The Decline of Western Civilisation
Now, just for the record I am not as paranoid as some of my posts would make you believe. The truth is, they really are out to get us haha!!
No honestly, This is just a subject which fills me with curiousity. In a way its similar to the concepts of how science fiction has, on so many occasions, paved the way for actual science. I am interested in the future because I care about the world that I live in and the world that will be, for our children, and their children.
I strongly feel that, coming from a number of small Scottish villages not too dissimilar to the place that George Orwell wrote 1984, enables me to see the contrast of the ultra-modern urban centres against the quaint, and basic, yet in many ways superior, rural areas. The vast chasm that used to exist between the two unfortunately becomes smaller each day, as everything from satellite television, broadband and mobile phone networks expand to engulf even the smallest islands of Scotland. This I feel does have its benefits, but It begs the question, "Will the negative impact on small village life be irreversibly affected?" I hope not.
It pains me at times when i watch and read about ancient 'hidden' tribes in the last true frontiers left such as the great Amazon rainforest. I watch and wince at the young children who no longer wear the simple garments of animal skins worn by their forefathers. They now adorn 'Adidas' and 'Nike' T-shirts, to which they think is fantastic. It is different. Modern clothing is comfortable, and stylish, and so far away from what their parents and grandparents wear, which lets face it, is everything the average teenager is looking for as they develop. Do we really want this to happen? Do we really want a future where everyone is the same?
It has already happened that many of these tribes people have forgotten or shyed away from their native upbringings in search of a greater, more wondrous world. It reminds me of the story of Dick Whittington going off in search of London, where the streets are paved with gold, only to find himself living alone, apart from a family of rats.
These children do not realise that all they will find in Western Civilisation is a dead, superficial, materialistic world where gradually people are forgetting how to even cook for themselves. Where children grow up not knowing what farmyard animals are, or where their food comes from, or what vegetables are. A world where everything is manufactured, packaged, and excessively advertised. A world where people do not know how to look after themselves without requiring paid services for everything from eating their breakfast, to washing, brushing their teeth, and journeying reasonable distances.
These children are the lucky ones. They could choose to stay in their tribes, and learn from the elders the true meaning of being at one with mother nature, and existing in a state of equilibrium with the planet instead of murdering it in the way the Western Civilisation is. These children can learn the many hundreds of uses that the various plants and herbs can offer in the jungle habitat. If they want to wash, they can use certain substances found on leaves that act as an antibacterial soap along with pure, natural streams and rivers. They can use other leaves for shelter when the rains fall, they can use other plants and herbs which offer resistance and antidotes to poisons and illnesses. They can eat and drink in abundance without having to earn money, pay taxes, and go to a shop to spend. They are the lucky ones.
If I were to go to the Amazon Rainforest which has long been a dream of mine, I would be dead in less than half a day without a native guide to do everything for me, I could learn what they know but it would take a lifetime of learning at least. It will have to remain a dream, and instead I will focus on making this Western world, My Western world, as close to that world as I feasibly can.
Its now 3 am and its time for bed. Sweet Dreams, EyeCeyE, Sweet Dreams!!
No honestly, This is just a subject which fills me with curiousity. In a way its similar to the concepts of how science fiction has, on so many occasions, paved the way for actual science. I am interested in the future because I care about the world that I live in and the world that will be, for our children, and their children.
I strongly feel that, coming from a number of small Scottish villages not too dissimilar to the place that George Orwell wrote 1984, enables me to see the contrast of the ultra-modern urban centres against the quaint, and basic, yet in many ways superior, rural areas. The vast chasm that used to exist between the two unfortunately becomes smaller each day, as everything from satellite television, broadband and mobile phone networks expand to engulf even the smallest islands of Scotland. This I feel does have its benefits, but It begs the question, "Will the negative impact on small village life be irreversibly affected?" I hope not.
It pains me at times when i watch and read about ancient 'hidden' tribes in the last true frontiers left such as the great Amazon rainforest. I watch and wince at the young children who no longer wear the simple garments of animal skins worn by their forefathers. They now adorn 'Adidas' and 'Nike' T-shirts, to which they think is fantastic. It is different. Modern clothing is comfortable, and stylish, and so far away from what their parents and grandparents wear, which lets face it, is everything the average teenager is looking for as they develop. Do we really want this to happen? Do we really want a future where everyone is the same?
It has already happened that many of these tribes people have forgotten or shyed away from their native upbringings in search of a greater, more wondrous world. It reminds me of the story of Dick Whittington going off in search of London, where the streets are paved with gold, only to find himself living alone, apart from a family of rats.
These children do not realise that all they will find in Western Civilisation is a dead, superficial, materialistic world where gradually people are forgetting how to even cook for themselves. Where children grow up not knowing what farmyard animals are, or where their food comes from, or what vegetables are. A world where everything is manufactured, packaged, and excessively advertised. A world where people do not know how to look after themselves without requiring paid services for everything from eating their breakfast, to washing, brushing their teeth, and journeying reasonable distances.
These children are the lucky ones. They could choose to stay in their tribes, and learn from the elders the true meaning of being at one with mother nature, and existing in a state of equilibrium with the planet instead of murdering it in the way the Western Civilisation is. These children can learn the many hundreds of uses that the various plants and herbs can offer in the jungle habitat. If they want to wash, they can use certain substances found on leaves that act as an antibacterial soap along with pure, natural streams and rivers. They can use other leaves for shelter when the rains fall, they can use other plants and herbs which offer resistance and antidotes to poisons and illnesses. They can eat and drink in abundance without having to earn money, pay taxes, and go to a shop to spend. They are the lucky ones.
If I were to go to the Amazon Rainforest which has long been a dream of mine, I would be dead in less than half a day without a native guide to do everything for me, I could learn what they know but it would take a lifetime of learning at least. It will have to remain a dream, and instead I will focus on making this Western world, My Western world, as close to that world as I feasibly can.
Its now 3 am and its time for bed. Sweet Dreams, EyeCeyE, Sweet Dreams!!
posted by Unknown @ 2:05 am
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