Note to self - October 2008

Wow it's been a really long while since I posted anything. I need to do a complete overhaul of the site. The colors are starting to look to ugh to me. meh...just too lazy.

Anyway, this is just a note I'm leaving here for the future me to read. Move along, nothing interesting here.
Kia Kroas :=: 14 Oct, 2008 09:43:54 pm CST6CDT last updated: 23 Nov, 2008 03:12:37 pm CST6CDT

October 2008 - Stock market slopes downward, credit and housing crisis killing banks, $700 billion bailout bill passes Congress. And you haven't even figured out what you're going to do with your lazy self after high school graduation yet. Oh well, deal with it when it comes.

The United States of America, as of October 5th, has over ten trillion dollars in public debt. Somebody is going to have to pay that back. And that somebody isn't going to be me. You know I'll be long gone by then. How are you handling this mess mister professional hobo? Not so bad I hope. I just have some thoughts and warnings on the matter as it currently stands. Feel free to laugh it off in your hindsight or be amazed at my foresight.

By the time our generation enters the workforce - some twenty or so years from now - there will be global economic turmoil and possibly weather fluctuations and worldwide catastrophes beyond any precedence. It really isn't any fault of ours; it's the generation before us. Living beyond their means, speculating on bubbles (did they learn nothing from the Dot-com bust?), and disregarding pollution's effects on climate change has finally shown its consequences. You will be the ones suffering the consequences while they sit in retirement...that is, if Social Security doesn't implode from the deficits. Oh well, as I always say, life goes on - or in the other case, too dead to care. (I wonder, have you grown out of this relaxed and lolling attitude of mine yet?)

Global sustainability will become a heavy focus of the world by 2050. World populations have been growing exponentially for quite some time now. Eventually, there will no longer be enough land in the world to house everybody and resource deposits will run out. The ore veins for metals will be depleted because of constant mining. Agricultural land will lose yield because of constant over-fertilization. Waste facilities will exhaust locations for trash dumping because of over-consumption. And, worst of all - for the "civilized" world at least - oil fields will be drained of oil. Very troubling this is. Back in the "good old days" people fixed problems of this sort by resettling into another region. Globalization has made that method impossible in the modern era. Nowadays, once resources disappear, they disappear forever. (At least until we acquire technology to raid resources of other planets.)

There is more to worry about than just resources. Our entire infrastructure and its maintenance is at risk. The western world depends too much on electricity and oil. These two discoveries have no doubt shaped nearly all the aspects of the world as I know it. At the rate things are moving, your life is probably more dependent on technology than mine is. (How's nano-technology and artificial intelligence coming along? Perhaps they can calculate some solutions.) Technology introduced the mass communications network that is the backbone of modern society today. I can safely argue that the very fabric of our society is made of the fiber optic wires and electrical transmission lines weaving through the country's terrain. All great and magnificent...until some catastrophe disrupts the transmissions. We depend too much on the proper functioning of electronics and automotive machines. Fortunately, I have yet to experience a sunspot powerful enough to wipe my hard drive. However, if electricity ever becomes scarce enough, undoubtedly your society will crumble.

As for oil, it allowed for a transition into mass transit of goods and their packaging (petroleum is used substantially in the plastics industry). It has also brought a lot of pollution and warfare into the world. The declining deposits and rising costs of it has thus resulted in mixed sentiments. There's been a lot of discussion about the viability and necessity of alternative fuels. The trade off between using corn for foodstuffs or fuel has implications. I have no opinion on the matter. I believe an important achievement in the field would considerably aid in future development and world affairs, but as it currently stands I cannot give a say.

Too bad I am too young to vote in this upcoming election. The Barack H. Obama vs John S. McCain election will be historic. The winner will shape the course of the world as we slowly transition out of the current troubles and into future worries. Oh well, no point wasting valuable sleeping time thinking about matters I have no choice over.