(Note: I am drawing from a few different sources here. One is a quote regarding Bruce Lee, perhaps from a biography. Another (several, probably) are video games including but not limited to Mass Effect 2. Also, a youtube video of an interview. Last, the budget chart I posted awhile ago.)
First thing's first - I don't watch Fox News. I also don't watch CNN. I tend to find the closest thing to the original news source as I possibly can, because it avoids biasing the information before I even hear it for myself.
That said, I stumbled across this little gem today.
Astrophysicist Interview
It made me think quite a bit. About culture, technology, even why I wanted to become an engineer in the first place. Along the way I found myself disappointed in America. Not because of our politics, not our wars, not our prejudices.
Our stagnation. Buried beneath the web-work of our routine and sedentary lifestyles is an unpleasant truth: our culture has become stagnant.
There's more to the thought process than that, so I'll make an effort to illuminate it.
Technology -is- advancement to overcome limitations. There really isn't a better way to put it.
From ME2: "Can't hunt food, so invent spear. Can't carry load, so invent wheel. ... No limitations, no advancement. No advancement, culture stagnates."
No limitations as in no perception of limitations. We feel very pleased with ourselves: we've conquered the environment (air conditioning, insulation, etc), we've got mobility (trains, planes, automobiles), we have steady sources of food. We have the internet.
But...is that seriously it?
Of course not.
But we're no longer beating our heads against the wall to try and get past these limits that still exist - that will -always- exist.
That lack of a struggle has led to, well...this.
As said in the interview, when other countries can produce our technology, our jobs go to them. They can do it more cheaply. When our jobs go to other countries, our average income drops. When average income drops, spending decreases. When spending decreases, stocks fall. When stocks fall, depression occurs. When depression occurs, jobs disappear.
We keep trying to solve this by altering elements of it, but it is a -cycle.- The only solution that will ever work is getting rid of that first step. There was a time when America was the only nation capable of producing automobiles of a certain quality. Think about it. Have you ever seen a 1940 Honda? A 1955 Nissan, or Mitsubishi?
No. They do not exist. But our advancement has fallen. We're no longer the most technologically advanced nation.
Hell, if you want to be frank about it we're no longer even competitive for that title.
As a result, our culture stagnates. Instead of focusing on getting to the moon, we focus on Jersey Shore and American Idol. Our politicians become complacent and unimaginative because we allow it. We elect the ones who are the most appealing on paper - not the most intelligent, not the most representative, only the ones who can afford to make themselves appear to be better than they are.
A bailout won't help. Can't help. Cutting down the budget won't help, even if reducing waste is a good thing. The problem is underneath all of this, staring us in the face while we look everywhere else for it.
I didn't think much of it, when NASA's budget got cut. I should have, even if I don't care a tiny bit about NASA - they push against limitations, constantly. It is what they are for. The fact that we care less about them than our defense budget shows where our priorities are beginning to lie: Comfort, the illusion of Security, and forcing our Morality on those around us.
It's pathetic. We can be better than this.
We -are- better than this.
Here's the pie chart for the budget. Imagine taking a single percent of it from DoD and putting it towards NASA - do the math. DoD doesn't even lose a tenth of their budget. Consider that this pie chart is from 2010. Recall the graph in the interview.
Of course, there's more to it than just NASA. Our education system isn't anywhere near par.
Used to be the best in the world, you know.
Used to be.
So I suppose the question remains: are you comfortable with a stagnant culture? Will you allow this to continue to be acceptable, or do something about it?
I hope you aren't comfortable with it, because a stagnant culture falls. It's inevitable - look at history. Every culture, every empire that reaches its apex and just stops is shortly thereafter torn apart by those around them with more motivation.
Think about that, and think about this:
This blog post, you can share wherever you like. Print it, post it, copy paste parts of it. I don't care.
Yes, it is mine. Yes, I drew from other sources.
Yes, I believe this is a message people need to hear.
- C
