The Fragile Integrity of our Human Race and its Global Society - General

Maybe this is my extreme OCD overacting and burgeoning it's way into my ideology and political thoughts, but I can't shake the feeling that society, with all of its political systems, all of its technological bases, is extremely fragile. When I make arguments for or against systems of thought, this issue always comes and hits me in the face. How does everything fricking work? It's so damn mind boggling that we can have a computer in front of us and that our homes are furnished with all these incredible items and that they all work. That many of us have working water, electricity, and the basic necessities of life. That many of us can live in peace, and that many of us are so advanced and pursue so many different fields of intelligent thought and pursue an unlimited amount of hobbies and etc.. And it all simply works. It's like all the cogs in the machine are fitted perfectly and the machine runs smoothly. Sans wars and famines and prejudice and bigotry and all the bad things that currently run against the stream of progress. But then, I still can't shake the feeling of extreme fragility. That everything relies upon something else and then we delve into this incredible level of micromanagement. This incredible level of everything relying upon everything else and somehow things run? How the hell does that happen? Am I supposed to simply shrug my shoulders and attribute it all to the supposed genius of the human race? What really bothers me is the thought of something really catastrophic happening. It may be a meteor hitting the earth. It may be an EMP pulse from god knows where frying this planet and all of the electronics. It may be a collective uprising of the proletariat. But every day I worry that some cog in the machine, a vital cog, will just break and then we get thrown back a few thousand years and start again. And then the whole thing of the human race advancing and becoming even more technologically inclined, of even more of our lives being dependent on more things. It's a damn vicious cycle I tell you. Is this worry of mine rational? Is everything that we base our lives around really so fragile? Some of us have it good, some of us don't need to worry about the basic necessities of life since we have all that we need and we even have luxuries. But every day I can't stop thinking about the people that most of us live upon, such as those working the farms over in some foreign country, or those making our clothes, or those making whatever new device they create. I think that we as a human race have created an incredibly complex hierarchy of dependence upon our fellow humans and upon technology, a hierarchy that is extremely fragile and is only upheld by human characteristics that aren't that flattering. I mean, this does go back hundreds of years. Where you had landlords counting upon their serfs to keep their pockets filled and their lives luxurious. Where you had pharaohs with thousands of servants willing do to their bidding. But back then, as far as I know from texts and logic, everything had a much more tangible feeling. Things were usually made and used in a relatively local area, with exportation and importation done much less. But as time passed, more and more of the world became dependent upon itself, countries becoming dependent on each other and thus making everything much more complex and intricate. Most of us no longer live in a small village where clothes, food, and small luxuries were usually bought and shared locally; where people depended upon mostly themselves, their family, and the local inhabitants. A system where dependence upon foreign things was much less, and people usually took value in things. I just right now realized this is a Karl Marx concept, but I forget the term. But, what I just previously stated in the two paragraphs above this one is not the major factor of my worries. It is that we base our lives upon an extremely fragile base and hierarchy. I would definitely attribute this to growing Capitalism, but that is another story. Is this truly a good thing? Should I simply stop worrying and let things just be? Is it human nature that all people should not be equal and that in order to progress as a human race we need to have rulers and servants? In order to reach greater understanding, greater technological advancements, and greater standards of living, do we need to have such a system that continuously becomes more fragile and that is dependent upon so many variables that could at any moment go wrong? I realize all of these questions have been asked before. Probably every statement has been stated and all ideas posited. But I don't have the time or patience to scour the internet and countless books looking for whether people have the same feelings and thoughts as me... Google did not help either. Sorry if this is all a jumble of words that may or may not make sense. I could go in higher detail and with more references to historical facts and philosophers, but I just want to get my emotions out and see what other people may have to say about this topic.

We've been through some pretty bad catastrophes and come out kicking. Unless almost every human on Earth gets wiped out at the same time, I think we'll be around for a long time.

this is an interesting take on our existence.. I might have to agree with you as I've had similar thoughts in the past.

Here's the secret: THE WORLD RELIES ON YOU!

Yes, society as a whole could collapse at the slightest trigger, but humanity has been through a lot of this (I.E. The dark ages, Ancient Rome) and we eventually come back to the starting point in a few hundred years.

The human race will keep on going as long as we have Mr Bean.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;23653006]The human race will keep on going as long as we have Mr Bean.[/QUOTE] What a fantastic and well thought out post. It really contributed to the thread. And as a response to the thread, that's basically it. Our society is fragile and has been for a very long time. Several 'cogs' have broken and problems have emerged but we, as a race, overcame them and improved.

[QUOTE=Soulmemories;23652860]Here's the secret: THE WORLD RELIES ON YOU![/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0305zUG9aw[/media]

If the current society collapses, a new one would just rise in its place.

Y'know, lately, I've been thinking about how the entire human race is just one really fucking badass super virus, that the Earth just can't seem to shake. We grow and multiply and wreak havoc on the earth, and it chucks it's natural defences at us with no reserve, yet we just overcome, adapt and come back stronger than before, not all that different from a highly resilient virus. Not really relevant to what the OP was saying, but I felt it was relevant to the discussion.

[img]http://geopolicraticus.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/matrix-morpheus-interrogation-1.jpg[/img] Humanity is a virus

History repeats itself. We saw restriction and prohibition by religion, broke free and made amazing progress. Now we see restriction and prohibition by corporation. We went from a two class society, to a three class, now going back to a second. I think our wheel will churn faster since there is more of us then there was then. but that can all change. Times change, they change all the time.

Agreeable Post.

[quote]It's so damn mind boggling that we can have a computer in front of us and that our homes are furnished with all these incredible items and that they all work. That many of us have working water, electricity, and the basic necessities of life[/quote] I'm in Ukraine and half the time I don't have any of those. Six days to go.

You can already see signs of deterioration of the current society. America is not invincible, and it will collapse some day, and then some other country will take its place. Maybe a reincarnation of America, like how the USSR collapsed, and now Russia is clawing its way back to ba a super power again.