Have We Passed Our Peak & Turned Onto Dead End Boulevard?

[Miles 2,512]

It is getting harder and harder to fully understand where I fall categorically in regards to politics, and other aspects as well. After watching this video I'm really at a loss for words, and at a loss for thoughts. Even bearing in mind no human is infallible beforehand, I've almost come to believe every human is bound to succumb to hypocrisy because there is no foreseeable way to exit the system, and no way to get along with others who won't allow themselves to fall farther from the apple tree than they need to.
 

 

Look at where we all are right now. Regardless of where you live, it seems to me that it couldn't be more clear that we've stopped our uphill climb; we've stopped striding to achieve our goal of a better world.

Almost every nation on the planet, or at least the world's leading nations, is currently in a struggle to keep balance. One second you're wanting to voice your opinion, but the next second you see someone who you thought had the same mindset as you say something very different than you expected. There is no escape from politics, and turning a blind eye is only making you another statistical sheep with the same routine every waking moment. But at the same time it's damned near impossible to keep your clutch on any general stance.

I won't speak for Europeans who are going trudging through their own flurries of shit right now, but as an American I will say this:

I don't know where I stand in this mess we're living in anymore. As a recent college graduate, I gaze upon our nation and see nothing but fear, angst, opposition, and futile efforts from every cardinal direction to disparage everyone who dares to trespass on their beliefs and values. We have not only the usual suspect of fighting between opposing sides, but even fighting amongst those on the same side. We're falling apart piece by piece, and our efforts to combat disturbance only wind up adding to the destruction of what we are trying to salvage.

This isn't a post about the president. It mattered not who won, because we were already engaged in combat at basically every level, from intellectual, religious, political, and even physical.

Even furthermore, pushing human interaction aside for just one moment to look at the Earth as a whole... None of our news outlets, regardless of their political bias [left or right], have been telling you about recent earthquakes, volcano eruptions, flooding, tsunamis, et cetera, that have happened very recently. We're too damned focused on ourselves as people to recognize that we're not just figuratively falling apart (ergo, as people), but literally the world itself is in a dire state. The poles have shifted between three to five degrees. Yes, I'm serious. Scientists have found this out via studying the North Star and our Compass' magnetic north.

If you haven't noticed the immense movement of military vehicles lately, and the setting up of FEMA camps, just go to YouTube and search for it. There are hundreds of videos of it just in the past couple of months.

I am not, nor have I ever been a fanboy of conspiracy, or conspiracy theorists. But right now, my gut is telling me to wake the fuck up. The shit we're seeing in the news is still real and valid, but the shit we aren't seeing in the news is what should be worrying us the most. It's time to shove your political affiliations aside and start looking up, instead of forward. Gather your emotions and say what you need to say to whom you need to say it. If you're religious or spiritual, start strengthening your connection. If you aren't religious, so be it, do as you may. Scientists have been telling us for years, possibly even decades, that Earth is statistically long overdue for a massively destructive event. And with the fact that there have already been so many recent weather problems that've gone unreported on the major news media, I damn well believe those scientists. NASA is keeping a close eye on the super volcano out west at Yellow Stone.

I don't know if all of this is will settle and we'll be fine for another few centuries, or if we'll all die tomorrow. Nobody can know. But I'm reaching out to tell you that it's time to stop believing in only that which you can see. There is a lot that you cannot see that is just as important, if not more important. Be thankful for every living conscious moment you have. Life is a miracle, but it can also be miraculously taken away. 

(I wanted only the video to be in the spoiler but I can't get the formatting right, sorry about that.)

Edited June 26, 2017 by Miles
weird formatting

[Leavemealone 547]

I really don't know. We are the most advanced life form ever to exist in this star system at least. I'm not sure if we even trust each other. That is why one of my mottos is:

If you ignore something, it will eventually go away. 

                   -OracleOfTwilight

[Mesme Rize 15,683]

I won't go much into detail about what you wrote. But i will give you one piece of advice.

Stay by your own standards and take a really good look at the world that is surrounding you. There are good things and bad things in this world and while we all strive for a better world, the bad things will never be eradicated. good and bad are part of the natural order.

 

The World is what you make of it.

[FlitterFlutter 1,583]

I tend to take a functionalist point of view. I believe that it is functional to have conflict, think about it for a minute. If all conflict was gone what would we do? Almost all jobs involve overcoming some conflict. For example, a construction worker overcomes the conflict of us needing a shelter.

I believe when it comes to natural disasters we are better equipped than ever. We have technology like helicopters and boats to save people from floods. Sure we can't stop these things but we have learned and are still learning how to deal with them.

When it comes to illness we are leaps and bounds ahead of even what we were 50 years ago. With new medical breakthroughs almost ever month now it appears.

Sure we are heated when it comes to politics but we have always been. You ever read this story? https://www.thoughtco.com/violence-over-slavery-in-senate-1773554  . Imagine if that happened now with a congressman literally beating another congressman with a cane. I think the reason we hear about it more now is because information is so easily accessed. we get to hear about every little thing that happens.

So to answer the question. No, I don't believe we have passed that point. In the words of Billy Joel "we didn't start the fire it was always burning."

Edited June 27, 2017 by FlitterFlutter

[Miles 2,512]

32 minutes ago, FlitterFlutter said:

[1] I tend to take a functionalist point of view. I believe that it is functional to have conflict, think about it for a minute. If all conflict was gone what would we do? Almost all jobs involve overcoming some conflict. For example, a construction worker overcomes the conflict of us needing a shelter.

[2] I believe when it comes to natural disasters we are better equipped than ever. We have technology like helicopters and boats to save people from floods. Sure we can't stop these things but we have learned and are still learning how to deal with them.

[3] When it comes to illness we are leaps and bounds ahead of even what we were 50 years ago. With new medical breakthroughs almost ever month now it appears.

[4] Sure we are heated when it comes to politics but we have always been. You ever read this story? https://www.thoughtco.com/violence-over-slavery-in-senate-1773554  . Imagine if that happened now with a congressman literally beating another congressman with a cane. I think the reason we hear about it more now is because information is so easily accessed. we get to hear about every little thing that happens.

[5] So to answer the question. No, I don't believe we have passed that point. In the words of Billy Joel "we didn't start the fire it was always burning."

1. In the like, I guess I tend to take a Creationalist point of view, as a Christian. In my eyes we were made by God with the ability of free will. Thus, we had the chance to co-operate and function hand in hand, but with free will came the ability to choose wrongly. And thus began literally everything in our history books: war, war, war, war, drugs, war, slaves, war, drugs, war... etc. Anyway, if all jobs were done the actual, *definitively* right way, there would be no conflict. Besides, needing shelter isn't a conflict, it's a simple necessity. The reason we are where we are is that we've become too damned smart for our own good, and thus we live in "the system," as it were.

2. Our predictions of [direct] future can sometimes be wrong. If calculations don't line up perfectly for the weather team, evacuations will never be able to be performed at even a 33% efficiency. Such is especially true when dealing with earthquakes and super volcanoes.

3. Very true, but I can tell you that we probably could have cured the common cold in the late 1970s... But we haven't, and won't, because money.

4. But that's literally my point: we don't at all hear about what is actually happening if we only listen to cable news! You have to manually find it online yourself if you really want to know what's going on. Sure, it's easily accessible info, and thus couldn't technically be considered "hidden" - but when it's not reported on any news network we watch, it's not "told" either.

5. I guess I just very much disagree with Billy on that. We didn't just start the fire, we lit a wick that's inextinguishable.

[FlitterFlutter 1,583]

6 minutes ago, Miles said:

But that's literally my point: we don't at all hear about what is actually happening if we only listen to cable news! You have to manually find it online yourself if you really want to know what's going on. Sure, it's easily accessible info, and thus couldn't technically be considered "hidden" - but when it's not reported on any news network we watch, it's not "told" either.

I am not sure what this means. What news do you watch... sure a national news station might not tell you about a flood on the other side of the world. How could they? That is what local news is about. If the national news took the time to mention every natural disaster that happened across the world every day it would never end. That is not the point of national news. They tend to focus on things that affect the whole country... such as politics or really big natural disasters like a hurricane. I guess I just don't see a problem with that... because like you said it is not hidden, really easy to find actually.

11 minutes ago, Miles said:

2. Our predictions of [direct] future can sometimes be wrong. If calculations don't line up perfectly for the weather team, evacuations will never be able to be performed at even a 33% efficiency. Such is especially true when dealing with earthquakes and super volcanoes.

Sure, we can be wrong. The point is not we live in a perfect world. The point is we live in a hell of a better world then say 70 years ago. The fact we can even have 33% efficiency (assuming that is correct) I am sure is better than what it has ever been in the past. if a hurricane comes we hear about it for weeks...we have task forces sitting by ready to be anywhere in the country practically overnight to try to rescue people.

15 minutes ago, Miles said:

Very true, but I can tell you that we probably could have cured the common cold in the late 1970s... But we haven't, and won't, because money.

Maybe not, the problem with the "common cold" is it is not common at all. In fact, it changes year to year and from person to person. It comes from many different viruses that is why each time you get it the symptoms might be different. But I digress.

19 minutes ago, Miles said:

1. Anyway, if all jobs were done the actual, *definitively* right way, there would be no conflict. Besides, needing shelter isn't a conflict, it's a simple necessity. The reason we are where we are is that we've become too damned smart for our own good, and thus we live in "the system," as it were.

 

Conflict is a result of power struggle between people. There is no fix... it is foolish to say if all jobs were done the right way conflict would not exist.

You see I brought up houses because homeless people create conflict. They often have to steal in order to live... In that regard construction, workers are solving a problem. When you get down to it all jobs are solving a problem in some fashion.