Virginia Wilde
First Post
I posted this over at the boards there, but I thought some folks here might like to read it, too. I'd like to hear other's thoughts on my response.
Monte Cook's rant is here:
http://www.montecook.com/anrant.html
Great rant. It makes an excellent point. Most folk would indeed be out of luck when faced with such circumstances, and it is quite frightening in its implications.
The masses have been fed television, media exposition, convenience, and simplicity for as long as such things were possible. I guess I have a unique perspective as I have little to no access to television (I don't even own one), and I don't do much on the internet itself. People always want something better, faster, and more efficiently, because they are told it's better that way.
It's not just technology that we need. It's the comfort that it brings. Television, film, and popular opinion force-feed us a diet of regimented technological security, a self-inflicted utopian cage that is all too easy to rattle. We think ourselves invulnerable, and when we are reminded of our human nature and inherent vulnerabilities as such, we become frightened and try to ignore those reminders, or perhaps cast them into molds that fit our view (calling the 9/11 terrorists 'cowards' instead of 'crazy' or 'fanatic' is one such example, after all, it's not cowardice to sacrifice one's self for one's religion, but that's another story), exiling those who dissent, lumping them into the same group as those we try to ignore.
The dark ages are here, and they always have been. Just because we call ourselves 'enlightened' doesn't make it so. We still have much to learn, but we must first admit that we do, for otherwise, we make the same mistakes that our ancestors did. Sure, we know our history, but how often do we really act upon it?
Long ago, people would come out from the darkened forests and huddle around a fire, hoping that the light and heat held the horrors of the world at bay. Common culture is the new fire, burning softly in a forest at night. Nothing much has changed. We still fear the unseen, and wolves still worry us. If our technology vanishes tomorrow, we will still be the same. We just won't have TV.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is, well, when Marx said 'religion is the opiate of the masses,' he just hadn't seen anything yet.
Sorry. I hope my freakin' weird allegories didn't confuse or worry anybody.
As to the 'caveman scenario,' the thing here is to ask yourself 'could I do it if I had to?' Think about that for a second. If it really came down to an apocalypse of sorts, could you skin an animal or make a club? I mean, I certainly could, and I bet most other people could if they had too. After all, what's a PVC pipe or crowbar? And skin, well, that's just stretched in the sun and cut with a sharp object or wrapped around the body.
Eh, sorry. Just had to say something about that.
-Mr. Author
Monte Cook's rant is here:
http://www.montecook.com/anrant.html
Great rant. It makes an excellent point. Most folk would indeed be out of luck when faced with such circumstances, and it is quite frightening in its implications.
The masses have been fed television, media exposition, convenience, and simplicity for as long as such things were possible. I guess I have a unique perspective as I have little to no access to television (I don't even own one), and I don't do much on the internet itself. People always want something better, faster, and more efficiently, because they are told it's better that way.
It's not just technology that we need. It's the comfort that it brings. Television, film, and popular opinion force-feed us a diet of regimented technological security, a self-inflicted utopian cage that is all too easy to rattle. We think ourselves invulnerable, and when we are reminded of our human nature and inherent vulnerabilities as such, we become frightened and try to ignore those reminders, or perhaps cast them into molds that fit our view (calling the 9/11 terrorists 'cowards' instead of 'crazy' or 'fanatic' is one such example, after all, it's not cowardice to sacrifice one's self for one's religion, but that's another story), exiling those who dissent, lumping them into the same group as those we try to ignore.
The dark ages are here, and they always have been. Just because we call ourselves 'enlightened' doesn't make it so. We still have much to learn, but we must first admit that we do, for otherwise, we make the same mistakes that our ancestors did. Sure, we know our history, but how often do we really act upon it?
Long ago, people would come out from the darkened forests and huddle around a fire, hoping that the light and heat held the horrors of the world at bay. Common culture is the new fire, burning softly in a forest at night. Nothing much has changed. We still fear the unseen, and wolves still worry us. If our technology vanishes tomorrow, we will still be the same. We just won't have TV.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is, well, when Marx said 'religion is the opiate of the masses,' he just hadn't seen anything yet.
Sorry. I hope my freakin' weird allegories didn't confuse or worry anybody.
As to the 'caveman scenario,' the thing here is to ask yourself 'could I do it if I had to?' Think about that for a second. If it really came down to an apocalypse of sorts, could you skin an animal or make a club? I mean, I certainly could, and I bet most other people could if they had too. After all, what's a PVC pipe or crowbar? And skin, well, that's just stretched in the sun and cut with a sharp object or wrapped around the body.
Eh, sorry. Just had to say something about that.
-Mr. Author
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) as the President scuttled from airforce base to airforce base. 
