MINDLESS MUSINGS

If my amateur calculations are correct, the Zhou Dynasty in ancient China was entering its twilight years when Alexander the Great was conquering the world; a world in which China did not exist apparently. The Qin Dynasty would rise and fall; and be replaced by the Han Dynasty, all while Ancient Greece was the centre of the (western) world. Although, Ancient Persia was staking a major claim and closing in fast!

On the other side of the world, the Mayan civilisation was well on the rise. I’m not sure how big the Egyptian empire was around this time, but it was certainly well established. In my limited knowledge, it seems the rest of Africa didn’t really kick into full-on empire mode until a bit later.

The Aksumite Empire kicked off in Ethiopia around the time Rome was rising from the Ancient Greek ashes. All the while I believe The Han were still lording it over China and the Mayan Empire was getting into full swing. This whole expansion racket was a global craze!

Northern native American tribes managed to keep their distance from the Mayans. Countless tribes of ‘savages’ and nomads wandered Africa, Europe and Asia managing to avoid absorption into the latest empire or empire wannabe on the hunt for new blood: 2^nd class citizens or slaves, not a great choice.

Britain and the Celtic lands were populated by primitive tribes until the Romans waltzed on in with their feckin’ civilisation. Other nations similarly separated by water from the mainland enjoyed a little bit of breathing space before the civilised hordes arrived. Places like the Philippines and Japan had a natural barrier for a while before they were ‘discovered’.

The indigenous Australians seemed to have it made! All the way down there with oceans between themselves and the ever-swelling populations of the ‘advanced’ peoples. Naval technology would inevitably put an end to that blissful isolation as it would with almost all the pacific islands and New Zealand.

Strangely enough it was this same technology which would eventually nearly wipeout the native American population. They managed to avoid getting co-opted by the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs only to be invaded by European aliens with newfangled weapons and technology (not to mention diseases). French and British forces would scramble to ‘claim’ this ‘free’ land and use a combination of treachery, violence and sheer weight of numbers to wipeout or displace the locals.

The native tribes and even the empires to the south didn’t fare much better unfortunately. The Spanish and Portuguese were not going to miss out on this land grab, and it seemed there was plenty to go around. Except of course for those pesky locals. The awesome architecture, agriculture, arts and crafts and all-around organised culture of some areas made it difficult to label this land uninhabited by ‘civilised’ peoples. Unfortunately, the South American empires were way behind in the arms race and conquest was considered a ‘legal’ option.

So now the swelling populous of Europe could spread themselves out and have a fresh start in a new unspoiled land. Problem being of course, that ‘civilisation’, once it is finished the murder and mayhem of colonisation, breeds population growth and sooner or later, we’re running out of room again. More on colonisation a little later.

I’ll try and draw all these musings together for a moment:

• Humans are a social animal; we were always going to band together.
• Equilibrium with nature can only be sustained by keeping numbers low; lots of tribes is superior to empires in terms of ecology.
• That’s not true! Things were fine with villages, towns and even kingdoms. Not even the early empires threatened the planet in any major way.
• This is correct, however once the trajectory of expansion had begun it was going to continue relentlessly until it became a major problem.

• Just like today’s insatiable corporate appetite, it is more than just greed. You either grow or die. You must gobble up the competition and stay strong enough to stop being gobbled up yourself.
• Once the pin has been pulled in the game of power, it can’t be put back in the proverbial grenade; not unless all sides agree to ‘enough is enough’ and have confidence that no one will take advantage of the deal. What are the chances? Nuclear arms race anyone? Who wants to be first to leave themselves defenceless?
• Even if that miraculous agreement were achieved and followed, what happens then? How do you prevent population growth without draconian laws.
• So:
  • Humans are not consciously trying to destroy their environment.
  • They do however have an inherent aversion to scarcity.
  • A way is found to provide more sustenance and more people are bred.
  • When the numbers grow bigger than a large tribe, kinship begins to deteriorate.
  • The temptation becomes too much for some, and they want more than their fair share.
  • Populations swell and the greedy manoeuvre their way to the control of the coffers.
  • Eventually the theft and raiding turns to outright conquest and the need to populate and arm up becomes essential.
  • This race continues to this day and no one country, corporation or institution is powerful or confident enough to stop it.

“I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.”                              

Agent Smith “The Matrix (1999)

Holy shit! That’s terrible! I’m gunna go have a beer now.

Please explain how I am wrong or throw out potentially viable options in the comments. Cheers.