My Ideal World

Some would say that conditions in the world right now are worse than they have ever been, and that may be true for some things: climate change, modern war, public political scandals, etc. Those, however, did not prompt me to think about my ideal world; playing Pandemic 2 did.

The game involves you creating a disease that is supposed to eradicate the human population while the human population eventually attempts to fight back by creating a vaccine to your virus/bacteria/parasite. The disease starts in a randomly assigned country, whether it is the United States or Madagascar. At a certain level, the disease becomes noticed (though the game is flawed in that it takes a long time for a country to notice an outbreak, whereas in real life 200,000 people exhibiting unique symptoms with the same disease would be very public) and countries begin to close their borders, their ports, and their air travel. While it is a game that takes a scenario to an extreme, it is worth thinking about.

For example, would countries cut off all communication with each other upon discovery of the disease within the affected country, or would medical aid flow into the affected country? Most likely, the latter would happen. The game makes no mention of this contingency. (Eventually, everyone in all affected countries become infected unless a vaccine is developed.)

How does this lead into my grandiose portrait of an ideal world? Two simple words: International cooperation, my friend.

In my ideal world (and political conservatives will likely vilify me for this), the world has a unified government. This unified government is all-encompassing, including all countries under one united Earth umbrella. Countries reserve a degree of autonomy, much like states do within the United States. The united world government, however, remains predominant in all cases dealing with law. Having all countries under one government would improve the world by:
-Expediting international cooperation in times of duress, such as during natural disasters.
-Ensuring universal human rights for all people.
-Bolstering the economies of traditionally weaker countries.
Before I begin talking about this world's economic system, it is necessary to state that countries dedicate more money towards education and scientific research than military spending, religious spending, etc. Health is paramount, so proven carcinogens such as tobacco are gone, as well as manufactured food additives, such as high fructose corn syrup and partially-hydrogenated oils.
At first, the economy would be based on traditional trade between countries, i.e. food, transportation, etc. Eventually, as technology develops, food and products will be commonly synthesized by advanced technology, thus rendering the trade of items for profit superfluous. (Research into this is being carried out in Japan already, though not as directly as I would hope.)


Thus, the economy would no longer be based in money due to an abundance of necessary goods.

This would entail a new fundamental philosophy of all human existence: Instead of each individual doggedly pursuing an accumulation of material capital in order to live well, the value of education and pursuit of knowledge would have to replace money as the driving force of mankind.

Knowledge can be progressed by the exploration of space. Humans have yet to break the seal on the vast scores of knowledge the galaxy, let alone the universe, holds. We reside as a veritable dust particle in a mansion. There is so much to explore and learn that only generations from now will humans truly understand their place in the universe. (That is, if this future comes to fruition.)

Being an Atheist, I can only hope that my imagined future is full of Atheists; however, that's unlikely, so tolerance for all beliefs will be a key concept in this overly idealistic future. Even more fundamental concepts that should be taught are logic, rationality, and empathy. A combination of the three, with each assuming an equal role in human relations and interaction, can assure equal understanding both between humans and the world in which we live.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

That's all for now,
Das Flüg

P.S. I may have neglected to mention some things, so just leave any concerns/questions in the comments section and I'll respond forthwith.

Das Püp!

Hello Earth/internet/extra-terrestrials/World of Warcraft players,
I am a man. To be precise, I am a human being amongst the other 6 billion human beings to inhabit this pale blue dot in the middle of nowhere. You may be asking yourself what is so special about me to warrant a blog; to that, I respond wholeheartedly, "I dunno."

I am not unlike every other human. 2 legs, 2 arms, a head, a circulatory system, neuro-synapses, etc. I am pretty cut and dry, except for the fact that I am, right now, doing what you see in front of you: continually typing words. Man, I am a boring person.

My life is no more interesting than yours. Sure, you may think that just because you're Brad Pitt, or own a Mustang, or have had sex with multiple people (genders unknown) at the same time that you are the greatest thing since, well, the last person to have sex with multiple people (genders unknown) at the same time. And if you do, well, kudos to you. Life handed you lemons, and you said "To hell with the lemonade" and bought a Ferrari. Yes, a very random sentiment, I agree. It's just a random tangent.

Speaking of tangents, y=f(a)+f!(a)(x-a).

To be a bit more personable, I am currently a single, straight, intellectually-bored college student studying Political Science (a.k.a., nothing really important) and Psychology (double unimportance). Essentially, my life's goal is, to, well... find a goal. I've been a stalwart dilettante for most of my academic career, and after a while, it just gets damned tiring. Sure, I could give you pretty good insights into politics, law, philosophy, economics, psychology, natural sciences, physics, astronomy, classical music, classic rock, history, kung-fu movies, good books, meditation, and exercise (among other things), but what would that get me in life? I would be no more than a wandering philistine. Today's world is about the simple-minded objective of screwing people over in favor of accruing wealth. For that, I could care less.

The funny thing about money is that if enough people devalue it and consider it worthless, well then...it's worthless. I think that I'll end my little diatribe here.

Vaya con dios,
Das Flüg