—Have we been here before? 
Some of the most influential inventions of the past have been ground and air travel, computer technology and the development of nuclear power. Public learning programs, followed by the development of the Internet made available to the masses, educate and enlighten us to soar to amazing heights.
New technology has promoted a transfer of ideas that stimulate the imagination and propagate a vast range of innovative breakthroughs, spurring us on in our quest for the unknown and unexplored.
Travel expands our range of communication, and the development of nuclear technology taps a new source of power in our energy-hungry society that dwarfs the coal-burning days of our grandfather’s time.
This surge of technology is limited only by our archaic fear of the unknown which stirs us to doubt our capabilities and often reject the opportunity to expand our skills; but should we dismiss these fears and speed ahead with cyberspace?
Does an inner voice from our collective past silently raises the question, “Have we been here before?”
BillGates’ empire, and his vision of our future, is driven by the dollar; and human sacrifice is as real as the bloodletting of ancient days. Our environment is degrading rapidly from the chemical wastes that spill into it as this technology is developed. It is a common trend for leaders to make choices that sacrifice a segment of their population if they feel it will advance their nation as a whole in the race to be a super power.
From the early days ofRomeandGreecewhen soldiers were sent to march on the front lines as fodder for the weapons of war, leaders have ordered events that were not life-saving for the masses.
Nothing has changed except that now our technological leaders are able to sacrifice us with intangible enemies that destroy us silently without our knowledge.
Civilizations rise and fall, but technology continues to advance, unchecked, marching toward the future with or without the human race. We continue to explore and expand our knowledge with the balance of power shifting among cultures.
At one timeEngland, likeRome, headed the list of powerful nations with the slogan “The sun never sets on theBritish Empire” reflecting the fact thatEngland’s lands were spread over the entire globe.
Germany, too, and Russia had their day of ruling the world, and each third world country now aspires to own nuclear weapons and become a super power. This is all due to knowledge shared by our ability to travel and our vast communication system that transfers information with alarming speed.
New scientific data is in the hands of our competitors almost before it leaves the laboratory in which it was discovered and developed; and we seem to be willing to give away arms, funding and technology to a vast array of countries in exchange for what?
We are too quick to communicate our superiority and arm our weaker neighbors with weaponry in the belief that if everyone has the means to destroy humanity as we know it we will keep the threat of nuclear war and annihilation in check. But what if we lose our ability to travel and communicate, and instantly negotiate?
Presenting a vision of the future without our present technology may serve as a wake-up call to our leaders who thrive on the thrill of living on the edge of destruction.
When all the madmen of third world countries have nuclear power, the risk factor of war is greatly increased. If we develop our travel technology to the point where we colonize another planet and create living conditions independent of earth, will we be assuring ourselves of rescue if we destroy Mother Earth; or will this new civilization become the advanced oppressors of this planet?
When we destroy our industries and resources with a nuclear holocaust, people will become isolated and develop closed communities in which they hoard their possessions. They will become suspicious and defensive to anyone who is unknown to them.
As travel and communication cease due to lack of resources people will pool their cultures and beliefs, and cultivate a new set of values conducive to each individual group, which will separate them further from being a global community.
Without communication and travel, education will become limited and knowledge will decline with each generation until legends and folklore take the place of logic. People will become superstitious and create rites and rituals to govern their lives in the absence of large scale military protection and government.
We will return to the days of witches and wizards controlled by those wily enough to recognize and maintain convincing skills and powers of manipulation. This will be aided by the extraterrestrial sightings and ultimate contact by the long-forgotten ancestors who have maintained travel and communication technology.
In time they will conquer the now-backward race of people we have become, and be worshipped as gods from the sky. When their resources run out they will return to earth permanently with superior technology and enslave the uneducated population that exists here.
Our extraterrestrial relatives will be genetically different from us by then, due to evolving in a different environment. We will revere them as wise and holy people of another race because they will have maintained the original scientific knowledge that we have lost.
We will split into two species, with one superior to the other. As humanity comes back together, the inferior species that was left behind will be demoted to pets and decline genetically until they crawl on all four limbs and have only the most rudimentary intelligence and skills. The earth, having been devastated by nuclear wars, will slowly be reclaimed, but science will be limited.
And the cycle will begin again to develop technology, so that we can go faster and farther and share our weapons of destruction.
The vague memories of our history will fade as we convince ourselves that we are, as always, superior to any living creature; and our illusion of omnipotence will drive us to develop technology in our quest for the unknown and unexplored once again.
Humanity’s over-confidence and greed for power dooms us to repeat history.
Over and over and over again, in an endless cycle that we are not even aware occurs.
What do you think?
Jae Awkins, Author 