I have really never understood it. The modern concept of government that is.
I understand that we need some kind of central administration of our society, it is without doubt the backbone of modern life.
But why does the government really need to know what we say, what we do and who we do it with? All modern governments have been given the power to defend itself against its own citizens. Do we really want this? Do we REALLY want a government that can classify a private person or organization as a threat to society, and then take action against the threat?
Who will govern the government? Who will police the police?
So much power has been centralized in one entity, that I am now more afraid of my government than the terrorists. Because its only a question of time before all that power is put in the wrong hands.
Since the media keep hyping up the threat of terror to boost sales, the politicians know that they have only two alternatives. Either they take a stand for freedom and start burning votes, or they ride the waves. Guess what? Politicians are people, sort of. And people like power. And from votes come power. And the more power is centralized in the positions they fight about, the bigger is the draw for the wrong kind of people to pursue a career in politics.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Where can I find a party the really speaks to me? A party who will crate a small government whose only concerns are fine tuning of an otherwise free market, and a universal social security net?
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Saturday, 15 December 2007
The focus on global warming
Lately global warming have been on everyones mind. It should be clear now that we are in big trouble. The full effect should not be visible for many years, but it will come. So what do we do now?
Many people want us to change the way we live our lives. Stop using so much energy. They see this as a social problem.
Too bad that this is acutally a technological problem. We need a lot of energy to progress, but we must also conserve our energy to make sure we don't kill off the planet while we are at it. But the sad part is that the focus is on reducing energy usage instead of making sure that we have enough clean energy to go around. The world can only be free and clean when our energy is.
A couple of days ago the Norwegian government declared that they will be using 3 billion Kroner, about 500 million US Dollars, on saving the rainforest. Or that is, a very small part of it.
This is money that could be better spent on developing techology to produce clean power for the masses. What good is the rainforest when we overload the air with more junk than it can absorb? It will slow down the progress, sure, but in the long run we just bought ourselves some very expensive time, and maybe a litte fuzzy-warm feelgood PR.
Why can't we instead give the poorest countries a hand out in the form of investments in clean power? They can utilize a lot of techology they can as of now not afford, and at the same time earn money by selling clean energy back to us. That way they will get the chance of rising out of poverty, and help the earth at the same time.
Many people want us to change the way we live our lives. Stop using so much energy. They see this as a social problem.
Too bad that this is acutally a technological problem. We need a lot of energy to progress, but we must also conserve our energy to make sure we don't kill off the planet while we are at it. But the sad part is that the focus is on reducing energy usage instead of making sure that we have enough clean energy to go around. The world can only be free and clean when our energy is.
A couple of days ago the Norwegian government declared that they will be using 3 billion Kroner, about 500 million US Dollars, on saving the rainforest. Or that is, a very small part of it.
This is money that could be better spent on developing techology to produce clean power for the masses. What good is the rainforest when we overload the air with more junk than it can absorb? It will slow down the progress, sure, but in the long run we just bought ourselves some very expensive time, and maybe a litte fuzzy-warm feelgood PR.
Why can't we instead give the poorest countries a hand out in the form of investments in clean power? They can utilize a lot of techology they can as of now not afford, and at the same time earn money by selling clean energy back to us. That way they will get the chance of rising out of poverty, and help the earth at the same time.
The fate of humanity
I recently read a very interesting slashdot story on the dangers of the active search for extraterrestial intelligence.
Some of the questions addressed in the story and the comments have repeatedly returned to me while meditating, and I wish to clear out some of my thoughts on this matter.
Firstly, it's the question of whether the Aliens we might come in contact with will be peaceful or not.
There are, in my opinion, only two logical alternatives here. For a society to achive that kind of technological progress, they must either first survive the development of superweapons, or be a totally peaceful race from the very beginning.
If we relate this to out situation here on earth, we find ourself firmly stuck in the struggle for survival from our own mix of techology and hatred. I do not believe we ever will pass this phase by our self.
Secondly there is the question of whether we will be the race to initiate the contact, or if we will be the race to receive visitors. I do not believe we are interesting enough to be a viable target for contact, but we might be visited and studied. Kind of like the human race studies the other races of the Earth. As I already mentioned, I do not believe we will reach a socially stable state to actually start off our own space age our self.
While I have enormous fate in our chance of developing the technological prerequisites for advanced space travel, we have still a couple of matters to finish here on Earth first. Food and water for everyone should be high on that list.
Some of the questions addressed in the story and the comments have repeatedly returned to me while meditating, and I wish to clear out some of my thoughts on this matter.
Firstly, it's the question of whether the Aliens we might come in contact with will be peaceful or not.
There are, in my opinion, only two logical alternatives here. For a society to achive that kind of technological progress, they must either first survive the development of superweapons, or be a totally peaceful race from the very beginning.
If we relate this to out situation here on earth, we find ourself firmly stuck in the struggle for survival from our own mix of techology and hatred. I do not believe we ever will pass this phase by our self.
Secondly there is the question of whether we will be the race to initiate the contact, or if we will be the race to receive visitors. I do not believe we are interesting enough to be a viable target for contact, but we might be visited and studied. Kind of like the human race studies the other races of the Earth. As I already mentioned, I do not believe we will reach a socially stable state to actually start off our own space age our self.
While I have enormous fate in our chance of developing the technological prerequisites for advanced space travel, we have still a couple of matters to finish here on Earth first. Food and water for everyone should be high on that list.
Welcome
The purpose of this blog will be to get an outlet for some of my ramblings, and maybe a place to publish some paintings from time to time.
I will start it off with a picture of my newest painting.
To get the full effect, try listening to Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side Of The Moon.
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