Mankind - The Failed Experiment » RobertRinger.com

Mankind - The Failed Experiment » RobertRinger.com

What an interesting read!  I wish I had more time to comment, but time has run out, alas.

Update:

Okay, it's early morning now and I've re-read the piece mentioned above.  It is a fascinating read indeed, but that doesn't mean that I agree with it whole-heartedly.  In fact, there are parts in which I strongly disagree.

Ringer downplays the right to vote.  But this is a precious thing.  Would it be better not to have any say over how the government operates?  I can't imagine a worse thing than that.  Voting is very important, but people do not appreciate it.  Perhaps it is given away too freely.  Perhaps the honor to vote must come with a responsibility to acquaint oneself with the facts at hand.  Ignorant people shouldn't be allowed to vote. People of poor character should not be allowed to vote.  And so on.

He says that you don't have the luxury of waiting for the world to change.  Rather passive statement.  I think you should take a more active part in making your world, and not "wait" for the world to do this or that.

I agree that there are limits to how much you care, or even if you should care at all.  Ringer seems not to care.  That can have serious repercussions over future events.

Finally, I recall writing about how the Roman Empire fell.  I said that it fell because not enough people cared about it in order to defend it.  Ringer's essay pretty much shows the mental attitude of someone towards his own society that can result in the same kind of thing.  If you don't take care of a thing, it will cease to exist.  Those things include ones own society.  Prominent people have a duty to lead, not to sit around and mope over how badly things are going.