The Apocalyptic Dream

A SOUTHERN town, a still, sunny morning, a shady tree and impending mayhem of a new school term as the young prepare themselves for life on planet earth! A weird mixture of hope, fear of the unknown and ambition. We all remember those days; most of us survived but it is becoming increasingly apparent that our once predictable world is undergoing changes that are poorly understood.

Humanity’s driving force to survive has led to both antagonistic and co-operative as life was dragged from its origins when the combined forces of enthalpy, entropy and free energy, plus a bit of luck, created life forms that transmutated from primordial slime into modern man; and a creature, us, that has adjusted nature for its own betterment.
Are we losing control? Is it time for a massive rethink? Are we creating a monster heading for self-destruction?
Two systemic crises are in process. The financial upset, man created, that has driven major improvement in human condition but at a cost of increasing pressure to feed the ‘machine’ with diminishing natural resources from the earth and financial ‘success’ through human inequity. With the assumed sustainability of continual growth. Short-term pain for long-term gain.
This argument falls flat as resources, both human and physical, are limited by human temperament and finite resources. The poor, the newly unemployed and the remittance workers realise that trusted protective institutions, governments, are the prime perpetrators of injustice! Government subservience to big money is the source of people pain. Their indecision or bad (self interested) actions is the underlying failure.
It is here that the basics of democracy have to be challenged as being elected often means pandering to popularism thus making right but unpopular decisions is almost impossible; words get votes, not the truth. Systemic weakness is showing.
Look at the Sri Lankan government’s dilemma in its Tamil war or Pakistan with its intra-Islamic conflict flavoured with hate of the USA. Sometimes sovereign governments have to bear international wrath to preserve their democracy; human rights abuses are the casualty of democracy but necessary for democracy to survive. Or tyranny but …
The global financial crisis solution is to return to the status quo with the discredited financial houses, regulatory bodies and subservient politicians emerging from their wormholes to resume their all-powerful roles having been bailed out by, guess who, we the people! Time will tell how they take this. Will the system survive to fail again as resource limitations threaten sustainability? Democratic realities again seem prevent decisive change.
Next the environment, inherited, not created by man. Nature has proven resilient but it is evident that major changes are occurring increasingly fast. Ice melt, coral loss, forest chopping, sea and atmospheric temperature, carbon dioxide, weather patterns, plant and animal types and viral and bacteriological changes are evident. Natural or manmade is unclear but real.
What is clear is that the environment will not have value until there is catastrophic change when the enthalpy, entropy, free energy and a bit of bad luck turns us back to primordial slime or something equally nasty. Panic will get co-operation, but maybe too late! Democratic systemic weakness again!
Obama bravely tries to get US drivers to use less fuel while world leaders convene bigger conferences, World Bank meetings will have fat, robed and despotic leaders vying for the biggest limousine award and business wants Dodge RAM to survive. The uphill battle!
Is a world response is needed or … Students of the world, will the apocalyptic dream become real! Your world.
csmith@mweb.com.na