Posted 2005-07-05 21:30:07
Humans are quite simply the most marvelous species that has ever evolved on Earth. Increasingly they have adapted Earth’s environment to their needs and have multiplied to fill every habitable niche of its surface. They have created a magnificent and cooperative world-wide culture based on their ability to work together in solving complicated problems. In doing so, they mostly communicate the truth and usually demonstrate respect and civility in their interactions. Were you to travel to every country, every city, and every village and enter every home, every apartment and every hut where humans live, you will primarily find parents who love and educate their children and who wish for them a better and safer existence. Everywhere, you will find people who help others in need and who communicate their discoveries and inventions in making life easier for all. The essence of humanity is that they mostly tell each other the truth, and the truth they mostly tell is that they care for one another. Humans are, however, infected with a disease: the virus of deception, hatred and violence. Diseased individuals commit crimes against others and the public peace, and in some societies, they are severely punished for their illnesses and incarcerated without any attempt to cure them. Worst of all, societies which come to be governed by diseased individuals can be led into committing mass acts of violence against their own people or to make war against other societies. Several generations ago, such a war involved most of the societies on Earth. It led to the slaughter of millions and ended with the use of atomic weapons. However, from the ashes of destruction arose a world-wide organization of all nations united in their pledge to avoid war in the future, to obey international laws, and to respect the human rights of all individuals. Humans practice a variety of faith-based religions, all of which claim to represent the ultimate word, usually of God, to the exclusion of all other beliefs. Governments vary in their responses to religion. The most enlightened allow individuals to practice their religion of choice and refuse to support or endorse any particular religion. Other, more repressive governments represent a particular religion, rather than individuals, and prohibit all other expressions of faith. Although most religions provide a basis for ethical decisions by their adherents, they are also relied upon by their practitioners to validate and justify the most violent and uncharitable acts against those who disagree with them. Just over 200 orbits ago, immigrants to a sparsely populated continent with abundant natural resources united their various states in a new form of government. They established constitutional law that preserved to all individuals the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, including the freedoms of expression, assembly and religion. Although the society was initially destructive of the indigenous people and tolerated human slavery, it learned from its mistakes and came to provide the greatest freedom and opportunity available on Earth. The best, the bravest, and the brightest found their way from all over the world to this new society where they were accepted and protected. The genetic pool became robust, and the level of intellectual knowledge and accomplishment came to exceed all others. Indeed, it was this society that provided the balance in the last world-wide conflict between freedom and totalitarianism and which led all other nations to unite against war. While it was the only society that used atomic weapons, it was also the only one whose members came to walk on the Moon. Sad to say, all of this is at great risk. The government of this great nation was illegally seized by an oligarchy of diseased zealots who continue to hold it through their mastery of lies and deception, their control of information, and the force of arms. Claiming to believe in the principles of a small, but powerful, minority of religious fundamentalists and to act in the name of God, these sick men and women secretly worship at the dark altar of corporate greed and world domination. Since gaining office, these zealots have eliminated taxes on their wealthy and corporate supporters; sought to destroy public education; reduced health care for working people; eliminated constitutional protections; incarcerated criminals and dissenters at rates exceeding all other nations; curtailed the freedom of expression; attempted to impose their narrow religious beliefs on all others; and expanded the intrusion of government into the private lives and decisions of its citizens. Although existence of the entire human civilization is threatened by global warming, air pollution, and shrinking supplies of fresh water, these zealots, who are suffering from an epidemic of ignorance and avarice, have refused to ratify an international agreement to reduce industrial emissions, overturned and reversed years of beneficial environmental regulations, and authorized the destruction of forests and the pollution of fresh water sources, all to the benefit of their corporate cohorts. In order to militarize space and to divert tax money into corporate accounts, the oligarchy withdrew their nation from an effective anti-ballistic missile treaty, and abrogated agreements against space-based weapons. It refuses to sign an international agreement against the use of cluster bombs, which indiscriminately and disproportionately kill children, and the cabal continues to deploy weapons containing depleted uranium. To protect themselves from prosecution for war crimes, the zealots have withdraw their nation from the International Criminal Court Treaty. Pretending to act against international terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, while secretly seeking control of a vast pool of petroleum for his corporate benefactors, the morally and intellectually deficient head of the illegal cabal ignored the wishes of the international peace organization and ordered the military invasion of a weak society which in truth posed no risk of harm. As a result, thousands of innocent civilians have been killed and maimed, including hundreds of children and babies who were burned alive. Although the illegal war is opposed by virtually all other societies on Earth and no evidence of justification has ever been found, its prisoners continue to be tortured and detained indefinitely without trial, and there is no end in sight. The plague must be contained before it wipes out the efforts of all those who have labored to improve the lives of their children. While the disease thrives on the powers of deception and acts to destroy the common means of communication, humans have again demonstrated their amazing resilience and ability to adapt to changing conditions. They are seeking a cure through personal interaction using electronic computers and the cooperative media they refer to as the Internet. This then may be their salvation. Someday a keyboard, such as the one used to prepare this report, may grace the altars of freedom around this Mother Earth and throughout the distant worlds that her children, the truth seekers of tomorrow, will survive to discover and over which they will patiently and lovingly watch.Please sign the guestbook and share your thoughts.