There’s Nothing Left To Fight For (792 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.73 on 30 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by creep_firebombing (View user info) at 2008-03-11 13:22:34 EDT
The powers in charge keep us in a perpetual state of fear keep us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real.
- General Douglas MacArthur
There is a certain type of man; a man who will never know the complexities of doctoring, engineering, or even artistry. This man will never be satisfied with the menial or with mindless subservience to a faceless master with material gains as a sole motivator. This man is fearless, able-bodied, and in search of a noble and worthy cause. But what if no such cause exists? What if there is no war worth fighting, no people to champion, and no beast to slay?
Consider this: Imagine you are an athletic, respectful, hard-working individual. Imagine that you have honed your mind and body to the best of your abilities. You've received an education, participated in sports and your community, set and achieved goals for yourself, and have been courteous and helpful to those around you. Now imagine that one day you are given incredible powers. You have super-human strength and speed and flexibility, invulnerability to harm and disease, you'll no longer age, hell, you'll even remain forever attractive. You have incalculable intelligence and, oh fuck it, you can even teleport. You are the very definition of the perfect soldier, the perfect tool to fix the World's greatest ailments.
So what are you going to do? You are the most powerful being on the face of the planet and you have to choose something at which to direct that power. But what is worthy? What is noble and pure enough to matter? What is the greatest concern? What needs the most attention? So as not to waste such incredible and useful power, you must chose. What is the most important issue to every single person in the world? Not just one country or another, not just one side of an issue, but all sides...what is best for everyone in the world?
It's not so easy to decide. Gun control, the environment, war, famine - they all have so many facets. It's difficult to say what's best for all parties involved and if it's even worth getting involved. And sure, you're a powerful superhuman, but you're still (loosely speaking) a human. You still need sleep and food. You're still only one being and general human nature suggests that no matter how powerful or amped up you may be about something, you'll largely be met with apathy and utter indifference by the general public. Unless your cause specifically affects a group of people, they'll care absolutely fuckall about it and whatever you do will have to be done by yourself.
So what do you do? Do you join the military and become the best Navy SEAL or Marine Recon scout sniper to ever strap on a pair of boots? The Military Industrial Complex virtually ensures that all your efforts will be of little or no effect in the grand scheme of things. Ultimately, you'll be a tool of defense contractor corporations and oil tycoons that will make more money in a month than you'll make in a lifetime of military pay. (Well, a normal human's lifetime, anyway.) Watch "Why We Fight" (start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfetdjjb3YY and continue on as you please) and see if you feel like signing and enlistment contract.
What about the police? Become a police officer and clean up crime. Sadly, your special abilities will not make you any more useful than any other police officer. People do that job every day without super powers and their hands will still always be tied by laws, jurisdiction, rights of the accused, and asshole defense lawyers. Our system protects the innocent, but it will still always be abused to get the guilty off Scott-free on technicalities.
And what about our system of laws? Who's to say it's always right? Look at things like the War On Drugs. Would that be your chosen cause? Would you travel around disposing of marijuana and cocaine barons left and right, doling out vigilante justice like the very hand of God? Ah yes, God. We'll get to that in a moment, but let's finish up with this drug thing. Is it really so bad to let people put whatever they want into their bodies? If it weren't illegal, there'd be no reason for you to go around killing drug lords. And the results would be, what, a bit of population control on an overcrowded planet? It would mean more resources for those of us smart enough to avoid harmful and potentially lethal substances. Darwinism at it's finest, yeah?
Ooh, how about those dwindling resources? Would you be the living breathing version of Captain Planet minus all the annoying teenagers (that all happen to magically speak English)? But wait...studies show that the environment is that bad off after all. Logging hasn't been nearly as devastating as Greenpeace would have you believe and new trees are growing every day. We don't even know if global warming is a natural trend and the same people that started screaming about global warming were the people screaming about global COOLING back in the 60's. Then again, if we let the druggies run rampant, we won't need as much lumber anyway.
Well, fuck. What about God? Will you finally bring all the sheep back to the flock as the evangelical equivalent of Thor's hammer? Oh wait, can you even talk about Thor's hammer when talking about Christianity? Uh oh. Which God is the right one? Which religion has the true story? Wait...hasn't science disproved nearly every religion ever created? Is Science looking for an almighty hammer?
Rorschach's Journal.
October 25th, 1985.:
Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face.
The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown.
The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"...
...and I'll look down and whisper "no."
User Reviews
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-03-12 07:49:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I love ethics.
The thing with ethical quandries is that they tend to get overcomplicated. Generally speaking if one were to be transmogrified into some manner of hyper-badass then all one would really need to do is follow the Bill & Ted mantra of "Be excellent to each other and party on!" and the rest would take care of itself.
In other words: Don't be a dickhead and things will work out.
That said, you were on about overt action. Taking a hands on approach to other people's problems. If you do that then you must accept that one man's meat is another man's poison; that in helping someone (say, the 'innocent' or 'victim') the other party will be harmed. I believe that it is therefore neccesary to dispense with moral cares because basically the alternative is complete inertia. Instead you are fighting for an ideology.
Honestly though I'm fairly certain that to sort out the problems of the world would take a different skillset than being able to punch through a brick wall.
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2008-03-12 03:51:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I'd kill everybody on the planet with AIDS.
It would solve the issue of third world hunger in SECONDS as the population would drop to a point where it was sustainable, and would also eliminate a pretty horrendous disease in one go.
Then i'd solve issues around cold fusion and renewable energy, and hopefully move onto particle synthesis (alchemy, if you will, but less lead into gold and more carbon / hydrogen into complex carbohydrates and proteins. Free food for all!)
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2008-03-12 01:08:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
"It's the economy, stupid."
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2008-03-11 23:36:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I would do the exact same shit I do now, except when I say that person deserves a kick in the balls, or I would like to karate chop that asshole in the neck, I wouldn't just be saying it I would be doing it.
Submitted by HellRazer (user info) at 2008-03-11 20:41:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think I would help solve the world overpopulation problem. Maybe kill %75-%80 of people alive right now.
Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2008-03-11 20:29:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
brilliant
Submitted by JustAnotherStudent (user info) at 2008-03-11 20:21:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by SkullBiter (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:48:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:32:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I believe the proper term is "Gams"
as in
Dat' dame has nice gams!
And she does.
--
Gam gams not a whore!
You see this?
It is ze mark of ze whore!
--
HAHAHAHAHA! One of the best stupid movies EVER!
I think I'm going to go have a beer now.
Carry on.
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2008-03-11 20:20:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
never realized it before, but that video would be so much better with corey haim and corey feldman, circa lost boys.
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2008-03-11 20:18:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NdAUnnU9Ac
Submitted by beeltea (user info) at 2008-03-11 20:14:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
nice
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2008-03-11 20:07:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
If you ever start to feel positively about "we the people" take a look at the top 10 stories on any major news website. It will dash all of your hopes and dreams.
Submitted by BeforeEmily (user info) at 2008-03-11 16:53:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Painful.
Submitted by Wildman (user info) at 2008-03-11 16:44:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
all me need to do, is find out who stepped on the butterfly
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2008-03-11 16:19:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Registered_S_O (user info) at 2008-03-11 16:07:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was good.
Submitted by Creepy_guy (user info) at 2008-03-11 15:42:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I love what skrapmetal wrote... If we eventually "cure" all the problems we have as a society and as a species, it'll only slightly lenghten the amount of time we have left. Not saying that I'm against ceasing all our problems, just that maybe humanity isn't as important as it seems to think.
Submitted by Ltap (user info) at 2008-03-11 15:02:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah. If we had nothing in the way of medical care besides, say, herblore, world populations would be a lot smaller. With less people we'd need less food, less lumber, less of everything. With less people but the same money everyone would have less money, so hardly anyone would be homeless.
I mean, look at every idiot you encounter in life - people speeding, drunk drivers, druggies, smokers, and bona fide retards. Without modern medicine to protect them these people would die sooner rather than later. I think through natural selection it would mean humans would "learn" to be more cautious and consider their actions.
Really, population control the Chinese way just didn't work, but population control through simple natural selection (by letting the retards die) would make almost all of the world's problems go away (except for war, pestilence, and death, but at least it would get rid of one of the Four Horsemen). World ecology would be a lot better because less people would mean less resources would be required. We would essentially have a modern lifestyle while still preserving the environment and frankly while there would be less people, everyone would be smarter and possibly more handsome/beautiful, which means your chances of finding a suitable partner would be greater.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-03-11 14:59:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Species come and go, sometimes a lot of them at a time, and we are but one of them. Asteroids strike the Earth. The Sun changes in intensity and proportions of different types of radiation. The Earth's magnetic field, which provides a shield from that radiation, reverses every 250,000 years or so and is on track to pass through a zero-intensity on it's way to reversing in a mere 1500 years. If we all die in the Solar radiaton, or kill ourselves off with our own inventions, or get wiped out by a virus, it won't make the slightest difference to the planet or the Universe. The planet will be here until it's smacked with something energetic enough to break it into pieces, or it gets consumed by the dying Sun, or swallowed up in the Gnab Gib. Doesn't matter. A million years from now we will either be Homo Superior, as far removed from today's humans as today's humans are from those who first walked upright or we will be Homo Detritus, gone the way of the dinosaurs. Either path cannot be considered anything other than natural. When faced with the Universe, it is utterly foolish to think that we as the human species can make any but the very slightest and short-lived impact on this planet for the "good" or "bad".
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2008-03-11 14:11:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
we are even interfering with our own natural selection.
knowledge of our origins is almost schoedringers cat in terms of paradox.
as the first creatures on earth to understand evolution we become unbound by it.
Submitted by creep_firebombing (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:57:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:43:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I dunno but I've always thought that one of humanity's larger problems is that we've interfered with and fucked up the process of natural selection.
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I'm glad someone esle is as concerned about that fact as I am. We're so concerned that we're doing damage to one ecosystem or another that we wage these campaigns to save this animal or protect that animal. Animals went extinct long before we started fucking up wetlands. Sure, we shouldn't be part of the problem, but you can't really believe things like manatees would've lasted another 50 years if humans were never on the planet. It's like that episode of the Simpson's with the screaming caterpillar.
Submitted by SkullBiter (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:48:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:32:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I believe the proper term is "Gams"
as in
Dat' dame has nice gams!
And she does.
--
Gam gams not a whore!
You see this?
It is ze mark of ze whore!
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:48:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The same as anyone with masses of power would do. Go batshit crazy and murder everyone who crossed you for starters, then take over the world. Simple as.
Submitted by Yozz (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:43:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Guns and pussy. Now THAT is American.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:43:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I dunno but I've always thought that one of humanity's larger problems is that we've interfered with and fucked up the process of natural selection.
Submitted by MudWhistle (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:35:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
somethign about the 3 R's
Respect for youself
Respect for others
Responsibility for all your actions.
Submitted by cuberat (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:33:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by SkullBiter (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:28:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Unite the planet with love!
All you need is love...
That girl has nice legs.
=================================================================
True. She does have nice legs. Too bad that by now she is somebody's wrinkly grandmother.
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:32:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I believe the proper term is "Gams"
as in
Dat' dame has nice gams!
And she does.
Submitted by MudWhistle (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:31:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
what you do is...you start at home. you start within your little realm making everything that you can touch work to its best ability and then you ripple out from there.
what's left to fight for is tomorrow because tomorrow will be a better day than today and you have a child (maybe children by now)....a little love factory....looking at you asking which way to go, what to hold dear, where to lay value. so you teach and you practice and you teach to teach and practice to practice and you affect the world in a positive way in whatever way you can.
and you rest satisfied with what you do everyday.
and
you login to the playstation network and blow the living fuck out of people in Call of Duty 4
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:29:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Bitches + Ammo = BOO YAH
Submitted by SkullBiter (user info) at 2008-03-11 13:28:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Unite the planet with love!
All you need is love...
That girl has nice legs.