Correcting Failure (a brighter world) Chapter 8... is next and it completes Delight. Chapter 7 aint much, but it's short. Below is "A Young Girl's Scream" and it's a screamer.
This chapter... is just a few thoughts on the subject I intended for it. I've written the chapter a couple times, and tossed it because it didn't do the job.
The subject is... fixing the human damage to our planet, and modifying humanity to prevent future damage. That's easy to write. What can't be written is the Delighted subtext. Delight is not about the written words...
1) Correcting Failure Aliens show us how to fix failure
Aliens? This is the solution most likely to work but they better show up soon. This is just for fun. I doubt it's ever going to happen. Or is it just for fun? True, I doubt it's ever going to happen... maybe examining this possibility could be more than just for fun? What are the most likely outcomes of aliens from space landing on earth? Can you imagine a possibility which science fiction hasn't covered? We can quickly inventory them. Big space ship kills all life on earth and harvests the planet for resources? Old sci-fi news. Big space ship starts a war with humanity and we kick butt after the earth is seriously damaged? More than one sci-fi like that. Big space ship beams up people by the millions and then heads home with a new food source for their starving population, many additional ships show up and do the same. Old sci-fi news. Big space ship quietly subverts the human population by one of many suggested methods. Pods anyone? Old news again. Big space ship quietly messes with stuff but doesn't do any real harm, then fly away with only a few people knowing they were here? We all have an uncle from Mars named Martin. Lots of those sci-fi movies. When it comes to the big space ship scenario, what we don't have is a solution that solves the main issue facing humanity. I suspect nobody can imagine the solution so they can't write the script. Else, they can't get it produced because... Big space ship scenario... what if... they undo the environmental damage humans have caused in the last hundred and fifty years? Would that solve everything? Put back the giant redwood forest, put back the rain forest, remove pollution from the oceans and replace the coral reefs, remove pollution from the atmosphere and replace the ozone layer, clean up radioactive waste, fill in the holes from open pit coal mining, refreeze the polar ice caps, clean up the groundwater, undo global warming, fill in the Panama canal, bring back the thousands of extinct species and put invasive species back in their proper environment, aww dood, you little gray space ship guys gots lots of work to do... Would it solve our problem? Notta chance. They would also have to transport at least six billion people to new homes on other planets and then teach the remaining billion or so humans how to act responsibly, forevermore. 2) Correcting Failure Objective Education
Too late, would take generations
but worth exploring.
Generations later, descendants of the original tribe of explorers knew their tribe would end based on their recent choices in life... If they knew, why don't we? Their problem was more obvious while our current development is far more advanced. Why can we not see? There's no perplexion here, even the ostrich knows. The answer is obvious. 3) Correcting Failure Truth in Politics
Redefine the word "implausible"?
4) Correcting Failure Media Blitz
Create the opposite order 5) Correcting Failure Philosophy
Mother of all questions, define, massive social change in a very short time, too late. Instead, society needs to examine possibilities and be prepared. Instead, society is in denial poking at reducing energy use while energy use skyrockets and social claims of progress quote tiny statistics about new energy sources and renewable energy. Instead, society is in denial while ice melts, landfills fill, forests are deforested and the human population statistics rocket to the moon. When all that is needed, and needed with most urgency, is objectivity, honesty... Why is this so difficult? It needs to be a case of failure to misunderstand. Instead, it's a case of "Let me entertain you" while the Titanic slips silently into the freezing waters. At least the Titanic passengers failed to misunderstand that the ship was sinking. 6) Correcting Failure A Young Girl's Scream
Have you ever heard... the startled scream of a young girl who stumbled across a large rat? A foolish man picked January of 1974 as a good time for his relocation to a small town in Alaska. There are no roads to this town or even a dirt airfield to land a plane. Seaplanes are the only way in or out for people and supplies. They're only scheduled once a month and are often delayed by weather. The foolish man got off the plane and hiked to town. Frozen and tired, carrying all his possessions, he walked into the bar and sat on a stool.
'Bartender, I'd like a beer.'
The bartender replied 'Sorry pal, no beer for you.'
Puzzled the man asked why. The bartender's reply puzzled him further.
'Nobody in town will serve you. The store won't sell you food, the barber won't give you a haircut, nobody will rent you a room. I heard the plane take off half an hour ago so you're in deep trouble.'
The foolish man has gone from puzzled to frightened.
'But bartender, all I want is a beer and a place to stay so I can get a job working on the pipeline. Why won't anyone do business with me?'
The bartender replied 'You haven't been initiated. You have to prove you're worthy of us.'
Feeling relief, the fool responds 'Oh man, I was worried. Get on with the initiation and make it quick, I'm thirsty.'
The bartender pulls a large clear glass jug from under the bar and sets it in front of the foolish man.
'It's a three step process. First you have to drink this gallon of fermented whale blubber. Second, hike a mile east of town where you'll find a polar bear. You have to kill the polar bear with your bare hands. Third, hike a mile west of town where you'll find an eskimo woman in an igloo. She's the mother in law to our mayor and she's been out there alone for a long time, make her very happy with your best lovin. I'll serve you a beer only after you prove you're worthy.'
The foolish man began drinking from the jug. He got a good start on it and stumbled out the door an hour later. The whole bar began laughing when the bartender proclaimed
'That's the last we'll see of that one.' Next day the front door to the bar burst open and a polar bear walked in. The bear sat at the bar and ordered a beer.
The bartender said 'Sorry bear, we don't serve bears beer here.'
This bartender is a picky bitch.
Puzzled, the bear replied 'I just want a beer. What do I have to do to get a beer?'
The bartender again told the bear 'Sorry bear, we don't serve bears beer here.'
Mr. Polar Bear got a bit testy and slammed his giant paw on the bar. Everybody's drinks jumped and splashed a bit. There was a priest a rabbi and an ostrich sitting next to the bear. All three of their drinks fell over and spilled across the bar. The bartender trembled in fear seeing a giant paw on the bar with three inch razor sharp claws dug into the counter top. Understand, this particular bartender is smarter than he looks, but the penalty for breaking the bear beer law is something he can't afford to risk. The bear is frustrated by the bartender's pause in replying, he takes a swing at the bartender's head but the smarter than he looks bartender is too quick, he ducks and the bear misses. The bartender stepped out of the bear's reach.
Holding up both hands he said to the bear 'Wait, wait, I'll make you a deal! See that blond at the end of the bar? She's been sitting there ten hours, run up a big tab, drunk as can be and drooling on the bar. You go eat her, take care of my problem and come back, I'll have your beer on the bar for you.'
The bear thought for a moment and said 'You know, I'm a bear and eating people is something we do. I'm almost as hungry as I am thirsty. You got a deal.'
The bear went to the end of the bar and ate the woman. When he returned to his stool there was no beer on the bar.
'Bartender! Where's my beer?'
Smarter than he looks bartender replied 'Sorry bear, we don't serve drug addicts here.'
The polar bear exclaimed 'Are you nuts? What do you mean? I'm no drug addict!'
As before, the bartender's reply confused the bear 'Wasn't that a barbitchyouate?'
Smarter than he looks bartender is about to be saved from a choice between certain death or violating the bear beer law, because... at that moment the front door swung open and bright sunlight filled the room. Through the blinding sun a silhouette could be seen of a man holding up a large empty jug. Seeing the man, the bear screamed like a small girl and headed out the back door, screeching all the way out of town.
The foolish drunken man in the doorway loudly stated 'I can't find the eskimo woman I have to kill.' As they played pool the priest casually asked the rabbi, "Lately, have you had any luck using Pascal's Wager?"
The ostrich contemplated the obvious questions... Where has intellect gone? Why is this society fixated on all the forms of materialism? How long can it continue?
Sitting next to the ostrich was the author of a book which vaguely resembles philosophy, he bought the ostrich a hot lunch and the two of them discussed the single sentence definition of the universe.
