Re: Opium [was: Re: freelance sysadmining -- superlong -- [WAS: "Red Hat recommends Windows for consumers"]]
On Fri, Nov 14, 2003 at 11:39:31AM -0600, Ron Johnson wrote:
>
> Since the US hasn't ratified the ICJ treaty, it can't happen, unless
> the Europeans come in (in force) and *take* GWB. (Ha ha ha ha ha.)
First off, my advance apologies for a bit of rambling; I'm quite tired,
overly caffeinated, and coming off a very long work-week. That being
said...
To be honest, I doubt the Europeans would have to; they just need to stay
out of our way as we self-destruct. The U.S. is, sadly, heading along
the merry path of the Roman empire. I'd wager that in less than a
century, you will see the birth of a true theocracy within the U.S.,
with a very well-defined caste system (serfs of the state/wage slaves,
civil servants, warriors/military personnel, and the ruling/business elite).
You can already see portions of this framework forming; the masses shop
at the same stores, purchase the same shoddy goods, listen to the same
music, and are only very superfically differentiated. Most Americans
are undereducated, ignorant of most of the world, and indifferent
towards learning *anything* new. The only things that matter are
expensive shiny toys and gossip.
Democracy will be preserved, but only for appearance. People can
vote, but the elections will be rigged, with no paper trails and no
accountability.
The gap betwen the rich and poor has been growing at an astronomical
rate, and public education is quickly reaching a point where only those
lucky and/or smart enough emerge from high school with even the most
elementary grasp of the arts, sciences, or of the English language; my
father used to teach a 'computer basics' class to high-school freshmen,
and many of them were almost completely illiterate. Drop-out rates have
been increasing exponentially, and with the rising cost of higher
education, fewer students can afford to attend college. Compounding
this is the fact that blue-collar work is generally frowned upon by
Americans, which has resulted in us having a horrible lack of trade and
technical schools. For those wealthy enough to attend college, many
will attain near-useless English and Liberal Arts degrees, because they
lack the impetus, drive, and determination to pursue a more difficult
degree.
Within a century, I'd say that the U.S. will be a country much like the
one outlined in 'Higher Education' by Charles Sheffield, with a largely
illiterate, ignorant, and blissful populace, an incredible overabundance
of lawsuit-happy lawyers, useless public schools, and a 'fortunate'
ruling elite who are the keepers of knowledge and power.
It's sad, very sad, but I don't see much that gives me hope things will
happen any other way. On the upside, those with the brains to move
themselves up on the socioeconomic ladder will do quite well.
--
Don Werve <donw AT agentsix DOT net>
Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue,
Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn bork! bork! bork!
Reply to: