So there's all kinds of conspiracy theorists, and humour websites that agree: Humans, are likely going to be the cause of our own demise. Short of course, of an asteroid the size of the sun smashing into us and either a) knocking us off of our orbit, sending us all hurtling off of the earths surface and somewhere into space b) knocking us off of our orbit, and directly into the sun or c) creating an ice age that kills every living thing on the planet, probably sooner than us so we can walk the barren wastelands of our empty planet before dying ourselves.
At least asteroids seem to be the next popular theory.
But I think we're dooming ourselves a lot faster than that. And not even in large, cataclysmic type ways. I'm talking about itty bitty little things that illustrate what lack of care humans have for each other, and therefore our own survival.
1. People will ram into other people in car accidents because they insist on driving drunk, or running red lights, or stop signs, but stop in the middle of a busy road to allow a duck to cross the street. (We're talking the city here, not the country, where road kill is considered a fast-food group for the ecosystem)
I was out waiting for a bus last summer one day, and there's a big park near the university I go too, so there's a lot of ducks wandering around. So I spot this one who had quacked rather rudely at me the day before, and he's heading for the curb. I'm thinking "Oh great, I get to see duck pate made at 60km an hour" but....I was wrong. 12 cars, 5 on one side, 7 on the other, all stopped behind each other (with no horn honking, yelling or homicidal attempts to pass the stopped cars in front of them) and waited nearly 7 minutes for the duck to slowly amble his way across the road. Score one for animal activists. Nil for humans saving humans though. Just down the street I saw the cops investigating a man who ran through a red light and managed to crumple his car against the semi-truck he tried to take on.
2. Conversation...is dead.
Have you seen that commercial with the girl walking along saying how she's ALWAYS facebooking, and twittering, and she just can't LIVE without msn, and she wants to be able to surf parked in a parking lot sitting on the hood of her car, and waiting for a bus, and ON said bus and never have to go more than the time she has to spend behind the wheel of her car (so...why was she taking a bus?) without internet.
I'm not even going to get into the "text speak" or "L33t" speak, because it's too painful. But seriously people. Ok, when I'm up in the country? Talking to people down in the city? Sure, I'm on msn. And it IS convenient to talk to people when you want company but have other things to do at the same time. But so called "conversations" with most people, now turn into either a 10 minute long rant about themselves, or a "Hey" "Hey." "How goes?" "Not bad." "Cool."
Why is this such an issue? Think of some of these kinds of people you might know. Now imagine having a heart attack, or falling down a flight of stairs in their presence, and they're the only ones to call 9-1-1. How comfortable do you feel?
Now you see my point.
3. Low Birth rate/Pregnancy
There are some legitimate reasons for this issue. 1) Birth control and the actual USE of said birth control (by some) 2) Female independence (no longer must we be housewives chained to the kitchen unless we want to be.) 3) The ongoing trend of adoption 4) The fact that immigration is making up our country's current population growth, so people haven't noticed an immediate problem yet.
So what instance am I referring to then? How about someone I know being given a diamond necklace for pushing out her second child? Only to thrust them into the arms of a full time, live in nanny (did I mention she's a stay-at-home mom? Oh sorry, that's incorrect, she's a Go-out-and-drink-and-party-then-come-home-only-long-enough-to-sleep-and-start-over-again-so-often-that-her-kids-don't-care-even-when-she-comes-back-after-a-week-away mom). This? Just depresses me. Though it may solve the low birth-rate problem, a generation of kids growing up thinking: "Dear god, my parents were assholes, there's no way I'm having kids of my own" could lead to some issues.
4. Media Panic
Who remembers swine flu? Oh, sorry, H1N1 to be P.C. Anyone? Yeah, it was a flu, that created MASS panic throughout the media, basically stating that we are all going to die, and partially blaming hospitals for not having enough ventilators to keep all of our flu filled lungs working when we're stupid enough to lick the pole on the subway and manage to get ourselves sick. QUICK, mass vaccination production! DON'T LET YOUR CHILDREN HUG EACH OTHER! ISOLATION, ISOLATION, ISOLATION! Soooo....what happened with it?
SOME people got sick. SOME people died. But, less people died, than the normal seasonal flu takes out EVERY winter. Why all the panic? First, the WHO, primed and ready for another disaster since SARS didn't turn out to be the pandemic they were hoping for, issued a pandemic alert, apparently without stressing to the media the necessity of explaining what the alert actually MEANT. A pandemic alert of 6, does not mean "batten down the hatches and kiss your loved ones goodbye, people are dropping like flies". What it meant, was that "this disease spreads rapidly (well...yeah, it's a flu, an 8-year old could tell you that) and is in many different countries (because we don't flu shot people in airports). That's all folks.
There are three outcomes of these false alarm panics (remember Y2K?) People are cautious and alert to potential negative health events in the future, and take measures to educate themselves and their loved ones on how to be safe and prevent infection or spread of said as of yet unknown ailment, in a calm and reasonable matter. 2) Boy who cried wolf. He got eaten when the people stopped listening cuz he screwed around with them too much. 3) Mass panic will consume the globe, until the government decides to pull an Outbreak, and nuke whatever city causes the biggest problem, then escape to Fiji to lounge around on the beach.
5. Reality TV.
I apologize to those who like it, and even I too have occasionally found the need for mind-numbing, quasi-entertainment. But when a show makes you feel like you're dropping IQ points...I can't even think of the implications of it all.
Imagine your doctor/health care professional/stock broker/childs kindergarten teacher watches The Hills, or Jersey Shore or Pimp my Ride or Cribs or Sweet 16.
I know. It's terrifying eh?
No comments:
Post a Comment