PROBLEMS
AND SOLUTIONS
(A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO)
Many Sections of my book were concerned with identifying
and analysing the major problems facing society. These were
briefly summarised and highlighted as follows:
In view of these considerations, there can be only one long-term prognosis - and it is a dire one. I said earlier that one should not seek to extrapolate present trends across an event horizon, but what in our scenario would constitute such a horizon?
Of course, intervention by an omnipotent deity, moving from transcendence to imminence, could change everything! There are Biblical precedents for this, but I don't think we should dwell on it as a practical solution!
Another event horizon might be created by a worldwide ravening plague virus beyond the control of medical science. Not impossible - but highly undesirable!
Equally possible (and at least as undesirable) would be the impact on our planet of an errant asteroid or large comet. Such a disaster could occur at any time - statistically every hundred million years or so (many believe that it was an event of this kind that brought the reign of the dinosaurs to an end).
Of course, the second and third "solutions" might be seen by some of the devout as manifestations of the first, but neither of them represent a "consummation devoutly to be wished"!
Should we be spared such global catastrophe, then we still cannot escape the outcome of trends on both the international and national scale (contingent on the population explosion) which will bring about immeasurable human misery and the destruction of the social infrastructure vital to civilised existence.
We could well be faced with a series of local wars or terrorist acts leading to escalating nuclear onslaught by fanatical or desperate governments or organisations.
Although the long-standing major confrontation has now (thankfully) been largely resolved, there is still enough bomb-grade nuclear material around to destroy the world several times over - and there is no certainty that some of this may not get into the wrong hands. Armageddon indeed!
At "street level" our fractured society will become increasingly uncontrollable, with "warlords", "robber barons" and hired protectors taking the place of lawful authorities.
What, then, are we to do? We could adopt the myopic optimism of the man who, falling from the top of the Empire State Building, calls out cheerily as he passes the tenth floor: "Alright so far!".
Or we could begin to put into place a series of measures, mechanisms and systems transcending ephemeral politics and eventually leading to a truly just and rational means of controlling society.
