On Sustainability

  Sustainability seems to be a key buzzword within Western nomenclature these days and for quite a few months now, if one wishes to look back.  Sustainability is the measure of how well some action can be maintained or the avoidance towards depletion; and is a darling word for those on the political Left.  The term ‘sustainable’ is often thrown around in regards to the environment, the Beznau nuclear power plant in Switzerland has been up and running for about 40 years and is planned for retirement in or around 2040 providing an expected uptime of half a century give or take a little.

  There is a point to be made that the environment is not the only thing of value worthy of being sustained.  Before some random reader starts the ad hominem attacks of ‘this guy is far-right’, please note that Ontario Canada has 36 Conservation Authorities that if one plans to camp there, one must make a reservation online and while there is no cost, there are rules about litter and fire.  So, put your tray in the upright position and buckle your safety belt as we are now going to get started.

  There was a time when facts didn’t care about your feelings or anyone else’s feelings for that matter.  A truth was derived from facts, with the base facts being observable to all and anything beyond that requires the use of other words; words such as: allegation, claim, assertion, assumption, theory, and hypothesis.  There is another form of truth based only on logic, something which most people understand as mathematics; math works due to everyone agreeing on the symbols and the operational rules.

  Some see the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (b. June 1712) in aiding and abetting the birth of the Enlightenment. Rousseau can also be credited, in part for the slogan used in French Revolution, Rousseau’s version was ‘Equality, Freedom, and Sovereignty’; yet the French revolutionaries chanted the words ‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité’, a phrase that translates to ‘Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood’.  Some of those influenced by Rousseau were Emmanuel Kant, Adam Smith, and probably even Karl Marx.

  Much like the results in the children’s game of ‘telephone’, the messaging of Jean-Jacques Rousseau along with other members of the Enlightenment have been morphed into a new something.  For even the French knew, back in their chopping off heads days, that a country must have a familial feeling within the citizenry.  This game of ‘telephone’ via history has resulted in at least one of the key words been transmogrified, as the word ‘equality’ has been replaced by ‘equity’.  There is one word out of the three mentioned by Rousseau and the French, along with other people throughout time that has seemingly been out-right dropped; the French word Fraternitè and the word Sovereignty seemingly all but evaporated from around much of the first world.  Rousseau spoke of ‘freedom’ and the French spoke of ‘liberty’, though it seems that these two words were intended to be for the group not just for a single person.  John Locke (b. 1632) is quoted as saying ‘my right to swing my arm ends at your nose’ or something like that; with Locke, the idea of freedom was a thing, though at that time, that freedom came with guardrails towards keeping some level of civility between the civilians.

 Jesus Christ was for the most part of more than two-thousand years the moral foundation of what is commonly known as the Western World.  With the teachings of Christ being the common starting point for what is considered to be ‘civil’ within the Western world, the resultant culture drove the politics, which in turn drove the laws.  This author makes no claim to any scholarship on the Bible, that being said, the main messages of Christ that are provided are: ‘be kind when you can’, ‘pursue love over hate’, and ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’; all three of which can be pseudo-summarized in the simple phrase – ‘Treat thy neighbour as yourself’.  That statement states ‘as you’ not ‘less-then you’ nor ‘more-then you’ showing that this simple message from Christ seems to have become lost on many a politician.

  Interestingly enough, when one looks at the political on goings in much of the Western World, one might notice that the politics is moving towards, what those of the political Left like to call, the Far-Right; yet it is rather the political Left that is backtracking on their policies and moving rightward as it seems that is going to be the only way they will be to retain any semblance of power.  Thankfully, the political Left has protected their democracy so that far-right has not as of yet been able to destroy it; this is a truism, because the peoples of many countries in the Western are now voting more towards the previously named Far-Right as the political Left have now started to adopt the positions of their political rivals.

  The sarcastic point made above can be obviously noted in places like Germany, where the AFD party has won elections in a couple of provinces, in Sweden where a politically right party won the national vote, in Canada the ‘far-right’ Conservative party is ahead in almost every poll, the Italian people elected Maloni who declared a state of emergency over illegal migration, Poland and Hungary proceeded Germany in closing their boarders to the global ‘refugee seekers’ and were called Far-Right for doing so.  Now, will it be Germany’s turn to be called out as Far-Right for taking the same actions as the countries previously mentioned, which stepped up first on securing their boarders against invasion?

  The ideas the noble savage and magic soil, seem to be deas of overt wishful thinking; these two propositions will be addressed individually.  Starting with the savage, this too comes from Rousseau under his belief that civilization is a corrupting force and that the further man moves away from nature, the less civil they will be.  Magic soil is the idea that once someone steps into a country they auto-magically becomes a member of that country’s culture; of course this didn’t work out very well when the NAZIS entered Poland, Finland, Belgium, and France, or when the Russia army entered Poland, Finland, Belarus, Romania, the Ukraine, and what once was Yugoslavia; we can see this as these listed countries returned to their own flags so quickly.

  Vilipend (from Latin), ‘To speak of disparaging or contemptuously, to deprecate’, this word was found in a dictionary from 1931 in search of the historic definition of the word ‘vilify’, and turns out the two words are effectively one and the same with the difference being that ‘vilify’ includes the words that are written.

  It does seem there has been a campaign of vilification against ‘Gingers’, which would be the redhead characters.  Walt Disney changed the main character Ariel, a ginger, in the film The Little Mermaid (2023) was replaced by actress Halle Bailey who is described as African-American.  Marvel Studios had Idris Elba play the ginger god Heimdall, he who guards Asgard, in their movie Thor (2011); there are other examples, though there is no need to belabour the point.  The public messaging from these entertainment giants was that they were making these changes for the sake of inclusion, yet, is it really “inclusion” when a choice is made in favour of one demographic at the exclusion of another; this, along with other discriminations will be noticed by some and railed against by others.

  There are two basic political thoughts on history and how history is represented within the zeitgeist of a culture. One side wants to preserve their history, while the other wants it forgotten; the reader can decide which side is which.  This can be seen in the abundantly used phrase by Kamala Harris, “We can see what is possible, unburdened by what has been” as this phrase echoes similar words by Marx and the actions of China’s Mao and Cambodia’s Pol Pot; with the destruction of the past, one can make a new clean foot-print for what is to come, only after the old worldview has been washed away as there will be no-one left to defend it. A problem with this line of thinking is that as people get older they get entrenched in a way of thinking that tends to defy change.

  Historically, regardless of culture or country, social change has happened quickly or slowly. The quick method is typically based on war or revolution, while the slower type of change typically comes through shifts in both cultural and law.  The 300 Spartans were able to hold the Hot-Gates at Thermopylae until betrayed by another Spartan, the city of Troy stood strong until the Greeks fooled the Trojans into bring them inside the walls.  In days long past most countries with strong fortifications were undefeated until someone inside the gates opened one.   In more recent days, many cultures and countries are typically defended social commonality and a lot of kinetic weapons.

  Xenophilia seems to have become the order of the day for many Western governments, as any person who objected to the high levels of migration both legal and illegal was called a xenophobe or a racist; though never a possessor of Cultural-Philia.  To a space alien, this might come across as ether stupidity or apathy on the part of the managing class, something which could cause many a citizen to wonder what is the endgame of the over-lord class; thus creating the feeling that public-service has morphed into self-service.  It is strongly recommended that the reader look at the historical situations where the ruling class has become distant from the commons; the phrase ‘let them eat cake’ might just comes to mind.

  Going back to our friendly space-alien, he’s named Grok by the way.  After accessing Musk’s Starlink system, he at first sight began feeling that many of the countries should be placed on suicide watch, while other countries and cultures seem to be eating right and going to gym; because Grok was starting to notice that what some of the beings complain about local acts, were unwilling to criticize similar acts happening further abroad.  For example, Grok was happy to learn that the largest political force in human history sought to end the act of slavery globally.  Then things started to change in Grok’s assessment as he did more research.

  Grok continued his research on the history of slavery on the little planet he was looking at. After doing some quick math in his head, Grok figured that 7 rotats ago, a rotat being what we would call a year, in Libya one being could buy another for around 800 units in the planets most common currency, and yet within just 5 rotats that price dropped to 300 currency units due to free market capitalism; slavery was returning.  It must be obvious to the reader that the use of the term ‘free market’ was sarcasm.

  With a small sigh, Grok continued his research moving on to the next ‘hot topic’ based on this planet’s interconnected networks.  Both of Grok’s hearts drop as he learned more about what these beings were calling ‘Climate Change’ with a feeling of exasperation, boarder lining on anger.  Upon reading more, Grok began to understand that these beings have been terraforming their planet by covering parts of it with nonporous materials and try to hold back water, without expecting any of changes to the environment around them.

  Grok expressed his disappoint in the form a sigh; he understood that these beings are still not maturing; he entered his notes into his logbook, sent off his notes to The Alpha.  Then before moving on to his next assignment, he topped up the power of the beacon, to ensure the greater good.

DANGER

They are not ready yet

  

'We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.'

- Ayn Rand. 

 

  

Authors Note:

Grok was borrowed Robert A. Heinlein’s book ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ (1961) where the word means - to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed.