Modern Problems

Follow me if you will to the not so distance past of 7-19-2024. On that day Microsoft had a pretty serious problem with their software that translated to many businesses that included airlines and rail stations ceasing operation for a few hours until the problem was solved. I even noted that one of the businesses here in my local vicinity of Tulsa (Holly Refinery) was also shut for the afternoon that day. Microsoft referred to it offhandedly as a glitch, but the truth is it was probably a virus. The powers that be in the computer industry always refer to a virus as a glitch, so they don't start a panic. This brings to light the idea that we have essentially handed over the reins of our lives, not to mention our livelihoods to someone we refer to simply as "THEY." THEY are working on the problem, or THEY claim we should be back online soon. We have turned over our lives, and essentially our collective economy to a group of people who are faceless. This seems ill-advised to me. I wouldn't even pay someone to cut my hair if I were not on a first name basis with them first. Yet we have turned over every part of our lives to an entity referred to only as Microsoft. They are usually referred to as a safe place to store our information, but are they really?

Nothing points to the problems we have in this nation better than the recent Covid scare. If you disbelieve for a second what a bunch of sheep we have become, you need look no further than the Covid vaccine. Common was the sightings of people who were gloved up and wearing dust masks while traveling inside of their own cars ALONE. This perplexed me, was this an attempt to keep them from catching the virus from THEMSELVES? I realize that being a part of Generation X automatically makes me suspicious of anything and everything but there is a reason for that. Maybe the copious amounts of garden hose water I have ingested over the years have made me delirious. It should be pointed out that the drive-by media was able to (single handedly, mind you) get the majority of this nation to go home, take a leave of absence from our jobs, and hide in fear from our fellow man without ever firing a shot. I should remind you that they accomplished this with nothing than some sub-par journalism and the feeding on our natural leaning towards the idea that life is precious. And while I will concede that life is important, it should never be lived in a bubble just because we have been spooked by the unknown. Otherwise, the question stands, why are we here?

The hard cold facts are this, somewhere over the years we have been talked into trading a bit of ourselves (AKA our privacy) for something we perceive as security. It all started when taking our payroll information off index cards and handing it over to likes of Bill Gates. Was that a wise decision? And we did it all to make our daily tasks "easier." Just remember, we do things like climbing Mount Everest; not because it's EASY, but because it's HARD. This is part of what makes us curious and human. Taking something that is secured and fully within our control and handing it over to an entity where it could potentially become public knowledge is probably not our finest hour. Consider for a moment that every time you are put through airport security that your life is put into the hands of someone with a GED, possibly an IQ of under a hundred points, and is likely hung over, is not just unadvisable; it's idiotic. This is a bit like (in the words of granny) letting the inmates run the jail.

Every time the impending doom of AI is referred in a public forum the end of that conversation goes something like this; "it's coming quickly and there is nothing you can do to stop it." I'd say that makes the question of the day this; "ISN'T THERE??" We are like the frog in the pot that has the fire turned up just a little bit at a time. At first, he feels as though he is just enjoying a lukewarm bath, and before he knows it, he has become someone's dinner. Nothing becomes a problem until it IS a problem, and in the finer circles of life essentially perception is everything.

Do you think Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were ever worried about the internal engine microchip failing on their car? Of course not, their cars were run solely under the foot power driven by brontosaurus burgers. This is to say that the less dependent we are on "THE MAN" (AKA technology) the more independent we become. Think of our society as a basket and our livelihood as a dozen eggs. If all of our eggs are placed in that one basket and we trip, fall, and scramble them all over the ground the chances of ever getting them sunny side up and back in the skillet are likely setting at zero percent. All I am asking is that you consider that I could be right.