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July 16, 2010
Mid-July Report
The runaway gusher in the Gulf finally seems at least temporarily tamed by its new cap and the striking visual contrast between the old futility and the new calm have endured overnight. It’s still too early to know if the Obama Presidency or the economy of the Gulf Coast have been saved, but at least each has a chance at survival that certainly would have been denied to both if the ninety day mark had passed with no end in sight. Such is the reality of today’s constantly changing Brave New World as it struggles to keep up with the demands of its burdensome human population.What we seem unable to grasp as a species is that our collective security depends on belief; not in a deity, but in the integrity of the global economy. If, at any given time, a critical fraction of humans doesn’t remain at least nominally obedient to local rules, the system may not function. If too many nations were to go rogue at once economic recovery could become impossible.
There is little doubt the human population has increased enough to stress the carrying capacity of the planet, even as Science has been revealing new existential risks a majority of humans are clearly unable to understand; let alone admit.
On a more mundane level, an historic opportunity for symbolic rejection of an inane federal policy is only a few months off in California amidst increasing evidence of great anticipation by some and continued willful ignorance by others; all very reminiscent of 1996, but with even higher stakes.
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at July 16, 2010 04:22 PM