Aphelion Editorial 035

Hello and welcome!

Well... A couple of points before we begin; Last month's editorial got a lot of feedback, for which I thank you all. It’s gratifying to know that I can induce readers to think and debate about important issues. Also, one thing I forgot to note last month, it usually was not the administration that imposed registration or confiscation of the means of self-defence that the victims needed weapons to defend themselves against, but a later election that placed into power totalitarians whose path had been eased by the helplessness of their prey.

OK, that's the last mention of the previous instalment. Now I go for the answer to your most burning question; "What's that idiot going to rant about this month?" (and if that's the most burning question in your life right now, I envy you)

And the winner is...

Why is it taking so long to make nuclear powerplants safe, effective, and profitable?

Fission reactors are children of the 1940s, this is the year 2000. We should be well into the fusion age by now. (After all, the oil companies are finally going to allow us to have electric, or partially electric, cars now that they've figured out a way to add rapid charger systems to the fuel pumps at the local gas stations.) We've got High Definition TV sets, DVD players, home theatre systems, digital satellite TV systems... Why did we not demand research into safer nuclear power plants? Have we turned our backs on nuclear power?

It should be damned hard to find an undeveloped country on Earth in this day and age. Really. What's holding us back? What's taking so long? By now we should have cheap electricity available nearly world-wide. We should have tamed and farmed the deserts, colonized the seven seas and other planets. Hunger should be a fading memory. Disease should be fading too. But what have we got?

Same old, same old.

From the history I've been reading, I get the feeling that things aren't so much different now than they have ever been. Most of us are working ourselves to death just to stay alive. Children still die too young-, fewer than ever, yes -but still too many. Too many people don't have enough food, don't have medical treatment available, don't have a lot of things.

This is the dawning of the 21st century, the only outhouse in America should be an exhibit in the Smithsonian, not a fixture in hundreds of people's back yards.

What I'm getting at is that our priorities need some thought. Instead of getting people 500 channels of TV we might ought to be getting them the opportunity to get some dinner. People pay money for food too, you know. Somebody needs to be opening up some new markets. But we seemed to have slowed down our desire for the next "golden age" in favour of being entertained.

Distracted.

Perhaps it’s time to wake up?

Get involved, demand changes, make the world different. Each of us counts for something. When we band together, we can make changes, we can make the world a better place. We've proved that already. So, let's do it.

It’s about time.

Thanks for your time

Dan

THE END

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