4 posts tagged “a”
It seems to me that there are no catastrophes in the second subgroup: there are no catastrophes that loom before us which cannot be avoided; there is nothing that threatens us with imminent destruction in such a fashion that we are helpless to do something about it. If we behave rationally and humanely; if we concentrate coolly on the problems that face all of humanity, rather than emotionally on such nineteenth century matters as national security and local pride; if we recognize that it is not one’s neighbours who are the enemy, but misery, ignorance, and the cold indifference of natural law – then we can solve all the problems that faces us. We can deliberately choose to have no catastrophes at all.
And if we do that over the next century, we can spread into space and lose our vulnerabilities. We will no longer be dependent on one planet or one star. And the humanity, or its intelligent descendants and allies, can live past the end of the Earth, past the end of the sun, past (who knows?) even the end of the universe.
It is that which is, and should be, our goal. May we gain it.
Isaac Asimow in A Choice of Catastrophes, 1979
Until we succeed at nurturing these additional cognitive skills, "trends and their implied problems," will remain hidden behind problems displayed by immediate conditions. Civil laws and religious codes will fail to create behaviors that keep human population in a graceful balance with the available resources and technology. Outside of an enlightened autocracy, a rapidly decreasing population will not be an institutional agenda. For it to become part of a democracy’s agenda, it would first have to be part of a majority of the constituency’s agenda. Achieving a graceful life for all, independent of institutional action would require this level of thinking to be the possession of most members of the global community. And this would require nurturing each individual’s thinking processes well beyond what we have accomplished in the past.
It is not a simple task, but achieving a graceful social existence depends on it.
Jack Alpert in Nurture can change our course (article) 2004
Illegal immigration is an issue for any sovereign state and must be
speedily addressed. If no counter measure is taken, on may be assured
that the number flouting laws will grow. Legal immigration accounts
for far the largest number, however, and is necessarily a part of
integrated planning for a stable environment and society. All-inclusive
replacement-level immigration - about 160.000 persons per year - is the
most that the can accommodate if we wish to pass on to our
children the opportunities and freedoms which we have long enjoyed.
Addressing all Americans in the Keynote Address of the 1984 Democratic
Party's National Convention, Jesse Jackson said that Americans may have
come here in different ships, but "we are all in the same boat now."
Boats sink when they become overfull, and appears to be
reconsidering his former proimmigration position.
No common ideological thread distinguishes among partisans or links
allies in the immigration debate. But as an unresolved matter which is
critical to the national interest, the immigration issue must not be
allowed to drop from sight anytime soon.
If we behave rationally and humanely; if we concentrate coolly on the problems that face all of humanity, rather than emotionally on such nineteenth century matters as national security and local pride; if we recognize that it is not one’s neighbors who are the enemy, but misery, ignorance, and the cold indifference of natural law – then we can solve all problems that face us. We can deliberately choose to have no catastrophes at all.
And if we do that over the next century, we can spread into space and lose our vulnerabilities. We will no longer be dependent on one planet or one star. And then humanity, or its intelligent descendants and allies, can live past the end of the Earth, past the end of the sun, past (who knows?) even the end of the universe.
It is that which is, and should be, our goal.
May we gain it!
Isaac Asimov: A Choice of Catastrophes, 1979
