The Sky is NOT Falling

[Mythsaje]

I get tired of all the negative stuff I see posted on DU lately. Some people seem to WANT everything to fall to pieces. They cheer an imminent collapse of civilization as if they've got a personal investment.

So I'm reposting this...

**************

I know things are bad. I know things look to be getting worse. We have a quagmire of a pre-emptive illegal war, we have politicians playing "Let's Make a Deal" with the corporate powers-that-be, deliberately and consciously screwing the average American. We have global warming. We have Diebold. We have a complicit press and a complacent public. We've got a looming depression most of the country can't even see coming. We've got a ballooning deficit and rampant corruption in congress.

It's bad. It's getting worse.

How bad will it get? I'm not sure. But I do know that hopelessness and despair are going to get us precisely nowhere. The end of the world is not upon us. I won't even bet that the end of civilization is upon us. Maybe the end of American ascendency is, but hell, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. One of the Earth's oldest empires is about to step into our place, and, if one sets aside their horrendous human rights record, they might actually be a bit wiser with regards to how they handle things. At least China isn't tied down by Bronze Age ideology. A significant number of China's population isn't just phoning it in waiting for the End Times.

I grow weary of the hopelessness. I really do. Damn near everything we're seeing has been foretold at one point or another. Maybe nothing really shocks me because I'm a sci-fi fan. I've seen it all, or near enough that the difference is pretty meaningless. The controversy over cloning came as no surprise. Now it's animal hybrids.

Been there, done that.

The most ridiculous thing is that we probably stand on the brink (within twenty years or so) of some pretty incredible scientific breakthroughs...things that could well make the past hundred years or so look remarkably like the dark ages. The survival of the human race, and of many of the Earth's creatures, can be assured if we simply take the steps to make it so. It would require the end of bombing the crap out of one another, more than likely. We can't afford to waste so many of our resources engaging in petty squabbles when our whole existence is on the line.

One of our biggest problems in this country is the absurd level of influence the Rapturians have...people who believe the end of the world is just around the corner and therefore none of this matters. They are, in my opinion, not very different ideologically from the suicide bomber. It's all a matter of scale. A bomber kills X innocent bystanders. The Rapturites are trying to take ALL of us with them.

The future is coming whether we like it or not. Hiding from it isn't an option. Denying it even less of one. The future might not be what we'd like it to be, but it could well be a place of wonder anyway. But maybe we should make certain our children and grandchildren learn Mandarin. It will probably be very useful in the future.

I refuse to believe the sky is falling. Sure, it's a little shaky, but it's held up this long...why not a little longer?What more can I say?

When hope's all you got left, it's the one thing worth having.

[EVDebs]

1. Room for optimism...

Human feces powers Rwandan prison
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,68127-0.html

Biogas and biodiesel, as Willie Nelson is promoting, have huge potentials, along with the algae production of hydrogen (see Schatz Energy at Humboldt State Univ. in Arcata, CA).

Along with solar technology, we may not have to resort to the nuclear (high-temperature reactor) solution that Patrick Moore is now touting.

[ronnykmarshall]

6. Holy shit!

:silly:

[Kikosexy2]

2. Like to share...

in your optimism but things right now are a total nightmare...I won't be happy and satisfied until these war criminals--Bushco--and the majority of Rethugs are given the boot and sent to Hell to meet their master...til then I pray to the Lord above to smite the evil that occupies the White House...let's us pray!

[sendero]

3. Oh....

.... things WILL get better. But not until they get a lot worse. :(

[patrice]

4. Some of the "rapturians" and the "the-sky-is-falling - ians" are the same

in that what they want is CHANGE. The question is how individuals view change, what assumptions they make about it.

If one's personal load of delusion, frustration, hate, and anger (sub-conscious or otherwise) is heavy enough, you might assume that what is necessary is to "end the World" and "go to heaven". The problem is that a person may or may not be aware of what really motivates his/her feelings about this. Thus, things like "Pro-life" can, in fact, be driven by Anti-life and there is no way for the rest of us to know.

[tatertop]

5. EVERY indicator points to an invasion of Iran

"Bush courts Azerbaijani president as part of build-up against Iran"

"Iran Freedom Support Act passed 397-21
To hold the current regime in Iran accountable for its threatening behavior and to support a transition to democracy in Iran"

"Bolton to try to get a 'military enforceable' resolution from the UN..."

The UN caved to US pressure and told the big lie:
"Iran ignores nuclear deadline
Iran has ignored the 30-day deadline set by the UN security council to stop its uranium enrichment programme, the UN nuclear watchdog ruled today."
This, eventhough Iran has been and still is
within the NNPA guidelines.

War is coming.
Bush is not a finesse player.
He tells us who he intends to gut
and then he guts them.
War is coming.

[Mythsaje]

7. Invade Iran?

With whose army?

We don't have the means, and they have almost NO chance of getting the rest of the world to go along with it.

[Catrina]

8. Who needs an army? Bush has nukes and a private army of mercenaries.

That's Rummy dream a private army ~ too many rules to follow with the regular army.

I thought it was against the law to use mercenaries in this country. But Congress hasn't even mentioned the private army in Iraq which is bigger than the British contribution right now.

I clicked onto a board where 'private contractors' as they prefer to be called, post. One of them called these wars a 'gravy train'. They come from all over the world. Rummy and Bush don't need Congress, or the US military to invade Iran. The neocons intend to do it, imo. Unless someone stops them.

[Mythsaje]

11. So when the mercs get their asses kicked

we don't have to cry over them? It won't be OUR young men and women doing the dying...just high priced killing whores.

Sounds like a win-win.

I know the Bush bunch is insane, but I seriously don't see them using a nuke. Even they cannot remain ignorant of the potential fallout. And I don't mean radiation. The Repugs might as well commit mass suicide, politically speaking, if the US uses a nuke like that.

[Mythsaje]

10. self delete--wrong place

[tatertop]

12. You are totally ignoring the facts as they are happening

bush has proven beyond doubt that he does
not care about the rule of law, the truth, the welfare of the
American troops, or the future of the American people.
He has gone way way out of his way to flaunt
clearly criminal activity knowing full well
there is no one left to stop him.
He will invade Iran.

[Mythsaje]

13. We don't have the resources, plain and simple...

Unless he's got not only an army, but an army's worth of equipment, in his pants.

[i have issues]

9. Actually the sky IS falling

Hee Hee,Great pix of 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann from Hubble..

[mmonk]

14. It's a lot lower than it has been.

Until our damaged system works again, I'll keep sounding alarms, thank you.