Thread: Power

Originally Posted by Xei

Issues which disturb me specifically are the complete disregard for the long-term welfare of the country that politicians are showing where I live, in Britain.

I have never seen a single politician talk about any issue which is not immediately relevant; however these issues are the ones which are extremely crucial.

This is about maintaining power obviously. If one party isn't busy exploiting short term problems for gaining power, they are busy countering another parties attempt to do so. Somebody talking about a serious long term issue that can be dealt with "later" is going to be slaughtered in popularity by a serious short term threat, or short term hype if the population isn't educated enough to tell the difference. That just begs the question though.

Originally Posted by Xei

In particular there is our dependence on crude, which very soon is going to become scarce. There is simply no infrastructure in place to cope with any disruption at all, and when it really starts to hurt, it's going to be far too late. I'm predicting some severe social disruption whilst I'm still young.

This is the above effect and political corruption working in concert, straight up.

I think that the primary reason for the lust for power is the instinct for social influence that is present in pretty much all social mammals, though perhaps not all individuals within a particular species. I see no other reason for it that convinces me as being able to stand on its own. To be sure, other forces can exacerbate the situation but I think that they would be pretty powerless and easily spotted in the absence of this core cause. Regardless of what the politicians do, the populace tolerates it.

Originally Posted by Invader

Although this is a bit of a side note, I feel it's important to point out that dams are particularly harmful to both the life sustaining capabilities of the river and to the nutritional gain of the surrounding land.

Although it is a bit of a side note, I'll second that. It's especially important because estuaries are critical breeding grounds for the marine ecosystem and once we get our heavy metals under control (they're blown out of proportion as it is, but the situation is still far less than ideal), the marine ecosystem will be critical in providing healthy, environmentally sound meat to a larger populace.