US out of the UN and vice versa.

Unfortunately, for Dyer’s opening premise, OUR despotic alpha baboons seem to be quite content swallowing poisonous rubbish. They certainly spend enough time with the corruption dribbling from their lips.

It is not merely that I find so much of what trickles down from these leaders is unsubstantial, but that it is also downright inimical to my health and well-being.

Still, I too, live in the hope that somewhere, in some festering garbage heap, they will find the means to exterminate themselves.

If only they do not take the rest of the baboons with them.

 

[cantdog]

I had to wonder at first if he was advocating simple assassination, all at once, of every warmongering saber rattler in the world. Or at least the top 50%.

But he let that obvious conclusion slide right by without comment.

edited to add: He also depicts an evolution from egotism, through group-centric morality, to "finally, the whole human race." Perhaps he personally has attained such a maturity, but there are plenty upon plenty of egotists, and some but fewer group-thinkers killing everyone. People such as he are rare. The higher the fewer is the rule.

cantdog

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

I had to wonder at first if he was advocating simple assassination...

It is an intriguing thought, but our present Iraqi Adventure should demonstrate the pitfalls.

Whether one wishes to bring about a new World Order, of merely a single Regime Change, the spilling of blood always appears to be the simple, elegant solution.

It is, however, the spilling of the correct blood that is so damnably difficult!

 

[rgraham666]

Originally posted by Virtual_Burlesque It is, however, the spilling of the correct blood that is so damnably difficult! [/B]

That's why the sharpest swords stay in their scabbards.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I think the nation-state is already on the way out. I think real power is devolving into the hands of the multi-national corporation.

I'm not sure if this is good or not, but one thing it should do is reduce the motivation for nuclear war.

---Zoot

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

. . . real power is devolving into the hands of the multi-national corporation. . . should . . . reduce the motivation for nuclear war. ---Zoot

Have you ever witnessed a really hostile takeover?

If nukes had not been taken off the table by governments, WWIII would have been over Demographic Lebensraum.

 

[rgraham666]

I think the nation-state is already on the way out. I think real power is devolving into the hands of the multi-national corporation. ---Zoot

I agree Zoot.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing.

Some things are not inherently profitable and thus will be ignored by the corps. Things like vaccination regimes, clean water and education.

And having thousands of political entities vying for power instead of about two hundred nations isn't likely to be pleasant.

I designed a role playing game a few years ago based on this premise. In the year 2060, there are about 2 billion people left on Earth. War didn't get the missing ones. Plague and famine did. Even in North America, most people live at Third World levels.

The corps were prepared to conquer, but not to rule. An entirely different thing altogether.

 

[SeaCat]

Rg,

Sounds a lot like several books I read a while back. Did you ever read Burning Chrome, or any of the other CyberPunk novels? If not I'll track down the authors name for you. You might find them interesting.

Cat

 

[cantdog]

Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep postulates a corporate dominion over the world, but the population is much larger than in your scenario, rg. You may know the story: they made the movie Blade Runner from it.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

. . . Burning Chrome. . . I'll track down the authors name. . .

Don't bother it's a William Gibson short story collection.

 

[cantdog]

Don't bother it's a William Gibson short story collection.

Gibson is cyberpunk. In his books, the corporate dominion takes more of a front seat than in the Blade Runner story, which is more concerned with the limits and definition of "human."

 

[rgraham666]

Rg,

Sounds a lot like several books I read a while back. Did you ever read Burning Chrome, or any of the other CyberPunk novels? If not I'll track down the authors name for you. You might find them interesting.

Cat

I've got them all, including an first edition Ace Science Fiction Special of Neuromancer and a pre-publication copy of Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Originally, the game was going to set in Gibson's world. I wrote to him, he phoned and we talked for a while. Nice fella. He thought publishing the game was a good idea. But he said I should talk with his agent about the gaming rights.

I wrote his agent and she said they had sold the rights to Mattel.

I wrote Mattel and they said if I even thought about using 'their' property they would sue me, even unto the seventh generation.

So I created my own world.

Another book in the cyberpunk genre I would reccomend is The Diamond Age by William Stephenson. Very, very interesting take on both where society will be going and on nanotechnology.