We Are Doomed
After the book of that title.
It’s easy and palatable to offer reasons for optimism. Harder but perhaps more valid are reasons to think we’re doomed:
— The lowest achieving have the most babies.
— Weapons of mass destruction are ever more miniaturized (e.g., bio, cyber, and nuclear), making it easier for even a lone wolf to wreak havoc.
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— Society’s mindmolders — the schools, colleges, the media, and political spinmeisters — are whipping us into a violence-prone, fervid frenzy, even condoning when people don’t like a court decision, burning down cities calling it a protest. A normally pacific, intelligent friend of mine said that if he could, he’d kill Trump. Myriad women seethe that men — half the population — suck. Imagine if whites said Blacks suck or vice versa. Bidrectional racial animus, while now largely submerged, in private thoughts, may be strong.
— The Zeitgeist increasingly devalues excellence, virtuosity, merit as a mere male Eurocentric meme. In truth, the striving for excellence is the basis for most accomplishment, from anesthetic to the iPhone. Corollary: the anti-work mindset. The average “full-time” office worker now works just 2 hours and 53 minutes a day. https://tinyurl.com/yc3nb5p3 Yet many of them find time during the workday to play on the internet, call sweetie, and chat with coworkers. Why wouldn’t employers prefer automated solutions over hiring people even now before AI fully comes into its own?
— Hypocrisy reigns, and unquestioned. Truthiness beats truth. Greens like Gore say we’re facing climate disaster but live in massive energy-hogging compounds. And Greenies urge us to drive less and recycle more, mere “virtue” signaling while saying we need worldwide compliance indefinitely. Meanwhile, China and developing nations build coal-fired power plants fast and furious. Hypocrites claim to celebrate diversity but hide in enclaves and rarely send their kids to schools where they could bask in diversity. I don’t know one who invited the illegals they champion to live with them. They claim the racial achievement gap is largely caused by the legacy of slavery and continued systematic racism. If that’s so central, then why, for hundreds of years now, in countries majority-minority and vice versa, colonized or not, are Blacks low in achievement, high in crime? The rest of us are scared even to ask such questions lest we get the 3 C’s: censured, censored, or canceled at work and even by friends. But in private thoughts, many people know that professed commitment is often just “virtue” signaling.
Of course, it’s easy to ignore all these vectors in favor of comfy talk. But just maybe, this list offers a bit of balance.
Here is a counter piece: We’re on the Cusp of Greatness.
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko holds a Ph.D. specializing in the evaluation of innovation from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of 35 books including Thought Experiments and A Dose of Reality. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com
