New Frontiers
Gene Roddenberry was the guy that brought us in to the future many years ago with the series “Star Trek”…going where no man had gone before…OK, it was Science Fiction, but what a pity that some of those who were fans of the 1970′s show didn’t hold on to a small bit of the imagination and “thinking into the future”, that the show evoked when they got themselves into positions where they could actually influence change. Imagine if Kirk, Spock and buddies made a brief return visit to planet earth. They hover over Dublin, spot the M50 at rush hour, imagining it to be an energy field surrounding the city. Their first reaction is that the city has been taken over by Klingons. Nothing is connected, people are wandering around in a trance, going nowhere. The guys get energized down to the ‘Red Cow’ Roundabout, but there is nothing they can to, They try Portlaoise, Galway, Limerick, Castlebar..but its all the same.
Mission Impossible!
“Beam me up Scottie” There isn’t any evidence of any forward planning, horizontal thinking or sustainable development down here .
The only hope is that the Klingons seem no longer able to control the banks and the government. The earthlings are getting restless. They have stopped looking directly into the eye of the tiger, who has been controling their minds. They just want to live in peace and prosperity.
OK, its only Sci Fi, but have you ever wondered why UFO’s are only seen for brief glimpses over places like County Roscommon. They are certainly not scared by out military might.
There is a guy called Jacque Fresco who lives in Florida. He’s now 92. He’s spent his life developing systems for the future in what he calls a “resource-based economy”. That is a system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter or any other system of debt or servitude. All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource; our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival.
He has developed a prototype for “cities of the future” and “intelligent Houses”. OK, maybe its a bit Sci-Fi but maybe hear the guy out. I mean how many of the houses built in Ireland in the last 10 years could be called “Intelligent”!!
We have the technology, we have the expertise to build more “intelligent” buildings and more sustainable cities. The banks and government who have been complicit in the most disastrous period of forward thinking planning in Irish History are not going to do anything so maybe its time people to demand proper sustainable planning, energy efficient warm homes, places for children to play, proximity to services. Its not Science Fiction!
