DIYbanter - View Single Post - OT And Apologies to Those Who disagree or May Have Seen it

Morris Dovey

Robatoy (in )
said:

| Morris Dovey wrote:
| [snipped for brevity]
|
| Live and learn. Why does it always have to do so much damage?

Good question. Perhaps because we're (we being humans) so reluctant to
admit to making mistakes; and so don't learn from them - and perhaps
because we too often do something that we recognize as a mistake when
done by someone else; but expect that the results will be different
/this/ time...

|| And our biggest problem - that of being the last superpower
|| standing - we haven't even begun to deal with.
||
| Superpower? On what front? Bombs and cruise missles?

Yes. Whether we like it or not, they're real and present - but don't
limit yourself to them. The US has produced military technology that
allows its armed forces to be deployed more efficiently and
effectively (by far) than any other. I'm of the opinion that this, all
by itself, is a problem for us.

| Superpower on the global economic front?

Yes, this too (still); and we're all aware that, once again, our
greatest strengths can also be our greatest weaknesses.

| Superpower on the global energy front?

Yes, although this is a bit more difficult to see. Our complacency
with regard to supply is lamentable; but our history of successes in
dealing with energy issues actually /is/ significant. Are there
problems to be solved? Of course there are! Will we produce solutions?
I believe we are and will continue to do so. (I'm working on several
pieces of it myself!)

| There are some very powerful global chess moves being made by Russia
| and China while the world is busy watching the crazyness in The
| Middle east.

Well yes - the more things change, the more they're the same. IMO,
it'd help a lot if fewer people slept through history class. The
politicians (everywhere) need to recognize that if one plays
"win/lose" long enough, the end result is inevitably one's loss - and
that if we only play "win/win" then the end result is inevitably
better than a loss. Regrettably, politicians seem to be universally
slow learners...

| Rome used to be a superpower. Now you can't get parts for a Fiat.

I hear you - and yet, by strange coincidence, the sweatshirt that I'm
wearing this morning has two words on the front: "Carpe Diem" - and I
have brand new software for the 'Bot to cut a precision template for a
clamping caul - using a 5 HP industrial spindle without measurable
runout that was manufactured in Milano - because that was the best I
could afford.

As a young lad I visited Italy (traffic was mostly bicycles, Vespas,
and Apes then) and was impressed by how much of ancient Rome remained
for us to learn from. They got a lot of things right - and they got a
lot of things wrong; but I think that, right or wrong, they provided a
lot for those of us who came after to consider in the context and
perspectives of our own time.

Seize the day!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto