tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636157128315691395.post8830541469773130445..comments2023-05-19T09:47:33.420-06:00Comments on Seldon's Gate: Built on the backs of negative externalitiesReave Vanshar (Steve McAllister)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04967498644616503968noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636157128315691395.post-15654643056718883122011-04-21T11:24:39.836-06:002011-04-21T11:24:39.836-06:00I'd also like to think that humanity in genera...I'd also like to think that humanity in general is on an upward slope. After all, only a few centuries ago slavery was openly practiced by virtually every human civilization, capital punishment for relatively minor infractions was common worldwide, and wholesale slaughter of civilian populations in war was widely practiced. This horrible things hang on, of course, but are not as ubiquitous as they once were. But social progress is a heavy and slippery thing, and humanity backslides all the time, particularly during periods of stress. My greatest fear for the anthropocene is the return of a theocratic dark age, and the attendant marginalization and persecution of all who do not conform. It's no coincidence that I constantly wail on libertarians; while not theocratic, exactly, they do harken back to the "property rights are the ONLY rights" attitudes that permeated the feudal structure of the dark ages. After all, dark age Europe was a libertarian utopia for all people, if you simply adopt a fairly narrow definition of "people." Modern Libertarians, being overwhelmingly white, male, wealthy, and privileged, seem to remember the old definition of "people" very well indeed. And if I give my last breath undermining any influence those dinosaurs have in the coming age, I'll spend it gladly.Reave Vanshar (Steve McAllister)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04967498644616503968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636157128315691395.post-43818697667103361392011-04-21T09:06:59.646-06:002011-04-21T09:06:59.646-06:00Ooops -- the Apollo 11 plaque actually said "...Ooops -- the Apollo 11 plaque actually said "for all MANkind." More room for progress at the Mars landing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636157128315691395.post-65712296374421811222011-04-21T09:05:13.168-06:002011-04-21T09:05:13.168-06:00Goddamn your writing grabs one by the throat. The ...Goddamn your writing grabs one by the throat. The penultimate paragraph is one of the best visceral summations of global corporate capitalism that I've ever read. There really is that X-then-Y connection. <br /><br />But people don't see it. I wish there was a way to make them see. Changing an entire vast social and economic system will be hard, but in principle it should be much easier to get people to feel some empathy for other human beings who are suffering. But those who suffer are far away from the comfortable, affluent elites on the bluff. Another image that will stick with me from your post.<br /><br />I've read some speculative works drawing on work in anthropology, ecology, game theory, neurobiology, and evolutionary biology, to the effect that human cultures across the world have gradually been undergoing a moral evolution. Steven Pinker, I believe, calls this an expansion of the "moral sphere." An increase over time in the mental circle that encompasses who should be treated as a human being. <br /><br />Once upon a time, in this view, the circle of humanity included only males of the aristocracy, not the slaves and serfs and commoners. And the aristocracy that came to dominate the world was that of the white Europeans, collectively known as "the West." Now, at least in principle, the moral sphere includes all human beings. <br /><br />But clearly not in practice. I think it will be very important to make sure, if we can, that the circle continues to expand in practice as well as principle. Even with climate change and peak oil. I think this was the point you were making in your post on "Feminism at the End of the World." <br /><br />Final little note on the moral circle, and apologies if I've told this anecdote before. But I really like it. When Columbus landed in the Caribbean, he planted a flag claiming all these lands for God and the King of Spain. When Apollo 11 landed on the moon almost 500 years later, the crew planted an American flag, but also a plaque that said "We came in peace for all humankind."<br /><br />Two different symbols, the second hinting at some moral evolution. If there is more progress, a flag planted some day on Mars will represent everyone on Earth (the UN flag, for example), and a memorial will not lay claim to the planet at all, but will simply note that human beings came to see what was there, on behalf of all the other humans watching on the home world, far away. <br /><br />I do love my romantic delusions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com