Responses To Posts About Technology ~ Challenges To The Status Quo
There were a number of responses to the post about technology and ethics. I know that these are longer than our normal posts, but they are so good, I wanted to share them with you (below)! BRAVO and THANK YOU to all who responded!!!!
RESPONSES
This is a complicated set of questions and I have written extensively about the ethical aspects of technology in my various essays. I believe to truly contend with the topics you are raising, you need to ask even more fundamental questions about what it means to be human.
I believe that we in the industrialized world have taken far too anthropocentric a view on what qualifies as human – by which we apparently mean those who are allowed to have a voice and whom we recognize as being sentient.
Simultaneously, we have also deprived too many non-industrialized humans of the voice they already have, often because we refuse to acknowledge the merits of belief systems that do not enshrine the scientist interpretation of material reality.
Until we have a global recognition of the interconnected fabric of existence in our universe we will have difficulty threading these ethical questions adequately. In other words, many of the fundamental assumptions embedded in those questions you have raised are flawed and thus any intellectual system predicated upon this incomplete information cannot provide the answers that we seek.
We must go back to the drawing board and start again. Fortunately, we are completely able to do this at any time, and I believe a significant portion of humanity is doing so even as we speak.
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This really gets to the core of the issue. Assuming that lobbyists representing special interests help write the laws and that Congressmen and Senators move back and forth between lawmaking and private sector jobs which happens regularly, we have a fixed game with little accountability.
Unless the money is taken out of the equation which seems unlikely, I see no way to change the game from money before people and planet or technology being used to benefit humankind rather than for the few at the expense of the many.
Medical care is a good example where technology serves those who can afford it and the rest are left to try and keep themselves healthy. Will we get single payer that could benefit everyone or something that will benefit the pharmaceutical companies?
Technology should serve people and the planet but that is not the way the world presently works. Yes some technology is certainly beneficial and changes are underway like keeping the internet free.
I look forward to reading the other answers. For me, it’s a very difficult challenge. A great example is the current flu emergency as declared by Obama which benefits Big Pharma to the tune of billions with the CDC as cheerleader for everyone getting vaccinated without proof its as serious as they say it is. Orwellean… Check out my post on NPD for more details.
I would love to see the creation of an insurance company that provided premium reductions for preventative pro active policyholders who ate good diets, exercised regularly, meditated, did yoga, etc..used complimentary and preventative medicine as a first treatment and gave premiums back if they were not used. This would be a game changer.