Good post Yorik
Don't agree with all the ideas but the posts you are getting in response aren't taking into account several things.
A. It is impossible to legisltate reproduction. China has tried with ruthless tactics and people still reproduce.
B. Who in gods (or what ever higher power you may ascribe to) name gives ANYONE the right to tell someone they have to stop at 2 kids? (we stopped at 2 of our own accord)
C. Oil is not the bane of the environment people seem to think it is. We are not likely to run out any time soon (see todays headlines about vast new deposits found in china). Any replacement for fossil fuels will have its own costs and toxicities.
D. Barring a total collapse into barbarism I prefer to see a bright future for humans one where we expand beyond this planet to despoil the rest of the solar system of its resources. The resources are there for our taking left unused..they are just a waste.
E. Western cultures don't need a mental shift. It is western culture that has been the leading drive for advances in the last several centuries. Life expectancy and quality of life has exploded due to the so called western cultures.
F. It is easy to pooh pooh society and to condemn it for its abuses...but without it you woldn't have a place or the means to post these messages. Having visited several "undeveloped" countries or lesser developed countries I can tell you the people living in those so called undespoiled lands are living a day to day existing at the mercy of wind weather and nature just to stay alive...I prefer civilization and so do most of them if they have the chance.
This isn't an attak or a hate motivated post. Im just pointing some things out.
If we all got rid of our cars and used horses we would still have pollution, just in another form. I would also like to point out that mass transit is a nice concept and can work, the only problem is people (and ultimately they are the ones who make the descisions) don't want it. In the DC area we have roughly 10 million people, only a very very very minor percentage of those people choose to use the metro system. Im convinced that even if we had Startreks transporters there would still be loads of people wanting thier cars
Yeah I know Im in the minority on my views but what I posted here is still valid.
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Disintigration is easy, If you really want to impress me, ReIntegrate it.
[This message has been edited by MagiK (edited 09-06-2001).]
[This message has been edited by MagiK (edited 09-06-2001).]