Hi Angel,
1... This was ok while we were living in small groups. This does not work well when we have to feed millions. We quickly saw the benefit of raising and growing our own food. However, some noticed that they could manipulate other to feed them instead of having to hunt themselves.
Life was exceptionally hard in past ages and so greed was essential. But I was actually just referring to what has been happening since the middle of the 20th century up until now. Food abundance is increasing due to the 'Green revolution'. When I refer to greed I am specifically referring to over abundance in developed countries (although increases are even happening in developing countries). Anthropomorphic climate change is green house gas driven which is by far caused by the west which is due to an over demand of everything (due to our evolutionary heritage which does not know how to deal with abundance). Which I don't even think is particularly wrong as long as you pay the true value of a product. For example: Pumping out spring water at cents a kiloliter to make a carbonated beverage does not mean that the actual value of the spring water is just cents a kiloliter. We are getting luxury products at a vastly discounted price which means we are borrowing from the future.
2) True, but I believe that his prediction has worked for the current situation. I am not sure if he made any further predictions, but could it be said that the same ability to communicate will eventually brings us back together? May be the collective human race is acting like when you meet a new friend. We are now at a stage of misunderstanding each other because this ability to communicate has just brought us together. May be this same ability will finally help us settle our differences and end up bringing us closer.
I think it just means we get to shop for the groups we belong to and we can pick more specific groups over time. For example: In the 1980's JW apostates were pretty much isolated and today here we all are on the internet. Never before have apostates and ex-JW's had the opportunity to mingle so freely because communication barriers have been removed. That's the gist of Tofflers thesis (as you probably know): What happens when we can all talk to each other? And that's the future. For example: I suspect as the forum grows new sub groups will be formed in the future. We will still may be a part of the bigger ex-JW community but would split off into our smaller groups in general. The ex-JW community already has a major division: Religious ex-JW's and atheist/agnostic ex-JW's. The battle lines are already drawn :) Oh and Toffler has a final prediction: Everything is going to be ok. (Your last comment on point 2)
4) Is difficult at this stage to tell if decease is winning the battle. We may have won over many of them but we don't know the long term effects.
I think humanity has a chance of beating devastating infectious disease. For example: Polio. The only reason polio still exists in developing countries is because (as you know) vaccination is a plot by the US to make their children sterile. Thus social intervention and not technology is mostly the barrier.
Another quick stat:
5) My grandfather use to say how screwed up the world was getting and I could not understand what he was talking about. I am now beginning to have the same feeling but I can not help and see that, if he thought the world was bad in the 80's, that he would be totally outraged by the world of today. I also see from history that there are some things in which we have improved, in a way, not absolute. We don't sacrifice humans in an altar anymore, but we do sacrifice them in the name of other things by means of war and hunger. Could it by that here we also grow in waves?
Yep yep. These kids with their new fangled phones and face tubes. Their noses always in the things and you can't even have a conversation without them peeping at their little screens. In my day I could still understand music. Songs had a beat and a tune and lyrics. Nowadays its just wub wub wub, wheeeeeeee, haaaaaaaaaaa and a smurf singing backwards. Oh and how do you feed a horse in Minecraft? What the hell is a minecraft?
"Could it by that here we also grow in waves?"
Possibly. Whats the fourth wave I wonder?
