09-15-2003, 09:20 PM
Last night, AMC was showing the Planet of the Apes with additional information which made it really entertaining. Well, last night I was thinking how could our civilization descend so that monkeys, sorry, simians would take over. Well, here are my thoughts, abridged, for your enjoyment.
First, the original movie had the Heston character make a commentary of the current state of the human race. If this was to be a movie, I would start off with the three pilots being a Jew, Xtian, and a Moor. The Xtian would comment how his religion is the bridge between them and comment that if the Holy Lands were removed, everyone would be reduced to there core selves and what there religion tells them: Be a good Jew, Love your neighbor, Offer Sanctuary to those who ask. But I am not doing a movie, but I do want to preface that if the human race falls, it is because of religious intolerance.
Destruction of the US:
The US currently is the dominant State. Referring to the number one axiom about power: Power's primary concern is to retain power, I do not see the US crumbling from the outside. Instead, I forsee an internal crumbling of the country. Eventhough this is an open country (casteless), their is one source to power: education. A degree at a prestigious school carries much weight in the business would. Families should work to attain such goals (My father was without a degree, I went to SUNY, my children will go to Harvard/MIT) because it is the "safest" path to stepping oneself up in class/income bracket.
That being said, there is a current trend: Those who value education are having 1/2 children starting around 30's whereas others are have multiple children starting in their teens. What this also means that certain families are acquiring more wealth before having children and dividing amoungst less children. One couple, born now will have 4 grandchildren destined for a college education and a professional career in 60 years, where as another couple will, in the same 60 years, have 64 great grandchildren destined to have 4 children each. The first couple might be able to pay for their grandchildren's education, since it is only 4 and they started their career before their family, where as the second might buy Johnny a pack of smokes.
Over a couple of centuries, an internal strife will develop. As our would becomes more technology based, certain families will be able to afford (both financially and educationally) to stay on top of the game and will accumulate both power and wealth. Slowly this country will denegrate to a form of serfdom, and the large uneducated masses will yearn for power, wealth, and sustinance.
Old Grudges:
As the country slowly slips, politicans will become more power hungry, vaccuous, and iron fisted. A revolt will start and the leaders will try their best to squash any rebellion. Then fanatical Muslim will find the weakness the solely desire: They will retaliate for this country's support for Israel by America's Jewish community. They will nuke a couple of our cities, maybe drop one in the nation's beadbasket. Of course, our leaders are less tolerant and will cause the whole Arab world to glow, from Egypt to Turkey to Pakistan.
Post Nuclear:
The UN reconveins in Switzerland and slaps economic sanctions on the US, which in a sense is ludicrious because the damage has been done. The world's dependancy on Oil will be it's undoing. Alaska and Texas will drain quickly, the Middle East inaccesable and all of our technology will cease to exist (no travel, no plastic, no way to heat fibreglass). But so much worse, with the contamination of the US Midwest, there will no longer be a large source of food. Nations will slowly stave and degenerate in 40-50 years following the nuclear attacks.
The New World Power:
Luckily, on region will survive: the Southern Hemisphere. Africa will strickly be desert for the most part, but Brazil will quickly chop down its rainforrest and convert it into farmland. At first it will use Oil from Argentina, but slowly it will be forced to turn to manual labor. It will slowly turn to simians as a slave labor, but as Darwin teaches us, those with the most desirable qualities will survive. Thus it will be on the Brazilian farms. Those monkeys will higher intelligence will slowly learn cultivation until, after many many centuries, they are finally able to communicate, and then take over the farms.
What became:
Human's on the other hand will have devolved. The strongest and the most brutal will survive in the rest of the world as the struggle to find food. Since radioactive pollution prevents cultivation for many generations, it is forgotten. Nature will recover and man's great buildings will crumble due to lack of maintainance and erosion. The simians from Brazil will spread themselves accoss the continents and find humans deplorable.
What all of this means:
Imagine what you would see 500 years from now. Technology advances can be assumed to be a definite, but also think about how much different a social climant would be in existance.
2000 Years ago: A single Human in power controlled not were absolute leaders, but also Religious deities.
1000 Years ago: Single Humans controlled their contries, but they lost their religious control to an establishment. In fact, the religious leaders often fought with the secular leaders for power. Not all humans were equal. Slaves were common and women were second hand citizens. Wars were waged because of differences in religion
500 Years ago: Single Human leaders started losing their power to groups, leaders of religion started to losing their power to the individuals. Slaves were still common and intolerance was still rampant.
Imagine taking someone and showing them society 500 years in their future. Can you imagine what society will be like in 500 years with the eventual crumbling of religion and figureheads?
Can also you imagine that with our weapons, people figuritively living 1000 years in the past can destroy race.
First, the original movie had the Heston character make a commentary of the current state of the human race. If this was to be a movie, I would start off with the three pilots being a Jew, Xtian, and a Moor. The Xtian would comment how his religion is the bridge between them and comment that if the Holy Lands were removed, everyone would be reduced to there core selves and what there religion tells them: Be a good Jew, Love your neighbor, Offer Sanctuary to those who ask. But I am not doing a movie, but I do want to preface that if the human race falls, it is because of religious intolerance.
Destruction of the US:
The US currently is the dominant State. Referring to the number one axiom about power: Power's primary concern is to retain power, I do not see the US crumbling from the outside. Instead, I forsee an internal crumbling of the country. Eventhough this is an open country (casteless), their is one source to power: education. A degree at a prestigious school carries much weight in the business would. Families should work to attain such goals (My father was without a degree, I went to SUNY, my children will go to Harvard/MIT) because it is the "safest" path to stepping oneself up in class/income bracket.
That being said, there is a current trend: Those who value education are having 1/2 children starting around 30's whereas others are have multiple children starting in their teens. What this also means that certain families are acquiring more wealth before having children and dividing amoungst less children. One couple, born now will have 4 grandchildren destined for a college education and a professional career in 60 years, where as another couple will, in the same 60 years, have 64 great grandchildren destined to have 4 children each. The first couple might be able to pay for their grandchildren's education, since it is only 4 and they started their career before their family, where as the second might buy Johnny a pack of smokes.
Over a couple of centuries, an internal strife will develop. As our would becomes more technology based, certain families will be able to afford (both financially and educationally) to stay on top of the game and will accumulate both power and wealth. Slowly this country will denegrate to a form of serfdom, and the large uneducated masses will yearn for power, wealth, and sustinance.
Old Grudges:
As the country slowly slips, politicans will become more power hungry, vaccuous, and iron fisted. A revolt will start and the leaders will try their best to squash any rebellion. Then fanatical Muslim will find the weakness the solely desire: They will retaliate for this country's support for Israel by America's Jewish community. They will nuke a couple of our cities, maybe drop one in the nation's beadbasket. Of course, our leaders are less tolerant and will cause the whole Arab world to glow, from Egypt to Turkey to Pakistan.
Post Nuclear:
The UN reconveins in Switzerland and slaps economic sanctions on the US, which in a sense is ludicrious because the damage has been done. The world's dependancy on Oil will be it's undoing. Alaska and Texas will drain quickly, the Middle East inaccesable and all of our technology will cease to exist (no travel, no plastic, no way to heat fibreglass). But so much worse, with the contamination of the US Midwest, there will no longer be a large source of food. Nations will slowly stave and degenerate in 40-50 years following the nuclear attacks.
The New World Power:
Luckily, on region will survive: the Southern Hemisphere. Africa will strickly be desert for the most part, but Brazil will quickly chop down its rainforrest and convert it into farmland. At first it will use Oil from Argentina, but slowly it will be forced to turn to manual labor. It will slowly turn to simians as a slave labor, but as Darwin teaches us, those with the most desirable qualities will survive. Thus it will be on the Brazilian farms. Those monkeys will higher intelligence will slowly learn cultivation until, after many many centuries, they are finally able to communicate, and then take over the farms.
What became:
Human's on the other hand will have devolved. The strongest and the most brutal will survive in the rest of the world as the struggle to find food. Since radioactive pollution prevents cultivation for many generations, it is forgotten. Nature will recover and man's great buildings will crumble due to lack of maintainance and erosion. The simians from Brazil will spread themselves accoss the continents and find humans deplorable.
What all of this means:
Imagine what you would see 500 years from now. Technology advances can be assumed to be a definite, but also think about how much different a social climant would be in existance.
2000 Years ago: A single Human in power controlled not were absolute leaders, but also Religious deities.
1000 Years ago: Single Humans controlled their contries, but they lost their religious control to an establishment. In fact, the religious leaders often fought with the secular leaders for power. Not all humans were equal. Slaves were common and women were second hand citizens. Wars were waged because of differences in religion
500 Years ago: Single Human leaders started losing their power to groups, leaders of religion started to losing their power to the individuals. Slaves were still common and intolerance was still rampant.
Imagine taking someone and showing them society 500 years in their future. Can you imagine what society will be like in 500 years with the eventual crumbling of religion and figureheads?
Can also you imagine that with our weapons, people figuritively living 1000 years in the past can destroy race.
