A look back in history from the 22nd Century to the year the world nearly went mad.
A long time ago, in the year 2022, the world nearly went mad: today, from the enlightened 22nd Century, we laugh, but that is the lesson of history.
Why did they do it? History is replete with examples of societies engaging in acts of self-destruction —ancient Athens, for example. Or, in the fourth decade of the 20th Century, it was as if an entire nation turned evil. But 2022 was up there. In that year, the world faced a catalogue of extraordinary crises. In this, the genetic engineering age, when even primitive AI engines using old genetic data developed several decades ago can create cures for new viruses in 24 hours; we can forget how terrifying the Covid-19 pandemic must have been. It was while the world recovered from the pandemic, a string of other crises erupted. Of course, climate change, the menace that so nearly brought down human civilisation until common sense finally prevailed, was the main cause. But there was a war in Eastern Europe; and ideological clashes between the West and China. It was the worst of times.
Some argued that that while climate change was serious, it did not pose a threat to human civilisation. Such arguments ignored the stupidity of humanity, the madness of crowds and our extraordinary ability to choose the worse possible course of action at the worst possible time.
We laugh now; the decade that followed was like the best of times — abundance finally started to emerge as a reality during the mid-years of the 2030s, climate change was finally defeated and reversed. But it was a close call— abject stupidity nearly destroyed us...
Liz's poisoned chalice and the hint of hope
The new British Prime Minister Liz Truss has been handed a poisoned chalice; it seems that she has a near impossible task — almost impossible, but not entirely.
As the new British Prime Minister prepares to move into Downing Street, she has few things from which to draw comfort, except perhaps that she won't have to pay for the heating for her new home.
But then again...
Do we need an educated proletariat? (Hint, yes, we do)
What is the biggest work challenge of the 21st Century? Answer: change. And to meet this challenge, we need more education— an educated proletariat is the solution.
Roger Freeman, a man who once served as an educational advisor to President Nixon and then supported the governor of California (a certain Ronald Reagan), once said: "We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat."
And the mindset that underpinned those observations from Freeman is a problem....
