What's wrong with world, and how do we fix it?

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Greeting,

Spotted this new forum on countrysidemag and checked it out. Seems like not too much is going on yet so I thought I'd throw something in to maybe stir the soup. As the world has become more and more complicated it's nearly impossible for the average person to cope with. Is there a simple answer to the problems of the world today? Maybe, maybe not. What do you think? I personally believe mankind is doomed as a species on this planet in 30 generations or less if we do not undergo a major, fundamental change in the way we operate. Maybe I'm wrong but suppose my premise is true, do you care? You and I will have been dead and burried for a couple hundred years by the time the world has become so poisoned it won't sustain us anymore. Yet it may very well be the actions of the next few generations that determine our long term fate. Hell, it may already be too late, so should we just; "Don't worry, be happy"? Should we hide out on our homesteads and dream of simpler times and enjoy the friuts of an advanced civilization that blinds us from the truth at every turn? Or should we "Rage against the Machine" and dedicate our lives to try and fix it? I'm sitting on the fence trying to make up my mind what to do right now. Life is good today for an educated American with job skills that are in demand. Why rock the boat? Should I just drive my SUV to Red Lobster and eat the last scallop on the planet and not worry about it? It seems to me that most of the good people have accepted the status quo and given up, left the leadership of the world in the hands of those without a clue. Just don't think too far ahead and life is wonderful.

So let me restate the question:

What is wrong with the world and how do we fix it?

I think I know the answer to half the question and I offer it for your consideration. I believe the root cause of the problems in the would today is greed and selfishness in the hearts of mankind but I don't have any ideas on how to fix that. And please, don't tell me Jesus is the answer because I've been to church and it's packed with greedy, selfish people. The answer may well be in the teachings of Jesus but it's not in contemporary Christianity. Your average Buddist seams to be closer to Jesus than your average Baptist. Let's try and go a little deaper than "Praise the lord and pass the amunition!" If Jesus, Budda, or Mohamed have the answer they aren't getting the word out because I don't see the world getting better any time soon. What do you think?

Wow, got a little deeper than I planned when I started this post. Sorry if I offended anyone, just want to see people thinking about things that are a little more important than professional sports, fashion, or who's screwing who on General Hospital.

Namaste'

-- Matheson Carpenter (ACman@hipplanet.com), July 22, 2001

Answers

Hey, Matheson. I don't know exactly what's wrong with the world, but I can sure point out a whole lot of the symptoms. I think you're right when you say greed and selfishness is at the root of most of it.

The thing is, I don't think most people see that in themselves. They just want to "get ahead". Unfortunately, "ahead" seems to mean 'way more than what is needed to be comfortable, let alone mere survival.

I think there are too many of us, for one thing. And people in this country at least have had so much for so long that they really can't see how bad off they actually are once you eliminate mere worldly goods from the equation. By and large, folks have blinders on and are totally unaware (on a conscious level) of what is REALLY going on. They are not actually as well off as they think they are, either. consumer debt in this country has reached phenomenal proportions, and so many people have gone bankrupt due to easily available credit cards, that the credit card companies have successfully lobbied the government to pass new, extremely restrictive personal bankruptcy laws. Yup, the big corps can still leave everyone holding the bag, but now Joe Public can't be "forgiven" his credit card debt.

The correct response to the problem would be, of course, to tighten and limit lending policies. But we're talking really really big money here, on all that consumer debt, much of it at absolutely userous rates of 21% and even more.

Remember the company store? In mining towns, the mine owner owned EVERYTHING, from the houses the miner's lived in right down to the tools the miner's used and the general store and every cracker crumb in it. These mining towns were often isolated, and the miners were poor and seldom had transportation, and they didn't get paid in cash anyway, they got paid in company scrip which could only be spent in the company town - they were a captive populace, for all intents and purposes. So the mine owners paid (usually low) wages, and then charged exorbitant rents. Prices in the company owned general store were sky high. THe miners generally ran out of cash PDQ, so the stores would advance them "credit". It was all a sham, the money went straight back to the mine owner's coffers. The song went:

"SIXTEEN TONS, Whaddya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go -
I OWE MY SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE!" Sixteen Tons Well, the company store is still with is. It goes by the name "Mastercard" and "Visa" now ...

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 22, 2001.


M C, Thats heavy stuff man... Can I add $20 to the reward fund for the Reasonable / Proper answer's?

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), July 22, 2001.

Hi, Matheson. Do you mean the planet going to hell in a handbasket in a physical way, i.e., pollution? Or do you mean in a moral way? If you mean pollution, I actually think in quite a few cases there's been improvements in the last 20 years, or at least, people are so aware of the problem that it's mainstream now, not just for radicals to get excited over. Of course, with That Person in the White House saying NO, No, NO to things like the Kyoto Accords, well, you can wonder all right. But I don't think you'll see that attitude still there in four years. I hope, anyway. Certainly it would be nice to think of this planet being a garden long after we're gone.

In the end, though, I doubt it matters. Our sun will go nova in a few billion years and it won't matter if this planet is paradise or not, it's all going to go poof. So there's no saving it, really. And that's good, because that's the way the universe works. If you want to dwell on the insignificance of humanity let alone this Earth, go to the NASA site and look at the pictures there. You can look at photos of clusters of galaxies---not star clusters in our own home galaxy, but actual clusters of galaxies---so far away in space and time that it's nearly impossible to wrap your mind around the idea of their existence.

All I'm saying is, don't let it warp you too much if you can't change things to your satisfaction.

As to what Sojourner said about greed and credit cards, well, that's a question of personal responsibility. I have no sympathy for people who have had a shop til they drop attitude and ran themselves into bankruptcy. No one holds a gun to people's heads to make them use a credit card. (I do symapathize with people who have had family health problems that ran up debt and got into trouble--that's something that shouldn't ever happen to anyone.)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), July 22, 2001.


I would approach over population as the problem and the source of the cure. The rain forests in S America would not need to be cut if there were less people needing the food thats grown in place of the forests. The Chineese would not be starving if there were less of them. We Americans are about 3% of the population consuming about 40% of the energy.

If all the people of the world limited their offsprings to a total of one, this situtation would correct its self in about 100 years. Thats one child per couple for about 5 generations.

Mother Nature will correct things to save the earth, is she not now giving us bacteria that is immune to antibitoics, were AIDS a gift we wanted? There are starving children worldwide, and we are conserened with gas milage for our SUV,s.

Africa will eventually be the world leader because the people there do not know how to use her resources yet and they will proabialy die off before they learn. America is going to run out of water, Europe's farmland is depleted, South America is growing too fast, Australia is too dry....my tombstone is going to read "I wished I could have stayed around to see how this mess comes out".

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), July 22, 2001.


How do we fix it? Better manners. Clean up the bathroom before you leave it. Apologize if you bump someone. Let the person with a few items in line go in front of you. Check to see if the drunk in the street is still breathing. Tell people "thank you" when they do something thoughtful, send them a card. Pick up trash if you see it. Smile at people, all of them. If your eating in a country were your expected to belch when your finished, let out a good one. Use your knife and fork at Grandmas. Watch your language. Be on time. Share.

-- a (123@456.com), July 22, 2001.


Hello everyone!

A good question Matheson - for me it would be to set an example for others. Act as I would like to see other people act. If they see my respect for others, perhaps, in time they will also act that way. If not, at least my actions are a mirror versus theirs. Others will see the comparison and may be positively affected by it.

Another option is to become more informed, with more accurate information, to be able to make better decisions about choices in one's life. There was an article put out by Yahoo news two months or so ago that said that most of the world's news media was owned by 6 companies. There's a book out, called "Let's Entertain", that says the exact same thing - would you believe that the parent company of Seagrams (yes, the drink) is one of those six companies?

By realizing that much of the news produced is a reflection of *corporate* interests (or those of mass control), and that the news coverage is slanted towards that end, will help people to re-think the value of what has been taken for gospel.

Alternative media is now becoming more widespread and should be taken advantage of.

By being better informed, you can pass along more accurate information to others, dispelling their ignorance. If they don't accept it, fine, but at least they've had the opportunity to learn and a chance to make choices. That's at least better than no choice.

One last point: Neither side of our gov't is really working for us, they're both about control. One wants massive gov't to control us (a square peg trying to fit in a round hole) and the other wants corporations to control us. There is no chance of self-betterment or self-determination with either side.

We need to stop fighting one another and start working towards better self-government. We have many enemies abroad, with many terrible weapons that they'd be only too happy to use against us. Combine that with economic warfare from the E.U. and Russia, and you'll see where we're heading...

Again, we need to stop fighting and start talking - no one is going to fix this problem, no one but us.

Thanks and God Bless!

Deb

-- Deb Mc. (not@this.time.pls), July 22, 2001.


Over population is not the problem, the Chinese are starving because of politics not population. the rain forests are being cut because of greed, it cheaper to grow cows down there for 30cents a day then here plus the money from the wood is lining political leaders pockets. plus the reason the food is needed is because most people think ground beef is something McDonalds invented 35 yrs ago. If more people would grow there own food(it's possible no matter where you lived with proper know how and equipment) and we were to eat as we were created to eat. (We lack flesh-tearing fangs,our canine teeth are short,our molars are flattened for crushing food and our jaws are mobile for grinding fibrous plants into bits. Our digestive tracts also are designed more for digesting plant foods than animal foods.Our intestines are very long,giving fibrous plant foods the opportunity to be broken down and their nutrients absorbed. Carnivores have short intestinal tracts,allowing them to digest meat quickly and eliminate wastes before toxins have a chance to accumulate) you wouldn't need half the food made now,if you can call it food. (Soylent Green is here with us!!!!!!)

One problem is waste/greed,why are we spending untold billions on drug enforcement,when we still have drug use after some 100 yrs of fighting it. I say,Let people have them and if need be put the use of them under strict regulations and taxes like they do for gasoline and liquor. Take the money and use it to build housing for the poor or get our country debt free. If people want to do drugs or drink they will find a way to do it, whether there are laws forbidding it or not. Just look back at prohibition,What a joke that was!!!. the same goes for sex and gambling. Answer me this, How long have there been prostitute's in the world? I would say several thousand yrs. and the same for gambling, it's even written about in the bible. Yet, with all the wise people that have come before us thru the ages, today we still think some person in a suit is going to come along and put a end to it. people live in fantasy!! you might as well elect Peter Pan.

We also should go down and get rid of those BOZO dictators in these 3rd world nations (which is another stupid word, last time I looked we only have 1 world not 3 )and put in irragation systems,clean the wells up,teach them how to grow their own food by organic and even hydroponic methods,etc. put in saline plants for coastal areas,etc but no we coddle these people like they are some kind of god while the people starve and lived in squalor. Shame on us!!!!

Another problem is lack of common sense, we have to get eldery volunteer groups to pick trash up on highways while murderers and rapists sit in a law library at some prison because it would be harsh and cruel puninshment to make them go pick trash up. and we spend untold thousands just keeping them. some prisons have air conditioning even. We have police sitting hrs at a time at some corner giving tickets out to people who go 5 miles a hr over speed limit or for not wearing their SEAT-BELTS while 2 blocks down the road theres factories polluting the rivers and air that we drink and breathe from everyday. I mean would any of you piss and crap in your own well? No!! of course not, but yet we let these businesses do it everyday of the week and don't say a word. they should be made to close down until they can prove beyond doubt there is no more. But what do we do? being the wise humans we are we go out and spend 75 cents to 3.00 dollars for a bottle of water and let government tax us to clean up the factory mess. Whats wrong with the world you ask? The answer is WE are what's wrong with the world.

-- TomK (tjk@cac.net), July 22, 2001.


Well, never let it be said that I won't take an unpopular position here. I'm not sure all greed is a bad thing. OK, pick yourselves up off the floor.

Think about it. Why do any of us work? We want something. If we want more we work harder. That's the result of our greed. I happen to be a big fan of capitalism. Communism has pretty much been proven to be a failure in practice. Capitalism works. Greed fuels it.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), July 23, 2001.


Can't really say whats wrong with the world except that in the U.S., the voters have allowed most of it. As far as "fixing it" my first step was to put a post at each corner of my property and now concentrating on getting things within those corners running right. Maybe my neighbors will do the same. My second step is to keep my voter registration up to date as I have since I was 18 and most times vote for the same man I voted for in the last election.Of course sometimes I'll vote him into office, but I can vote for him out of office also. I think it's easier to keep up with what's inside those corner posts than what's in office. Got the garden watered,weeded and picked, the rabbits and worms fed, new seeds planted, got showered and soaked in the jacuzzi for 45 minutes and got to write for a couple hours. Now to snuggle up to that woman that knows me better than I know myself and still loves me. Then start again at eight in the morning. Can I count these toward solving a few problems? :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), July 23, 2001.

Cell growth is a good thing, right? Without it we literally can't exist. So growth is a good thing. Up to a point. When cell growth goes beyond all limits of control, we call it cancer.

When natural human wishes and desires go beyond reasonable limits, we call it greed.

Cancer is not a good thing. Neither is greed.

Just my take on it ...

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 23, 2001.



Whew! I didn't know there would be so many people here who agree that population is the problem and the answer. Cool. How do we limit population? Hopefully, by education. I'm seeing more and more people getting hip to the fact that we live on a planet with finite resources, and are starting to take some personal responsibility for limiting their family size. My daughtter, for instance, is having one kid, and adopting one or two. I had just one, and adopted two, also.

Now, will enough people get a clue in time, or not? Hard to tell. If not, perhaps we'll have to have some sort of chinese birth licensing practice. Hope it doesn't come to that.

TomK, not to be argumentative, but I've travelled to quite a few third world countries, and the people there could outfarm at least 98% of the folks here. Which third world countries were you talking about, exactly?

Jennifer, you are of course, right that none of what we do will matter when the sun goes nova. But to use that as an excuse to "give up" is pretty nihilistic, in my opinion. If you knew that you were going to be killed in a car wreck in ten years, would you use that as an excuse to ignore your children and grandchildren? I would think not. We need to keep trying to make things better, even if it's just for ourselves, our neighbors, our kids, and the future generations, up to the point where the sun goes nova, perhaps. Perhaps, even, the sun won't go nova. Perhaps the scientists are wrong about that.

Regardless

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), July 23, 2001.


Matheson, I thought you posed an excellent question! And, I think 123 has the answer. If we all thought about the repercussions of our actions, the world must get better. That is basicly what Jesus's teachings are all about. To change the world, the first person you need to change is .....yourself! That might qualify as the hardest job in the world. You may not have the power of the presidency, but he doesn't have the power to change people. So, don't give up on God, He has seen it all, and yet didn't give up on us. Rather, try to find like-minded people who are sincerely trying to do Gods' will. For me, it was a conversion to Traditional Catholicism. All of the posts are good suggestions about raising your own food, being kind to those around us, but Gary, rampant Capitolism is as bad in its own way, as Communism. I know a history professor who advocates a return to the guild system as a solution. I think a total collapse might be just the cure, but who can tell?

-- Judy C. Vaughan (whileaway3@cs.com), July 23, 2001.

Where to begin??? The simple answer is people are whats wrong with the world. More precisely, misplaced values and priorities. At what point is enough, enough?

I'd suggest enough is enough when we individually and collectively have enough to assure the future survival of the race but when a small percentage of the worlds population controls a huge portion of the worlds wealth there's an imbalance there. But who's gonna make the sacrifices? Personally I'm fairly content to live a very modest barely "middle class" life but that's not the case for alot of americans.

My wife recently worked at a place whose motto was "BREED GREED". That kinda sez it all I think.

In a general sense I agree with JOJ about the population "problem" but on the other hand "we" (globally) probably have enuogh resources now to support the existing population of the world but once again greed gets in the way of those resources getting distributed equitably.

If any permanent improvements are gonna take place its gonna have to be in the hearts of humanity

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), July 23, 2001.


Hey,

Glad to see my Sunday morning meloncoly insprired some thought. I think those that said the solution lies in individual actions were on the right track. Overpopulation is certainly a huge symptom but i think that goes back to selfishness. When my wife and I decided to have children we made a conscientious choice to only have two. Even though we could afford more and would certainly have enjoyed more we felt a moral responsibility to limit our reproduction. That was a personal choice. Most people probably wouldn't view a large family as a selfish thing and you can't fault them for it but in the reality of the modern world I submit doing more than replacing yourself is selfish and not tending to your offspring in a proper manner is inexcusable. Broken homes, and legions of parentless children that grow up to be twisted adults is one of the huge societal consequences of individual selfishness.

To me it all breaks down to a series of yes/no choices that send us down the various paths of our lives. The consequences of even the most seemingly inconsequencial choice can change our life path in the most profound way. All our choices should be made with the greater good of humanity in mind, yet few are. Surpizingly, I have to agree that a little greed, for lack of a better term, can be a positive thing. I am a hard corp capitalist to the bone and a somewhat successful person. Perhaps it's my limited success that give me the luxury of pondering these issues. Most people are too wrapped up in their struggle for survival to be worried about whether their choices are selfish. However, success should never be gained at the expense of other. It is possible to help other people while you help yourself but it's a lot easier to be a preditor and treat your fellow man like prey.

Unfortuneately, in today's society it has become all to easy and common for the strong to prey on the weak. The power brokers of this world herd us all like sheep to slaughter on a daily basis and short of a revolution, there's not much we can do about it. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer and as long as the majority of people retain the illusion that their life is OK, nothing will change. It's much easier to escape the problems of world in a Time/Warner video and waste your passion on the superbowl than to really concern yourself with really important issues like the longterm survival of mankind. And for the greedy and selfish with the desire and resources to be succussful preditors, the short term rewards are many and the long term consequences are dire.

Oh, well, there i went again, getting all philosophical again and it's not even Sunday. It's all so depressing, I think I'll go to blockbuster tonight and rent a movie.

-- Matheson Carpenter (acman@hipplanet.com), July 24, 2001.


Matheson, If I find my tolit running, first thing I do is jiggle the handle. 9 times out of 10 it works like a charm.

As far as preditors go, they only want to steal other peoples potties. All they produce is a collection of poop. Altruist give away their potties and have no handles to jiggle. Constipated sort of folks.

I've found if I keep my plumbing in good order, I can be generous enough to jiggle someones elses handle if need be. Then we can all flush together.

-- a (123@456.com), July 24, 2001.



Uhhhhh huhhhhh .... and what have we been putting in our wheaties this morning? >:D

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 24, 2001.

I'm curious if the folks who say greed is ok are uncertain what the word means. I hope so. My dictionary says greed means, "A rapacious desire for more than one needs or deserves, as of food, wealth, or power; avarice.

Not a good thing. Bad greed.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), July 25, 2001.


I stand corrected,

By that definition I guess even a little bit of greed is not good. Let's say a "strong desire to make your life better" is not a bad thing and leave the term "greed" out.

-- Matheson Carpenter (acman@hipplanet.com), July 25, 2001.


How to change the world? . . . Take small steps, starting with yourself. Somebody wrote or said a classic line with these intentions, basically saying "Everybody wants to change the world, but no one starts with changing themselves". We are all too aware of what problems our world faces; world war, world famine, world diseases, etc. Scares (and should scare) the heck out of us sometimes. But YOU CANNOT convince Bin Ladin(sp?) to stop the practice of jihad against the western world. YOU CANNOT convince DOW chemical and Archer Daniels to change their way of doing business. YOU CANNOT convince people to stop cutting down the rain forest.

But YOU CAN change how pollution effects YOUR corner of the world. When the newspaper writes how the local mega slob is dumping chemicals into the water table, YOU can let them know you are keeping an eye on them. Are YOU keeping tabs on your own recycling in YOUR household?

Small steps. Worrying about the big picture will only depress you furthur. Try to change the things you are able to change; the rest of the world will take care of itself.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), July 25, 2001.


If everyone would try to better themselves and while doing so reach down and help pull up their neighbor. Most are so busy trying to make an existence that they fail to Live.

A lot of otherwise smart people often forget that "No-One and Nothing" can make you happy. Happines comes from the inside out. Be happy first then move on to solving lifes challenges.

(..steps down from soap box) :o)

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), July 25, 2001.


Hi Matheson: I think you answered your own question - the answer lies in the teachings of Jesus. Also, as to Jesus (etc.) not "getting the Word out", I think that is a big part of the problem. I think we are supposed to seek God (as in seek and ye shall find), and then WE are supposed to get the Word out. God is the Creator of everything, while He doesn't expect us to beg Him for His presence in our lives - He also isn't gonna beg us - we are supposed to seek Him and tell others about HIM. Thanks for asking the question. Cynthia

-- Cynthia (farmsteader@gvtel.com), July 26, 2001.

The most central problem in the world is uncentralized authority and lack of unified purpose.

There is a serious amount of resources being poured into defense, globally. An elimination of this burden, as well as the primal and tribal forces that drive it, would go a long way to helping us out.

For this to happen we need a strong central authority. This would also redirect our misspent efforts at the circles of wealth and commerce.

Economically, take a look at North America. What is the one big status symbol, as well as our greatest (by $) industry? Automobiles. What this means is if you look at the economy like a food chain, the car is the human. We run around in circles, chasing a dream of one day driving a better car, only to feed the forces that drive (pardon the pun) this absurdity. Not to say that everyone's dream is a great car, but you can look at any big ticket consumer item as a dead-end motivator.

A strong central leadership can only be installed with a colossal amount of force, or some first-class subversiveness.

This would serve, though, to unify man's purpose, whether they like it or not. We need a goal. This leadership could direct man's efforts towards the real prize - getting the hell off this rock.

Now I know what you're thinking - "How can man govern himslef with any better results or proof against corruption than exists today?" Well, I'll tell you. I must run the show.

I've seen our future, and it's ugly. But I can save us. All I need is the support of a few people, say a cult. Can you imagine what an ambitious person could do with thirty or forty followers who would die for them? I'm not talking about David Koresh, or some such self- serving cult leader - I'm talking about someone who sees past his own greed, to the greater good.

Also, I believe wholeheartedly in my own infallibility. I know what's wrong with me, and am not afraid to admit it. I also know and accept that you've gotta break a few eggs before you can make an omelette.

I am the only hope.

Craig

-- Craig Smith (throughoblivion@hotmail.com), September 26, 2001.


The Four Noble Truths were annunciated by the Buddha. The first is that life entails suffering. The second is that suffering is born out of craving (or desires) and ignorance. Even if the Buddha were wrong about the path out of suffering, you have to admit he hit the nail on the head in his first two truths.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), September 26, 2001.

Craig, craig, craig. I HATE omelettes!

So no, you are not the only hope. I AM!

Stick with me, and you'll all be flipping pancakes in nothing flat. Truuuuuust meeeee .... >:D

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), September 27, 2001.


Dave Barry wrote a column on something like this quite a few years ago and I've always remembered it. The jist of it was, the person who should be put in charge was a housewife named Louise. People would come from the Pentagon and say, "we need a $600 toilet seat for an airplane," and Louise would say, "No." Common sense and practicality. Just imagine that extended out into all sections of the government! It's mind boggling! :)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), September 27, 2001.

What's your problem with omelettes?

They're great!

I've never before heard a better expression of man changing his environment.

Eggs are beautiful, elegant and symnetrical results of countless eons of evolution. Where are all the misshapen eggs? Their embryos could not survive. Nature produces beauty from necessity - 'form follows function', if you will.

And what do we humans do with such unimaginable and beyond comprehension expressions of truth? We crack them open, stir them up, cook them, forever changing their chemical makeup, and then consume them. We've therefore marred the beauty into something we can use more easily, and devoured the results.

Omelettes are in essence the very theme of humanity.

We are a scourge of this planet. We're not as immediately destructive as the infamous Yucatan meteorite, but we are still a force on this rock that nature must slowly work around - the animals that adapt to our presence will survive.

As for the chickens...well, can you think of a more ironic fate for the most direct descendants of the bird-hip dinosaurs than a nearly species- wide change to produce more eggs, bigger breasts, etc., even extending to direct genetic manipulation like having chickens with 8 or 9 wings, rolling around in a sea of agony, pecking each others' eyes out in stacked cages?

Yes, I embrace the sheer audacity of our species - it is the ultimate expression of authority, of our 'mastery' over nature.

And the omelette is a great expression of that.

Craig

-- Craig Smith (throughoblivion@hotmail.com), September 29, 2001.


i think what the world needs is something sacred, something we can hold on to that will keep us sane and level-headed. too many people don't look at both sides of the bill, and there is always 2 sides to everything. if people would broaden their perspective insead of becoming more selective then everyone would be more respected.

-- buck (eh@uh.com), October 20, 2001.

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