So, Kurzgesagt (or however you spell that shit) posted a new video today, with the usual existential dread it entails.
One point that stuck out to me is the whole idea of us being at the “high-point for humanity”; as in, a turning point, a junction. Within the next century or so, we are more likely to kill ourselves off than every other era of humanity.
I think the key thing right now stopping us from reaching the stars is a lack of unity across the world. The west continues to debate the linguistics of pronouns, whilst the east gets more and more medieval. How can we unify whilst the death camp of a state that is North Korea exists, whilst Americans debate about today’s new pronoun?
The USA failed to capitalise on their victory in the Cold War, and the opportunity that the first gulf war presented. Both the USSR and the other Allies failed to advance their interests in the ruins of WW2. As was once said, “we know how to achieve victory, but we do not know how to use it”.
It is therefore my hypothesis that we need a small scale, but absolutely brutal war with the usage of nuclear weapons. Whether it be Crimea, Taiwan or Kashmir, it doesn’t matter; a war that makes WW2 and WW1 combined look like child’s play. We need a conflict so serious and so terrifying that ends as quickly as it starts to put the world in it’s place. An event that shocks the world so much that we are forced to confront the future than wallowing in our past.
Think about it - with the impetus of a war that changes politics forever, as well as technology to truly unite the world, the future could finally be ours, if we just give ourselves a little push. If a billion die, but allow the 80% to survive, thrive and reach the stars under a world government, it would be worth it. We have the tools - technology is far beyond capable at this point; we have the structure - the UN already has the potential for a world government. All we need is one small push.
What do you think?
