Are We Alone?

[elderbear]

well' date=' i would like to think that in the face of the death of our species, that humankind would come together like never before and at least make the attempt to survive.[/quote']

We didn't when the threat of thermonuclear war promised almost certain death to most species on the planet. And I don't want to hear any of that MAD b*llsh*t. If the weapons exist, then sooner or later they will be used. At least (for the present), there aren't two over-armed superpowers pointing enough ordinance to kill off everybody 10 times over at each other - sorta like two testosterone crazed "men" locked in a small room, each threatening and challenging the other with a handgrenade.

 

We got lucky during that first Cold War. One superpower disintegrated before the first nuke got lobbed. But I don't recall any significant "uniting" ...

 

Since we clearly don't have the mindset to unite when threatened, it is incumbent upon us to learn to unite. And then, why wait for an alien threat? Why not just do it and make life better?

[elderbear]

I don't see the vulnerability. In a sane' date=' evolved society, such a person would receive pity and treatment, not political power.[/quote']

 

......And I would remind you that 1937 Germany was considered quite sane for the time period.

 

:stare:

 

Yes, by anti-Semites like Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, by the Captains of American Industry, who would sell anything to anybody to make a buck (Gee, wasn't one of those "Captains" Prescott Bush, W's grandpappy?)

 

But there were plenty of people who saw the threat of Hitler, who saw the threat long before '37. People who fought and died in the Abraham Lincoln Battery to stopy Franco's fascist terrorism, overthrowing the legitimately elected Spanish democracy.

 

There was plenty of sanity, plenty of recognition of the dangers of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Tojo, and Stalin. But, too many either didn't care or chose instead to make a buck off the situation.

 

Not so many years ago when one of the New England states wanted to erect a memorial to those valiant American volunteers who went to Spain to stop Franco in the 30's, lawmakers objected, because some of the fallen were "reds."

 

:mad:

 

Then, as now, the insanity consisted of denial. And instead of merely helping to support the Spanish loyalists, we let Hitler and Mussolini think that they could get away with expanding fascism. So we ended up fighting a bloody war instead of drawing a moral line in the sand and nipping that cr*p in the bud.

 

Go read Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. He makes way more sense than my ravings here. And he was there. He paid for liberty with his own blood.

 

All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

America, England, France, and the other great Democracies of the early 20th century did NOTHING.

[elderbear]

And unfortunately' date=' that is not guaranteed to bring us together. It may actually [b']increase[/b] fragmentation!

 

Perhaps in the 1920's this would be correct. However, in todays communication era, it wouldn't take long to realize that everyone was affected, not just a few.

 

:thinking:

 

Sort of like global warming? Just look at what the world response has been. One of the biggest sources of greenhouse gasses renounced participation in the accords to shield their economy.

 

The industrialized nations that continue to participate have found that:

 

1) Reducing greenhouse gasses leads to more efficient processes, lower fuel usage, and ultimate cost savings.

 

2) "Excessively" lowered greenhouse gas levels can be sold. There is actually a market for greenhouse gas capacity.

 

Yet, the (mis)leader of the rogue nation that won't play nice keeps insisting that sovereignity trumps science! The same (mis)leader who insists that sovereignity trumps international justice ...

 

Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.

 

If we don't take strides in social evolution, the threat of alien invasion will not unify us any more than the current problems and threats we face.

[VonHelton]

Sort of like global warming? Just look at what the world response has been. One of the biggest sources of greenhouse gasses renounced participation in the accords to shield their economy.

 

Actually, the effect you predict is more similar to a nuclear winter.....Therefore, the correct name should be "Global Cooling".

 

:D

 

The industrialized nations that continue to participate have found that:

 

1) Reducing greenhouse gasses leads to more efficient processes, lower fuel usage, and ultimate cost savings.

 

2) "Excessively" lowered greenhouse gas levels can be sold. There is actually a market for greenhouse gas capacity.

 

If we don't take strides in social evolution, the threat of alien invasion will not unify us any more than the current problems and threats we face.

 

 

Well then we should do everything in our power to move the industrial complex to Mars as soon as is humanly possible.

 

:)

 

 

[Chewbacca]

I believe that it's impossible that we're alone in this universe.

[VonHelton]

I believe that it's impossible that we're alone in this universe.

 

I agree!!

 

:D

 

 

[daffydk]

Nothing is impossible but then again this might be one of those occasion where an exception exists to this rule.

[VonHelton]

Nothing is impossible but then again this might be one of those occasion where an exception exists to this rule.

 

Doubtful........The Universe is much too vast.

 

:stare:

 

 

[yelluh]

Doubtful........The Universe is much too vast.

 

:stare:

 

 

I Agree... there must be more.

[VonHelton]

I Agree... there must be more.

 

Man has come full circle........We're back to the age of sailing ships & mighty men of valor.

 

......The only thing different is the scale.

 

The sailing ships are now huge starships, and the ocean is the Universe itself.

 

Perhaps once we're beyond the Moon, we can find the interstellar Gulf Stream that will take us to places we can only imagine.

 

:)

 

 

[mariusz]

S B) B) B)omeone is out there :D :D :D

[VonHelton]

It's a great day to be alive, if we'll get off our rear-ends & do something.

 

:thinking:

 

 

[yelluh]

It's a great day to be alive, if we'll get off our rear-ends & do something.

 

:thinking:

 

 

 

Let´s do something :p

[VonHelton]

Let´s do something.

 

There's a slight problem........No one takes me seriously.

 

:stare:

 

 

[VonHelton]

And' date=' depending on how you swallow your quantum physics, multiple "universes" may actually be [b']required[/b] by our current understanding of how things work!

 

As far as magnetic fields & gravity wells are concerned, I'd agree.

 

:)

 

 

[Relentless]

Did I post here before?

 

Well as to the question of , are we alone.

 

I'd say if not it would be an awfull waste of space.

 

If so, we need disruptors.

 

Hopefully we have enough klingong warriors anyway here.

[MrLapage]

I don't have any friends, that's pretty alone. :)

[psheldrake1]

 

 

No one is alone at nites house.

[elderbear]

I don't have any friends' date=' that's pretty alone. :)[/quote']

 

And now you've got a whole forum-load of us!

[VonHelton]

I don't have any friends' date=' that's pretty alone. :)[/quote']

 

You're only as alone as you wish to be.

 

.....You have us!

 

:D