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April 20, 2010
Blindsided by a Volcano
As this is written, it's still too early to tell whether the eruption of an Icelandic volcano with an unpronounceable name is merely a warning of our extreme vulnerability to forces beyond human control or if it actually marks the beginning of the end of the world as we know it. It's still early in my day on the West coast, but none of the “mainstream” news sources on the internet are considering the worst-case scenario that's been implicit in the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull since it began a few days ago: we may all soon be trapped on a contentious, overcrowded planet where the most universal rule of all, the power of wealth, no longer applies and we are the only species critically dependent on an economy for survival.The supreme irony is that we were recently treated to an imaginative TV series based on the premise that somehow, all humans could disappear at once. I found it mildly interesting, but because it offered no realistic explanation of how that might happen and I've been preoccupied with other matters, I lost interest fairly quickly.
Now we have a chilling example; a phenomenon with the potential to produce, within a fairly short time, a meltdown of the global economy and the greatest challenge to human existence our species has ever faced.
Just think about it; how quickly and smoothly could we adapt to a world without money? We may soon find out.
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at April 20, 2010 03:52 PM