Tony Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Originally posted by Fletch SO if you were staving in Africa and a rich m,an with loads of money falling out of his pockets went passed you would say "well hes lucky he got to be rich and i got to be poor thats the way life is, i wont ask him for any money" would you. i wouldnt. if i was that rich man i would give away as much as i could, so i can still be in a happy house and live in relative comfert but also feel as though i am heloping poor people have a hapier food rich life Yea, but that is just an individual at that moment in time. Our species wouldn’t and doesn’t do that. You and the rest of this country would not give loads of stuff up (lets say your computer your holidays your car and your nice safe house with central heating) to give food to starving people in other countries. What happens is that over time they catch up to where we are today. However, by that time we have moved on again so the gap will always be there. We are lucky in the developed world because we have the choices. You should remember that only 50 years ago a famine in Africa would kill far more people than it does today. Disease in other countries is now treated by western drugs. Famine and thirst is salved by aid programs, agricultural techniques and water treatment. Western style education is increasing to benefit nations. Political development is assisted by developed nations who are also finally trying to restrict the arms that are provided to political despots to keep their own people in penury. Guilt is a western disease. It is the true luxury gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 The electronic calculator was developed so that astronauts could function when communications were lost as they travelled on the dark side of the moon. but the calculator was discovered by the greeks or eygyptians in the form of an abacus!!! Yea, but that is just an individual at that moment in time. Our species wouldn’t and doesn’t do that. You and the rest of this country would not give loads of stuff up (lets say your computer your holidays your car and your nice safe house with central heating) to give food to starving people in other countries. i did not say that, i said if i was that rich man i would give away as much as i could so i can still be in a happy house and live in relative comfert as i am now i would still keep a computer and have all the nesesities like a car, i said i would give away any extra i have!! so if it meant i gave up an un needed holiday i would!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Miguel Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I'm afraid that whether you agree with space travel or not, it's just human nature to feel the need to delve into things things we don't know or are not sure about. The thing is: as there is little else to learn about our own planet, naturally we feel the need to explore other worlds. Whether this is right or not doesn't really come into it. I's just the way we are. I agree that the money should be put to more worthy causes, but this is never going to happen, is it? To put things into perspective, though. It may be fantastic how we have progressed, particularly in the past 100 years or so, but certain things have stumped us and continue to do so. We may be on the verge of conquering the Solar System, but we can't find a cure for the common cold, and we still don't know why we need to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lickszz Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Originally posted by halevan I understand what you are saying, but the only reason we have I.T. is because so much money has been spent on space exploration and the latest technology is the spin offs from that I.E. the micro chip, computers etc. and all the wonderfull things that are now available, it is one thing or the other, you cannot have it both ways! Well said Hal. I thought the Beagle2 was/is an amazing piece of ingenuity and technology. Lets not forget, those Apollo missions had the computing power of a couple of old Amigas! and we probably wouldn't be communicating like this if it weren't for those programmes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alert_bri Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Hi Fletch, you may be interested in what some of the world's hyper rich are doing with their private wealth... people like Bill Gates for instance... Check out this article for instance A New Take on Giving Some have an aim to give 90% of their income to improving the quality of lives of others - and still to have all the material wealth they need (which isn't much when you really think about it) Learn all you can and then do what you can... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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