Broken Time in Fat City, part 3: Where are we going?

Started by Doktor Howl, June 16, 2011, 04:47:09 PM

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Doktor Howl

I think it's fairly obvious that this species isn't going anywhere. 

At the moment, you have Western civilization essentially dominating the rest of the world, at least in terms of standards of living.  Any other species that had managed to rope in damn near the entire resource and production capacity of the planet would probably be reaching the stars right about now.  But that's not what we've done, is it?

No, we have merely eaten it. 

We have cheap electronic gizmos, all the fattening food we can choke on, and - this is significant - "mobility assistance devices" are now a booming market.  There is a lot of money to be made helping the morbidly obese get to WalMart for more munchies.

Think of resources as investment capital.  There's a finite amount, and the sane thing to do, from a species-survival point of view, is to use a good fraction of those resources to gain more resources.  The solar system is stuffed full of metals, trace elements, hydrocarbons, and living space.  Sanity dictates that we go after them while we still can.  Our sense of entitlement says we sit here and stuff our faces, frittering away our investment capital until there's nothing left.

Then, of course, the lights go out and the fun stops.

I don't think I have to explain the world-wide catastrophe that looms before us, as this collapse gets closer and closer.  Anyone who thinks that this collapse would be an improvement is either a brain-dead hippie, a right wing survivalist nutcase, or an utter misanthrope (Me, for example).  This will not mean a return to "rugged individualism".  This will mean cannibalism.

I expect that in a few thousand years, once we climb back out of the tribal stage, we'll do it all over again.  Anyone who thinks the tribal stage is ideal has granola poisoning, and should probably go stand over a settling pond and inhale deeply, just to get a notion of how things will be for a few centuries.

There is no way to avoid this fate, incidentally.  Crazy Eddie - or rather, a whole raft of them - is on the case, and any attempts to actually make constructive changes will be torn down by Crazy Eddie and his followers.  In this particular case, Crazy Eddie is primarily the guy who supports the very people who have brought us to this pass...The idiots who say that the problem with our banking system, for example, is too much regulation.

There are other examples, but you get my point.  So enjoy your descent into the dark ages, and try not to get eaten.  Time is broken, and we're going to go from the 21st century to the paleolithic era in a startlingly short amount of time. 

And you wouldn't have it any other way.

Okay for now,
Dok
Molon Lube

LMNO


Elder Iptuous

sadly true.
unless we can magically make it commercially viable to settle on a different rock (or in a constructed space can) within one quarterly, then it doesn't seem that there is political will to crawl out of this well through logical cooperation.  :sad:

reminds me of this:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/65_years.png

Doktor Howl

Molon Lube

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Iptuous on June 16, 2011, 05:00:19 PM
sadly true.
unless we can magically make it commercially viable to settle on a different rock (or in a constructed space can) within one quarterly, then it doesn't seem that there is political will to crawl out of this well through logical cooperation.  :sad:

reminds me of this:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/65_years.png

There isn't time, and Crazy Eddie will kill you if you try.
Molon Lube

Elder Iptuous

so perhaps we should spend our time trying to troll the archaeologists that come after the imminent dark ages by constructing objects that will confuse and frighten them...

or if we wanted to be altruistic, we could try to influence our descendants into putting the resources necessary into getting off the rock on the next go around.  perhaps by carving images that suggest there are other space-faring entities with which we are competing.
surely, if we carve images of astronauts into our stone edifices that they are certain to see, they will do the right thing, no?

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Iptuous on June 16, 2011, 05:13:42 PM
so perhaps we should spend our time trying to troll the archaeologists that come after the imminent dark ages by constructing objects that will confuse and frighten them...

I advocate this.

Quote from: Iptuous on June 16, 2011, 05:13:42 PM

or if we wanted to be altruistic, we could try to influence our descendants into putting the resources necessary into getting off the rock on the next go around.  perhaps by carving images that suggest there are other space-faring entities with which we are competing.
surely, if we carve images of astronauts into our stone edifices that they are certain to see, they will do the right thing, no?

They'll just start a religion around the bubble-headed demons, and use it as a pretext to do stupid shit.
Molon Lube

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Adios

Quote from: Iptuous on June 16, 2011, 05:13:42 PM
so perhaps we should spend our time trying to troll the archaeologists that come after the imminent dark ages by constructing objects that will confuse and frighten them...

or if we wanted to be altruistic, we could try to influence our descendants into putting the resources necessary into getting off the rock on the next go around.  perhaps by carving images that suggest there are other space-faring entities with which we are competing.
surely, if we carve images of astronauts into our stone edifices that they are certain to see, they will do the right thing, no?

All they will have to do is look at our banks to see where we had our priorities. What we put so much effort into protecting. So the monuments you suggest have already been built.

Dysfunctional Cunt

I'm glad it's almost over.  I am thrilled we have finally let these fucking monkeys run us right around full circle.  I'm giggling like mad over those who think that they cryogenically frozen bodies will be salvagable when there is no more power.

I welcome the opportunity to pit my survival skills against the onslaught of insanity that we are going to see in the near future.  Cannibalism?  Oh hell fucking yeah! 

Because to be truthful, almost anything is an improvement on the bullshit they've been feeding us for my entire life and longer....

This Dok, this missive of yours, THIS is the change we have to believe, because continuing to deny it is going to bite folks in the ass a hell of a lot harder than ObamaCare ever could have.  Problem is, only a handful will believe it Dok.  The rest are too worried about if they have the newest iPhone or the latest video game or GASP which fat fuck is going to be the "biggest loser".

Jenne

Sometimes I could kill Crazy Eddie...but then another would take his place just as fast.  And sometimes I realize I wear a Crazy Eddie mask when I'm trying to hide from the Horrible Tr00f.

Bah.

I hate the end times.