Can we just evolve already? Another technology rant.

It seems like we’re right on the verge of a new level of technology. The advancements of computers and modern technology has caught up to a point that there is no turning back. We won’t  stop employing the use of electronics for any foreseeable reason from this point forward. Power sources have also evolved to the point that even solar electricity is available in about all sizes for all applications. There is no benefit in not using at least some of the technology available to us. However, the speed of technology seems to go at a rate that outpaces our own moral or personal growth. In the past 20 years, giant advancements have been made on all fronts in electronics, and our apparent need for faster speed and smaller-size technology has quickly found its use for and against us. Yet, we haven’t really learned all that much or really grown that much in the past decades to keep up with the relentless growth of our technologies.

So many of our advancements are merely in numbers, though. For instance: almost 20 years ago,computers used to run at 33 Megahertz or 33,000 cycles per second (or less!). Now they run at 2,000 Megahertz, or 2,000,000 cycles per second. That’s a giant improvement, but as the numbers continue to climb, the perceivable difference in performance is harder and harder to notice or quantify. Same with the level of aural or visual capability. There’s a point where the difference in speeds or level of accuracy is so fine, we can’t even tell the difference. It’s like reinventing the wheel, but more akin to fine-tuning the wheel. It’s really a matter of the programs or applications and ultimately of the people using the technology–they are what take advantage and push the limits.  Phones can do just about anything a personal computer can nowadays, but how do we actually employ their uses? Many people probably use their smart phones mostly for social networking or web browsing, but the capabilities of those very devices hold so many more possibilities than that. As a race it seems like we’re basically low-level creatures walking around with devices and technologies that are way more advanced than we are.

How devices are used is really what’s of importance. The user of the technology and the ends they meet using those devices is and always will be more important than the technology employed to get there. The technology is merely a tool. It’s what we choose to build with that tool, how we use it, that really means anything. Important  information is just as valid on a 70″ HD plasma flat screen as it is on a 6″ black and white monitor. It’s not the vessel, but the message that is of importance. Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are both giant steps from the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System, but it’s always been the games that have ever made any system great. Super Mario Bros. most likely had a greater impact than most games we’ve seen in the last 30 years.  Just about any modern game has better graphics and sound, but that’s never what it’s been about. It’s like putting a fantastic drummer behind a 4-piece drumset and a couple cymbals vs. a novice drummer behind a 20-piece drumset complete with a full array of cymbals.  The difference will always be the drummer, and not the equipment, nor the level of quality of the equipment.

We don’t exhaust the capabilities of our present technology, we keep looking forward to the next step or iteration in hopes that everything we wanted out of the previous one has been fulfilled. Faster, smaller(or larger!), more capable.  Any real advancements just continue to be wasted on the majority of it’s users that are busy playing Angry Birds or whatever. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants, and with all their collected discovery and wisdom so many would rather choose to tweet about the Kardashians instead of intelligently employing technology that we couldn’t have even dreamed of a few decades ago.

Another example: Cars keep improving in small ways, but when you get down to it they are not built nearly as durably nor efficiently as they could be. But they still find a reason to pack  in a 300 horsepower engine that will exceed the speed limit on the parkway in first gear out of a six-speed gearbox. Why is that we have cars that are that powerful anyway? Wouldn’t the research and development responsible for making the cars ever-so-slightly faster or more agile be better spent making them more fuel efficient or reliable? How about making them safer? There is a whole industry based on the repair of automobiles, but what would happen if we made really smart and reliable computers to drive our cars that never got into accidents? That’s a whole industry that would more or less cease to exist after a while. If we were to allow computers to drive our cars carefully-and also at a maximum level of efficiency-we would have much cheaper auto insurance. Sure, accidents could happen. But if there were collision sensors that could use something like sonar to detect objects headed in their direction, an automatic braking and acceleration system could simply make adjustments to avoid collision. Easy, simple ideas that are well within reach these days. Car insurance is another huge empire for money and profits that could be done away with. We could all be safer and have more efficient, even faster, transportation–but until we get over this need for renewable sources of income, real progress is never going to be made.

It’s all in the interest of our capitalist society that we continue to “improve” our technologies. If we made really great machines and computers, there wouldn’t be many sales after a while because they wouldn’t be breaking nor aren’t exhausting their limits either. A washing machine only needs to be able to wash clothes-a  job that has been done well and done reliably by machines for several decades. An old Maytag washer used to be able to do such a job for over 20+ years with minimum maintenance. Now we have complex computers and delicate, deliberately shoddy designs and materials composing our oft-used appliances and electronics. In my experience as a repairman, I’ve found that the newer washing machines cost more to buy and to fix than any of the older washers–and they break down all the time. When you get right down to it, the clothes came out just as clean in the old ones as they do with the new ones. How much can you really expect when it comes to that, anyway? We don’t have clean-o-meters to tell us how clean our clothes. All we do is look at them and smell them, and trust that they are clean. (Anything really dangerous is probably going to be microscopic anyway.) It’s a result we can only measure based on our own observation. The difference in cleanliness provided by a $1500 washer vs. a $500 washer is not 3 times different!

The reason we don’t have good, reliable Maytag washers nowadays is the very reason they became popular: they were “too reliable”. The Maytag man didn’t have repairs to do because the machines were built too well. They should have succeeded for being among the best, yet they eventually got bought out by their competitors. Now we can expect an average of 5-8 years from most of this stuff if we’re lucky! What happened??! I always assumed that ‘newer’ meant ‘better’, but I realize now that a lot of our best inventions have already been perfected. Many newer revisions are fine re-inventions of the wheel more or less…a cheaper, easier to manufacture wheel that breaks more frequently while costing more to buy and fix. The only reason this shit even continues to sell is that there are no other choices! It’s all crap!

We need to advance as a civilization, the enslavement of so many people to money and work shouldn’t exist anymore. We can build machines to do the majority of the work. Unemployment is so rampant because less and less people are actually needed to do the work. This is what I thought we were working toward-a day where we can stop working and let our technology do the grunt work for us. We should be able to direct our attention to more noble, more important tasks.  We have the technology to mass produce as much food as we could possibly need. The materials exist for everyone  to have shelter. Discoveries in medicine have extended the length of our lives. It is a slap in the face to our ancestors that we should live such slovenly, useless lives when the possibilities for our advancement as a whole race abound. Unfortunately, our struggle in life against one another has superseded lots of what we could accomplish if we all worked together. Hell, if we can’t get along in any other way: can’t we at least work together to get to a point where we can just go our separate ways and colonize different galaxies or something?

Yet *another* rant, this time about money, media, and politics, plus the use/abuse of free speech

It seems like the upper 0.01% top wealthy have simply paid off or hijacked their way into the powerful positions of our country and are currently infiltrating both political parties in an attempt to *legally* prevent even a modicum of freedom or equality from taking shape in our country. With their apparently endless financial resources they have taken control of mainstream media, so very little news of any true importance (especially anything exposing their corruption!) gets reported to the majority of the public–only what the wealthiest corporations and individuals see fit to allow. By exerting their influence with money, those in power can see to it that the populace they control is uninformed or grossly misinformed. The introduction of the internet allowed for greater sharing of information and a great variety of choices for news. However, true information can be very elusive and in this day and age anybody seeking information has to be very careful who they trust. Disinformation is abundant–not just false information, but false information spread for the explicit purpose of misinforming and misleading.

We have relied on newspapers and television to bring us important information regarding nearly everything in the world. I think the validity of news sources was harder to prove or disprove in the past because of our own limited access to information. It’s clear that in recent times the media has been usurped by a specific set of individuals who have their own agendas. Fox News, for instance, appears to be an organization of people with terribly slanted and selfish moral values that are willing to do or say anything for money as well as the preservation and advancement of their crooked ideology. There are plenty of people out there who will do anything to put themselves above their fellow citizens to get rich or have control over them. Everyone has a price. So an organization such as Fox News is formed by a group of immoral rich people (but keep in mind that immorality extends to every social class-not just the wealthy) who simply work to amass all the wealth and power they can. If it means paying a group of people to speak authoritatively with inflammatory opinions, half-truths, and flat-out lies, what really is stopping them from doing so? Freedom of speech allows *everyone* to speak their minds, and the ever-important task of fact checking is simply the responsibility of the audience. That means people can get away with all sorts of hateful ideas and accusations with no other facts or opposing viewpoints, and it’s all well within their rights to do so. Fox News has created a niche market for unadulterated hate and fear-mongering, all served up with their own brand of arrogant sensationalism. They are not the only ones giving one-sided news or opinions, but they are among the most successful at it. By speaking with such bull-headed authority they can make people believe things that aren’t true or that are horribly misrepresented. The fact that many of their most popular pundits are completely closed-minded to any opposing views and will fight ferociously to guard their stance on political topics makes them easy to believe for those who want to. They succeed with their base because they appeal to their viewers own prejudices and personal biases. We all seek information that stands to benefit us or support our opinions. It’s confirmation bias and we are all guilty of it to some degree.

Facts, like many things, can be bent and formed to suit ones use or abuse. Statistics and information are always presented to the audience from a certain perspective. In cases like Fox News, they present facts along with very narrow, often hateful, assumptive viewpoints. Painting a picture of opposing ideologies with particularly ugly colors, but then presenting their own selfish hateful ideologies with nice, pretty, soothing colors (and happy trees). By presenting facts or events with their own hateful side of the issue they will draw in weak-minded or like-minded viewers who may share some of the their bias. All stations inevitably have some amount of bias, but in a case like Fox News which is so clearly and unabashedly biased, is it right for them to present people and stories the way they do? Does right or wrong even *matter* anymore? Should we all just do and say whatever the hell we want without any remorse or consideration to those around us? Is everything that’s legal supposed to be moral? Are all moral things always legal? The absolute saturation of money in politics ensures that justice and equality will continue to take the back burner to our representatives own personal agendas and morals, and those of their contributors.

I also believe it’s possible that there is an emotional impact to be considered in their delivery of the viewpoints and opinions they spread. When they present our current president as a liar who is manipulating us into socialism (or whatever they want to say about him) they are making some very rash statements, and presenting them in a way that evokes an emotional response from the viewer whether the viewer realizes it or not. I think it hits on a more primitive level. I remember hearing Rush Limbaugh on the radio years ago before I understood anything about politics and I was thinking, “Wow! This guy must really know what he’s talking about! He is so dumbfounded by our corrupt political system, and all these people are calling in and agreeing with him. ” I had already come to the assertion that our government was crooked, he just seemed to put it into more specific terms. Little did I realize he was a nut job that will say anything to smear anyone who doesn’t follow his line of bullshit. Once I started to realize the biased hatred he was spewing, I quickly wrote off any credibility I had mistakenly allotted him.  The point is, he was able to get me initially on a more basic level: I had already come to the conclusion that our government was screwed up, I just wasn’t quite certain how. He was reinforcing that belief to me, but went in his own extremely biased direction. If I didn’t stop to question just where he gets off spewing what he does, he could have easily won me over the same way he’s won over so many. People don’t want to have to do the critical thinking or fact checking or research. They want to find stories and opinions that support their view of the world most closely and let the ‘experts’ and pundits do all the research and legwork. If it sounds factual and jives with your own viewpoint, why would you even bother to research it any further?

For a religious, God-fearing sect of Christians being the majority of our constituents to draft and uphold our laws, there are more than a few weasels and scumbags-not that religion even matters. I only mention that many are Christian because if they practiced what they supposedly believe in, they wouldn’t allow the government to continue to rip off the people it is in place to represent or take an active role in the great sellout of morality and equality they are so bent upon. Being religious is apparently the most straightforward way to get votes here in America, though. Being religious also means that God’s on your side. Which means people that are against your ideals and proposals are against God too. Heads I win, tails you lose. Speaking with authority and passion is how they make people believe them or more easily see their way. Anyone they don’t agree with is just yelled over in argument and labeled as heretics or traitors to their country. It works on Fox News every day. It’s the new McCarthy era and instead of being communists we’re now labeled unpatriotic or even terrorists. Will we never be able to have nice things because some dipshit is always going to want several hundred times more than many of us ever will? Did we aim too high when the country was founded? Did the founding fathers overestimate the value of equality and justice to mankind? (Of course, the fact that those same founding fathers were slave owners that wiped out the natives in order to live here raises it’s own questions…)

Corporate money has basically infiltrated both parties, but it appears that it is more in-your-face with the Republicans and behind-closed-doors with the Democrats. Either way, those with the most money often happen to be those who want the most power, so they had to carve out a path to it. The most obvious path to power is through our political system, which is almost exclusively influenced by those with the most money.  Those who make the big decisions and make interpretations of those decisions hold the most power. If someone has the ability to change the rules when they are already winning the game, there is little anyone can do to stop them from bending the rules further in their favor. Without a political system with which one can purchase legal power, what else could these multimillionaires or even billionaires possibly spend all their money on? Bigger houses? Cars plated in gold? (they do exist, by the way) More private jets? The only thing the ultra wealthy can’t buy for all the money they have is absolute power, but they can certainly get themselves a taste of it. Lobbyists provide a legal means of translating money into legislative power. Tax cuts for the wealthy? They already have all the power, so who’s going to stop them?! It’s like taking a vote as to whether or not to give oneself a raise. If nobody can stop you, why wouldn’t you do it?

With enough money, nearly anything can be done. Instead of money being used to buy others’ favor, it could instead be recirculated into the economic system in the form of jobs and aid for those who need it. How about opening agencies that will oversee the way federal money is spent to ensure it is used frugally and properly? Create jobs while at the same time ensuring that taxpayer money goes into programs that actually help people-and aren’t abused by individuals looking to get more than their fair share. Giant gaping loopholes exist that end up funneling billions of dollars away from taxpayers pockets into glut and ‘bridges to nowhere’…if tax money is not allocated where it’s supposed to be going then it should go back to the people it comes from. Government spending oversight could be a fantastic new way to spend tax dollars-money spent creating jobs for the purpose of ensuring that the greater whole of our tax dollars gets collected and allocated properly. More money would exist for better health, food, employment, education and housing programs which could all in turn create more jobs for all of those fields.

Now having hijacked our political, legal, and economic system with money and the influence it can buy, the ruling class are getting most of our money and continue to manipulate the legal system to steer even more money into their pockets. Laws are being loosened or repealed entirely to further break down any objection or attempt to even mitigate their thievery. They will soon have all of the power and money (what little they don’t already have), but then what? They go on to live lives like every other person except they get driven in a limousine everywhere, have houses all over the world, and never have to cook for themselves. I’m sure there are other benefits, but when you get down to it, you’re going to be limited to what mankind can provide as far as entertainment goes. I’m sure it’s nice, but it must get old. That’s why I think so many of them get into competition for power and wealth. It stops even being about what that money is actually capable of, it just becomes a pissing contest on a grand scale.

Once you have more than a certain amount of money you’ll have more money than you could ever spend even if you tried. I’m sure that point varies a bit for different people, but once people have earned that much money, why should they even be permitted to have more than that? I mean, if they can luxuriously surround themselves with the best stuff life has to offer for the rest of they and their families lives, should they be allowed to take even more? How about hundreds of times that amount? Is that fair? Does fairness even matter? It must not if we allow our citizens to take far more than they could ever possibly need for themselves and their families. For instance: CEOs of the top companies in the US are bringing home approximately 343 times their own average employees pay of $33,190. That means if the workers are expected to survive on that pay, that CEO can afford to get by while funding 342 other workers lives.  Hell, lets say they get to take home 43 times the average workers pay. They can live over 40x(!) more extravagantly as the workers they pay, and still afford to house, clothe, and feed 300 more people.

Imagine the sheer weight of the money some of these people have! Ten million dollars–a bit less than some of the highest paid CEOs incomes *annual* pay– in $100 bills comes to about 220 lbs. of $100 bills (at the rate of one gram per hundred dollar bill, and 454 grams per pound). According to Forbes list of billionaires of 2011, the richest man in the world has approximately $74 billion dollars or over 1,629,955 LBS. of $100 bills. Or, to be more realistic and convert all that money to thousand dollar bills, it would weigh in around 162,995 lbs. Or almost 163 lbs. in million dollar bills. He owns more weight in million dollar bills than I even weigh! (I did all these calculations over and over again, so I’m certain that they are accurate, but feel free to verify them for yourself!) It’s funny to think too how exciting it can be to find money, even if it’s only a  dollar, or a $5 or $10. Imagine finding a $100? How about a pound of $100 bills? That one man has 1,629,954 more where that came from. ಠ_ಠ

Those who hold the power to create or enforce the rules are just in the pockets of those with the most money and/or political power. Everyone has a price. Want to smear the OWS movement? A lobbyist group will provide you with that service for $850,000. Want to keep frozen pizzas in public schools? Hire lobbyists to get congress to change the nutritional value of tomato paste! When millionaires starts calling the shots, the only legislation that will be enacted is whatever benefits millionaires. True justice is not the goal of a government that spends all of it’s peoples resources bailing out the very same people who gambled away their money to begin with. You wouldn’t take your car back to a mechanic that just blew up your engine. Maybe for reparations, but not for repairs! True justice is never going to be established if money continues to be allowed to sway decisions and create laws.

I assume (perhaps mistakenly?) that this country’s economic system was founded with safeguards in place to prevent this type of systematic abuse. However, new loopholes and unfair strategies are constantly being discovered and abused, but there seems to be no concern for enforcing any rules or instating any safeguards to prevent the system from being abused- or for fixing the problems that allowed it get this way. Financial organizations like hedge funds have exclusive access to incredible amounts of wealth and the means of accumulating incredible amounts more. Money has a type of gravity–the larger the mass of money the more money it is capable of attracting. While these immoral winner-take-all thieves continue to make a game of our system, we watch as the quality of our own lives and those of our friends, families, and fellow citizens depreciates. It’s a matter of survival, and with the combination of reliance on our system to take care of us, coupled with our gaping lack of self-sufficience, we have been trapped. Now we are stuck playing their game while they continue to change the rules in their favor. Those in power will just continue to amass wealth as the common people lose their rights and grow jaded and demoralized, not to mention poor.