13/01/03

Overwhelming Forces

Thanks to the spread of information, the more powerful are now losing power to the less powerful at quite a rapid rate.

And this is clearly going to happen everywhere, right across the planet.

And even if countries in the west manage to handle the ongoing collapses of large power bases without further disasters of one kind or another - which, quite frankly, is highly unlikely - there are many other countries that are going to find great difficulties in coping with 'the downfall of the more powerful'. And their problems will turn out to be our problems - whether we like it or not.

As such, we are all heading for years of turmoil - the never-ending war on terrorism being just one example of the serious problems that we are all going to have to face as less powerful people become more powerful.

In fact, everyone reading this has already been affected by what is now happening.

Your pension has probably already been sliced by some 35% as the stock market languishes in the doldrums. Your government is going to be spending far more - huge sums, in fact - on security matters in the future than it ever did before, which means that spending on all other items relevant to a long and happy living is going to have to be curtailed. There will be more crime and mayhem on the streets, more corruption, more fear and more insecurity. And you will spend much more of your time being hassled e.g. when travelling by plane.

And all these things are going to take place even if no terrorist ever strikes again!

Whether you are rich or whether you are poor, the future is now looking far less rosy than it has done for quite a while.

The have-nots, the less-favoured, the disgruntled, the criminally-inclined, and even the terrorists, are all going to enjoy a significant relative increase of power compared to their currently more powerful counterparts as the future unfolds. And they are going to end up using this increase in their power to shift the balance of goodies a little more in their favour. 

The West is going to decline relative to the East. The wealthier are going to decline relative to the more impoverished. The employee is going to become more empowered against the employer. The individual will become more empowered against the state.

However, as things stand, instead of the less powerful pulling themselves up to the levels of security and wealth enjoyed by the more powerful - which would be a good thing - everyone is simply going to tumble downwards - which is a bad thing.

And so it will go on. 

And on. And on.

The future is looking grim - both in the short term, in the medium term, and in the long term.

However, there is reason for hope. 

There are two potentially huge forces that could be mustered that could alter completely the prognosis for the future. These two forces could not only lessen the disasters that might come about but they could also revolutionise the entire planet and put us firmly on the road toward unimaginable achievements for the good.

The first force derives from the spread of valid information - and this, of course, necessarily includes the spreading of the truth as opposed to the spreading of lies. 

Indeed, valid information and truth are the same thing.

And, furthermore, so important is the truth - valid information - that it should be regarded as our very God on Earth.

This might sound very dramatic and esoteric, but the simple point is that if we can devote far more of our energies toward ensuring that valid information is spread further - rather than is restricted - then we will very likely be crawling our way in the right direction on numerous fronts, and hopefully avoiding a great deal of trouble.

And the closer that we get to this God on Earth, the better off will we all likely be.

Further, by recognising that the spread of valid information gets us closer to this God on Earth, it becomes much easier to decide whether or not particular policies get us closer to this God, or, in fact, take us further away from it - towards the Devil on Earth!

For example, issues surrounding the secrecy of family courts, copyright and patent laws, the proliferation of CCTV, Homeland Security and Total Information Awareness, freedom of speech, DNA testing, financial secrecy, the drugs war, and even the presence or absence of speed cameras on roads etc etc, can all be evaluated in terms of whether or not they are likely to increase the spread of valid information, and so bring us closer to this God on Earth..

In other words, simply viewing the increasing spread of valid information as a way of getting closer to the God on Earth has many real-life practical implications.

Furthermore, if people could have access to all the valid information that they wanted, there would be many fewer wars, far less crime, and much less violence. People would more likely be treated properly and fairly. Governments and their officials would not be able to abuse their powers for very long. Science, medicine and technology would advance at a far more rapid pace. And, indeed, it is difficult to imagine any area of our lives that would not be bettered if people had better access to valid information - i.e. better access to the truth

Is it not therefore the case that we can pretty much all unite on this aim? 

The search for truth.

The search for valid information.

Indeed, even many religious folk say that the most dangerous thing about the Devil is that he is the greatest Deceiver of all. The Spreader of Lies. The Source of Disinformation, Dishonesty and Delusions.

And while there might well be a God in the Heavens who, perhaps, speaks to many people in supernatural ways, surely, here on Earth, is not the most powerful force likely to stem from 'the Earthly truth' - i.e. the ability to access valid information?

And, if so, then we must surely do everything in our power to aim for this. And we must try to oppose anything that tries - unjustifiably or unreasonably - to prevent us from this goal.

Access to valid information is so obviously the key to solving so many of our major problems that the need for energetic activism for it surely transcends, by miles, the need for activism in all other areas on this Earthly domain of ours..

Further, of considerable noteworthiness, it is men who have, throughout the whole of history, been the leaders when it came to searching for the truth, for valid information, and even for God.

The second huge force that can be mustered to counter the dangers that seem to be facing us is the Men's Movement.

Indeed, the Men's Movement is going to become the most powerful political movement ever. 

The new information and communications technologies are going to empower 'men' enormously relative to any other group. And the psychology of ordinary men - as opposed to that solely of men 'with power' - is increasingly going to be imposed on the world at large. 

And while it is the case that all men do not have the same psychology in detail, there are certain elements of that psychology that are definitely common among them. And it is these common elements that are going to muscle their way to the top of the agenda of the Men's Movement.

In summary, the movement is going to be made up of the collection of ideas, thoughts, notions, desires and needs of men statistically summated and loosely coordinated both within and outside of cyberspace.

And one way of thinking about this is to imagine a huge computer into which is input the brains of men. This computer sifts, analyses and weighs all the information derived from these brains, and the computer then functions as if it was a Composite Man. 

What would this Composite Man consider to be the most important factors when it comes to his general state of well-being? What would this Composite Man seek?

Well, presumably, he would, among other things, seek the following.

Good physical and mental health. Food. Shelter. Access to women. Peace. Security. Progress. Justice. Access to information. A world fit for his children. A non-violent environment. Things to interest him. Plenty of leisure time. Plenty of friends.

And the big problem, of course, would be figuring out the best ways for achieving these things.

But the Composite Man within this huge computer would, indeed, be able to figure how to achieve these things.

After all, within this huge computer, the information taken from the brains of men would not only relate to their wants and to their desires, it would also contain ideas that are actually concerned with the ways of satisfying them. 

And, once again, loosely speaking, the best ways of satisfying them would eventually become part of the Composite Man that was being built up by this huge computer.

And so what we would end up with is a computer which knows what things men mostly desire together with the most popular - and, hopefully, the best - solutions for obtaining these things.

And, of course, such a computer is already in existence. And you are sitting at it, right now.

At the moment, however, this computer consists mostly of something known as cyberspace. And cyberspace is used mostly for just storing information. On its own, cyberspace certainly does not do much in the way of logical sifting and analysing when it comes to figuring out what men want and how to achieve what they want.

But there are parts of this computer that are doing both of these things.

And one of the most sophisticated of these parts is sitting between your ears!

Yes. Your brain is actually part of this computer!

And so when men connect their brains with cyberspace and employ them for the purpose of trying to achieve whatever they want to achieve, they are becoming part of a Composite Man who not only stores - and has access to - massive amounts of information but who also has the wherewithal to figure out ways of proceeding that are considerably more productive than they have ever been in the past.

As such, the influence of the Men's Movement through its connection with cyberspace is going to be huge.

Furthermore, men constitute one half of the population. And as they start to coordinate together to achieve their relatively few composite aims - particularly with access to the huge opportunities for this now being afforded to them by the new technologies - there is absolutely nothing that can now hold them back. 

To summarise thus far, there are two huge forces that, together, can solve the most pressing of our problems. The first will derive from the spread of valid information (the spread of the truth) and the second will come through the growth of the Men's Movement.

Now, these two forces combined make a truly unbeatable combination, and so the aims of men - this Composite Man - will definitely be achieved. It is simply a question of time. 

It is also worth pointing out that millions of men have been mistreated in one way or another in the past thanks to the various machinations of those 'with power'. But men are now being empowered with the means to fight back and to defend themselves from this mistreatment..

Further, it will soon be obvious to many women that everybody's life would be much enhanced both by the spread of valid information and by the growth of the Men's Movement. After all, women can also see that many of the things that concern them the most are arising from the problems being created by men and boys who are reacting negatively toward the ways in which they are being treated.

And so it is that there are enormous forces currently gathering that are likely to make the world a far happier place for men in the not-too-distant future.

Nevertheless, as stated earlier, there are also some very serious problems that are facing us associated with the spread of information and the downfall of the more powerful - such as the consequences of what is likely to be a very long war on terrorism.

As such, the road to the future is likely to be a very bumpy one.

Nevertheless, the spread of valid information will turn out to be a very powerful force for good in the long run.

Indeed, as yet another example of how it will be an extremely powerful force for good, consider the world of politics where there are endless raving arguments between people over the best way of governing society.

For example, there are those who want more government interference and there are those who want less. And there are associated arguments over which is better, capitalism or communism.

But the truth of the matter is that if people were straightforward and honest and they also had freedom of speech (i.e. they always spread about valid information) as well as had access to valid information, then it probably would not matter too much which system was employed.

Furthermore, if people really began to regard the spread of valid information - the truth - as being the God on Earth, then people would behave more honourably, more truthfully and with more integrity. And, as such, the well-being of everyone would surely begin to skyrocket.

At the moment, however, we even find some of the most powerful ministers in the country telling lies, obfuscating the issues and trying to conceal from the public matters which are of considerable concern - and yet they are allowed to remain in office. 

And the very fact that they are allowed to remain in office clearly demonstrates that corruption and the tolerance of dishonesty are very deep set.

And yet, for example, if a minister was found to have been involved in, say, a sex-romp somewhere, then there would be a huge outcry over the matter.

Surely, our priorities and our values seem to have gone badly awry.

Another common example where lies and dishonesty do not seem to count for very much - even despite the terrible consequences than can arise from them - is where women make false allegations of sex-assault. Very little ever happens to these deceitful women - and, usually, nothing at all.

Indeed, many of the laws and the policies that have been created in recent times seem almost designed to encourage dishonesty. 

Hence, for example, large rewards for making false allegations induce people to make false allegations. Ridiculously large financial compensation for victims of injustice induce those who have simply made errors of judgement to cover up their tracks rather than to admit to their mistakes.

In other words, there are now huge forces around us that actually encourage lying and deceitfulness.

These take us well away from the God on Earth.

But if the spread of valid information was really seen by people as the God on Earth - i.e. something far too important ever to take lightly - then the people themselves would start to oppose any measures that actually encouraged dishonesty or hid it from view. 

And such an attitude would begin to take us in the right direction on so many fronts that if the Men's Movement was to make this one of its highest priorities not only would it garner more support from people who would see the huge merits of its case, but it would actually begin to achieve its aims for more quickly and effectively.

The vast majority of people - and, certainly, the vast majority of men - would end up supporting a Men's Movement that used its muscle to argue continually for the supreme importance of ensuring that all policies are assessed in terms of how they affect 'the spread of valid information', and which also demanded that governments provide mechanisms to ensure that - bar the most extreme circumstances - all information is made readily available to those who should have a right to see it, and that a serious liability should attach to any official who failed in this duty to provide it.

As such, activists for the Men's Movement should always fight for the further spread of valid information. 

Indeed, they only have to think about the positively huge force for good that Google has brought to ordinary people to realise just what enormous power resides in a technology that promotes the spread of valid information. 

And when it comes to shaping the future of our societies, muscles and weaponry are clearly becoming far less important than they once were. And the same is true with regard to the traditional sources of authority. Power is being dissipated among far more people. And this process is going to continue for some considerable time to come.

The further spread of information and the increasing influence of the Men's Movement are definitely on the way. The first will occur because there are just so many benefits to be reaped from it, and the second will occur because more and more men will want to empower themselves and because they now have the means to do so. 

And it would be of major benefit for the Men's Movement if its activists took a major role in fighting for the increased spread of information - i.e. of the truth - and at the same time made a song and dance about any policies or politicians that thwarted this aim.

Indeed, there are four very good reasons for the Men's Movement to take up the task of actively fighting for the further spread of valid information.

1. At the moment, the movement is very fragmented - and for a variety of reasons. But, perhaps, one of the most important reasons for this is that men are very unlikely to agree with each other on all sorts of issues. For example, men will disagree with each other on the issue of drugs, homosexuality, abortion, multiculturalism, the status of marriage, the death penalty, and on a host of other important things. And they also often have different priorities. But, surely, whatever their views on all these things, they can mostly unite in arguing for the supreme importance of promoting the further spread of valid information and in standing together to fight any forces that would counter this. In other words, if all men's advocates actively campaigned for the further spread of valid information and actively opposed those who would seek to restrict it, then they would find themselves uniting together in an extremely worthwhile cause.

2. The vast majority of people - of whatever class, religion, colour or creed - would surely support any movement that was actively involved in demanding that more of the truth was made available to people in all sorts of areas - i.e. not just in those areas that particularly concerned men. As such, the Men's Movement could gain many more followers by pursuing such ends.

3. The further spread of valid information is going to happen anyway. And it is always a good idea to be on the winning team!

4. It is precisely because information has been hidden or distorted by governments, feminists, academics, the politically correct etc, that most of men's current problems have arisen in the first place. And the further spread of valid information ON ITS OWN would do a great deal to destroy the influence of those who seek to disadvantage men. 

In summary, the Men's Movement has an awful lot to gain by being identified with this issue.