Technology has made life fast and easy in most cases. We have cell phones that do everything for us from our calenders to our photographs. They receive email on the go, text message, allow us to touch the internet at any time of the day and update our status on pages like Myspace and Facebook, so that the people we are not text messaging or calling can know what we are doing. And most phones have unlimited calling so we can talk until our batteries run dead. These are not all bad things. Parents want to get in touch with their children, wives need their husbands, sons and daughters need their parents, whenever and wherever they may be. Cell technology has opened our world up for boundless communication, with of course the exception of the service of the area you may be roaming through at the time.
Think with me for a moment at the way our country has changed technologically for a moment. In the last 100 years, we have seen 1000's of inventions that have improved our life...the microwave, the television, the space satellite, the air conditioner, the copy machine, the personal computer...these are just a few minor ones of history. In fact, Penicillin was found between 1928-1938 and could be argued as one of the better discoveries in the last 100 years. Without it, we may not be here to enjoy all the technology at our fingertips.
Out of all the discoveries of the last century, the microchip has got to be the single most influential discovery. It powers everything in our technological world. Smaller that a dime, it is quite literally the brains, the heart, and the nervous system of every digital device on the planet. It allows all things in our technological world to work. Since its introduction in the 1970's there have been more medical, mathematical, and scientific breakthroughs than in any other period of time. With tens of billions of chips running everything from Jumbo jets to stereos, many scholars now rank the microchip as one of humankind's greatest achievements.
I heard something the other month that got me thinking about these advancements of our country over the last 100 years. It said that what we have learned in the last 100 years will allow us to advance 1000 times more in the next 100 years. To think we could advance that much more is mind-boggling. Computer chips installed in every baby born, which will monitor everything about the person until death? Artificial Intelligence that can make life easier or faster for us?
Did anyone see The Matrix? How much easier do we need life to be? Maybe the brains of our society can figure out how to clone the DNA of animals to reproduce them genetically...but does that mean they should? Who will ask the questions that will stop them from putting chips in you to monitor every move and transaction you make. They will know what kind of shampoo you buy at the store, how much you spend in a day, where you go, what you do, and who you do it with. This data will allow them to market to you specifically, strategical plan, and develop a system to actively steer your decisions, and this will ultimately take away our God given right of choice.
Wake up people! Technology can be great, but lets find a cure for diseases like Cancer and Aids. Lets find a fuel source that doesn't make us dependent on oil from countries that are made up of a majority of people who hate our guts. Lets use technology to benefit mankind and the ecosystems of our world, and stop using it to control purchasing habits and make the all-mighty dollar. Where are the people making the decisions around here? We can land a man on the face o the moon in the 60's, we can clone a sheep in the late 1990's, but we can't come up with a way to make our pollution less, and our rain forests remain preserved and abundant? Where are our priorities at people? What good will all this technology, and the ease of life it creates for us, be if our planet is in such bad shape we can't enjoy any of it? How lazy are we that we need more than we have today?
There is a weapon, which is already in existence, called an EMP. It stands for Electro-Magnetic Pulse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse). What would happen if a few of these were targeted at our major power hubs across the nation? What about if the development of these weapons evolves into a weapon with a massive blast radius. Instead of a 50 mile radius, what if it were 500 miles. Three or four bombs could effectively shut down our country. We would go from what we know today, to horse and buggy and candlelight in a matter of minutes.
Who says that the technology of today is here to stay?
Think about it...
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