Gav's View

Japan launches

As you all know, I’m a fan of science. I’m also a fan of politics and futurology (which is relevant, honestly)!

Japan, yesterday (you should know I am writing this on Saturday, but wrote too much this morning so this is being posted on Sunday) launched another rocket to put a satelite into orbit. Small steps, but this is just more evidence that there are now five countries that have a serious scientific space programme. In alphabetical order they are: China, Europe (gah – not a country!), Japan, Russia and the US.

Note that the future hegemony of Islamic states does not feature in that list. Islam intends — and through demographics, fear and apathy will likely succeed — to conquer Europe and create a new Islamic world. I cannot back this allegation/assertion up, but suffice to say, that’s what I believe and what Islam ought to be trying to do (according to Mohammed, I believe).

Predicting the future is nigh-on impossible (see my attempts earlier here). However I shall try with this question:

If Islam intends to replace and usurp all other religions and atheism, do we have time to use technology to leave Earth for them? Does Star Trek’s egalitarian communist-esque future have a chance, with fundamentalists with no sense of humour?

Humanity, sadly, has always felt the need to fight itself. I don’t understand the attitudes of those who would kill (even through war) unless it is to protect. Why was Hitler driven as he was? Why did Communist leaders feel the need to spread communism? Why wasn’t Alexander the Great content with ruling locally well, rather than over a large area through governors? Why did the British Empire collapse rather than embrace all parts in a democratic union of what is now the Commonwealth?

The answer, is culture. Culture, whether expressed through religion or just culture on its own, is the driving force behind war. Hitler wanted to spread his ’superior’ caste (by which he meant, what he perceived to be the advantages of the Germanic cultural identity); Communism, which grew out of the poverty created by Russia’s authoritarian culture, was spread by its advocates because it was a superior ideology; Alexander the Great’s Generals and supporters came from a culture that respected strong men and which believed in the superiority of the people and culture of what is now modern Greece; the British Empire did not think that a ’state’ of such magnitude embracing such diverse cultures could survive.

And it is culture that will continue to dominate even once the space-age comes of age. I am excited by the propect of humanity reaching for the stars (even if that means the near-planets in practical terms) and this could be the end of war. Cultures separated by space may not feel the need to go to war! My naivete will never end…

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Free trade, Islam, Liberty, Personal, Politics, Science

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 19th, 2006 at 10:34 am and is filed under Gavin Ayling's blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.