Thought of the day 04.17.2013

"You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns."

A Few Good Men, Director Rob Reiner 1992

China has revealed the structure of its military units, in what state-run media describe as a first.
The army has a total of 850,000 soldiers, while the navy and air force have a strength of 235,000 and 398,000, China said in its defence white paper.
The paper also criticised the US's expanded military presence in the Asia Pacific, saying it had exacerbated regional tensions.
China's defence budget rose by 11.2% in 2012, exceeding $100bn (£65bn).

The defence white paper, which state media describe as China's 8th since 1998, emphasised China's "unshakable national commitment... to take the road of peaceful development".

Thought of the day 04.01.2013

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” 

Sun Tzu, The Art of War
More: South Korea vows fast response to North; U.S. deploys stealth jets | Reuters

Catalyst

Ever since the first signs of civilisation, men have fought. They fought over land, beliefs, sometimes even for fun! There are always by-products of war, two of them being the most advertised ones: Death and Suffering.

But conflict did not develop only plain death and destruction. Call me cynical but anyone can kill! But in war, efficiency is key! And here is where I wanted to bring the discussion: Efficiency! 

At first, it was all about tactics, but soon, everything changed; man has discovered tools, which combined with tactics gave you the edge in every engagement, and that made you more efficient, sometimes very efficient. First spears, swords, arrows, each a step forward, were not used only in conflict, but in hunting too, and hunting became more efficient, more easy... Fishing too!... Agriculture - tools made it, and made people settle down. Revolution started, and continues today.

Now, we cannot say war was the single driving force behind progress, but it was definitely a huge catalyst. The huge drive for better weapons, weapons systems, defense systems, intelligence, logistics, and management was, is, and will be forever a factor in development. Examples are numerous, from expertise in building defense systems which translated in better housing and structures in times of peace, to, probably, the most astonishing development that war was involved with: taming the nuclear power! And this are just examples of direct and tangible products, we can add development of systems (with Henry Ford as his apostle), and product design, technology, industrial process design, encoding... Aviation has made its biggest steps in time of war (World War 2), or in preparation for war (The Cold War).

War has been the additive in the fuel for the engine that kept evolution going. This article is not a cry for war; nobody in his right mind would wish for one, but we have to acknowledge its influence. Yes, we have death, the threat of death, we have genocide, pain and suffering, shortages and irrational behavior, and maybe just a drop of kick forward, but that kick exists, and once it was over, that kick became a boom, and from that boom, we grew stronger, with an insatiable quest for bigger (sometimes smaller), better, faster, smarter.

Sad, but true! We died because of it, we have evolved because of it, reborn from our own ashes, stronger every time!

Single Government

I like Zeitgeist, za movie! It was put together in such a charismatic way, with a lot of sarcasm used, mixed up with facts, historical interviews, and a lot of questions. A lot of questions!... and a lot of answers, some direct, some, well, not so direct... But, hey, it opened more perspective on some events, some of them crazy and ridiculous, while some quite serious and valid. I liked a lot the description of the Federal Reserves explanation, I loved the part about religion, and really loved the part trying to connect some dots about the conflict in Vietnam, and the two World wars. Also, the lobby for sustainable energy is an interesting part, but just a bit unrealistic, and plagued by omission. But, above all, one subject drew my attention, not only because it sparked controversy, but also because of the hypothetical implications over everyone's life: Single Government!


Now, Single Government,
as described in "za movie" is bad, really bad. And, the idea that a group of organized elite can push world politics in a direction they want, it's like Hitler believing the Jews forced the war upon The Third Reich, and only writing about it now makes me laugh. The whole noise about The Bilderberg Group, to me, seems like a paranoid hysteria of a bunch of drunken house-wifes with far too much free time. Yes, New World Order is a legitimate expression, but more into the changing of poles of power, rather than world domination of elitist few. Effectively, after World War Two, the antagonism of two European Powers (or three - including France), represented by British Empire (allied with France) and The Third Reich, changed to a  bipolar world with the biggest winners in the war: USSR and USA. This expression was used by many politicians in that sense, but Conspirational Theorists managed to extract the seeds of paranoia, as they can develop anything into a conspiracy. Oppressive, repressive, secretive and ruthless are the attributes given, and no human would be safe when they are in charge. That would be bad!...Really, really bad!

But, wait!...
Bad?!... Why, bad?!... Why does it necessarily have to be bad?!.... Well, it is, in the version presented to us! But it doesn't have to be like that. Lets just pause, and take things seriously, if only for a moment; when we talk about Single Government, we talk about a single structure, an entity if you will, with the sole purpose of human betterment, society improvement and global unity. What would be the benefits of this? While our most enlightened heads are working for cures to various diseases, renewable power sources, space exploration, explaining the secrets of the universe, our separated governments work for political advantages, economical advantages, remaining blind to the fact that the future should hold not world dominance, but World Unity. I know, it is like asking angels to have sex with demons, a utopia bigger than communism, but the advantages of it are huge! Think about it (and here, I mean about the ideal case), with a single government we get:

• A singe organizational structure to finance.
• A single, unified set of rules governing trade, justice, administration.
• No customs (stimulating trade, production).
• Uniform prices for basic necessities (or very close to uniform).
• No armies. Those huge amounts of money that fund military organizations (most of which having deterrence as a sole purpose), can go into research. No borders, no national interests equals no need for armies.
• Equal living standards (maybe not equal, but more uniform). That would mean a lot for poor Countries and areas.
• A single currency. Now, I don't know much economics, but I tend to think that one currency avoids many problems related to exchange rates between different currencies, with effects in inflation (if you are economist, correct me if I'm wrong).

There are other benefits to this idea that elude me now ( put them in a comment, if you find any ), and, I admit, some disadvantages. World powers will never relinquish their dominant position in the world, but it is because we do not dare to dream and wish such a thing, and some even fear it.

And, yes, it is daydreaming!
But please, let me dream! I thought this to be a good discussion topic and I have put my 2 cents in. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.