Astronauts
I was in bed last night, thinking about the problem of heroes. We have alot of them, and it seems that everyone in the United States has a different idea of what a hero is. I am usually pretty vocal against the military, an organization that many of my fellow citizens adamantly support as a bastion of heroes.
I feel I need an example of a hero to justify dashing someone else's, and I think the Astronaut is a great one (NASA in general). Getting a man to step on the moon required a vast arry of engineers, mathematicians, physicists, and polticians to make it work. Unlike the explorers of old, they were not backed by greed for gold or new land, but by an adventurous spirit to break the barriers of the human realm, expanding the scope of what is possible for Man.
An Astronaut is in great shape, and posesses a keen intellect. Better yet, they have a curiousity about the universe, and are willing to put their life and faith on the line to figure out how it works. What little boy grew up without saying the words "I want to be an Astronaut"?
I think that if the country's orientation toward Heroism slanted toward the Astronaut, rather than the Military Soldier, many of the root philosophies that plague this country's political systems would simple cease to be (A bold statement that I will explore when I have more time).
In short - I fully support the space program, and I think it serves as an inspiration to all mankind.
Not to get sappy or anything. . .
Honey Bees
Honey Bees workers are all female, and they have a natural interest in sexual reproduction. To maintain the stability of the hive, the Queen secretes a pheremone that literally makes them uninterested in mating. Not only that, but any newly hatched queen will immediately kill any other queens, and destroy any queens that have not hatched.
The average honey bee lives for 6 weeks, and it spends nearly half of that time looking for work to do around the hive. Death is due to exhaustion, rather than a nautral process. They have a single stinger, which is connected to their... er, guts. The stinger is designed to disembowl them killing both themselves and harming their enemy, ensuring that there will be no voilent internal conflicts within the social order.
My question is this: Do Honey Bees represent the pinnacle of social evolution? They have effectivly controlled all aspects of reproduction, labor, food distribution, and defense. . .
The Weather in Cuba
After reading some of the issues cause by Arlene, the first storm of this season, I had a few thoughts about Cuba.
Considering how often the island gets tropical storms and hurricanes, I can imagine that the cost to maintain the standing structures and basic services of the country must be enormous. Cuba may have a very effficient exporting capacity, but has pretty horrible domestic problems, including poverty, food shortages, etc. I wonder if the weather is a factor, considering the constant rebuilding they have to do.
For capitalism to survive in Cuba, it would require a governming body capable of very high taxation, in order to have the emergency systems in place to deal with the explosive rainy season. . . frankly, I wouldn't see the profit in having businesses rebuilding over and over again with their own money, considering the high financial risks associated with inclimate weather.
On the other hand, considering that the creation of a high capital economy would require a vast number of loans from the World Bank to attract industry, I can't see how the government could even raise money domestically to handle their own disaster aid considering that they would be in serious hock.
Maybe there HAS to be a socialized government there, just to make sure they have the ability to mobilize the economy to handle the constant disasters of the summertime. . .
Of course, a capitalist system would open up tourism, but that just seems kind of lame. You aren't producing anything of value, and you're at the mercy of the level of disposable wealth in the world, as well as the level of fear vs. desire in the patrons. I've always thought tourism was creepy as a primary source of income for any nation.
Just a rambling thought or two.
