That was the theme of that beautiful propaganda film "Hero". The Emperor was better than the warlords & kings. Great cinematography. Fully approved by the greatest mass murderers in history.
I'll ask you again Fred, since you seem to be dodging the question: Since we know there have been times when the earth is warmer than it currently is as well as colder, perhaps you'd like to explain to me why the current temperature (or any temp for that matter) is the correct one or best one?
Clearly, it is Bush's fault. That guy is so evil he was obviously polluting the planet 8 million years before he was born. The bastard!
"You appear to be unaware of the conditions which led to the situation in those countries."
You can't have it both ways. According to you the same conditions existed (brutal dictatorship) in those countries that exist in present day China. So which is it?
"Yeah, be careful of the source of your information."
Heed your own warning. This guy Christy signed a statement in 2003 by the American Geophysical Union stating that the earth is warming at a faster rate than first believed. Apparently he's a flip-flopper and will justify whatever his backers desire.
Looks to me like either you have been lied to, or you are doing the lying yourself. Either way, it's one more example of lies of the left.
Why did you help write the 2001 IPCC report and the 2003 AGU statement on climate change if you disagreed with their fundamental conclusions?
With the 2001 IPCC report, the material in there over which I had control was satisfactory to me. I wouldn't say I agreed with other parts. As far as the AGU, I thought that was a fine statement because it did not put forth a magnitude of the warming. We just said that human effects have a warming influence, and that's certainly true. There was nothing about disaster or catastrophe. In fact, I was very upset about the latest AGU statement [in 2007]. It was about alarmist as you can get.
"You can't have it both ways. According to you the same conditions existed (brutal dictatorship) in those countries that exist in present day China. So which is it?"
Straw man. I made no claim that all brutal dictatorships end up like Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.
The latest PJTV vid "Klavan & Whittle: Why Do Liberals Love Islam?" ( members only ) explains ( or offers a couple of good opinions ) the love leftists have with brutal dictators.
One explanation is the reaction to colonialism of the European immigrants from the former colonies. "Colonialism is bad, treating the Other different is bad, the Other is the same as us, the Other is better". Childish logic.
The other explanation is that leftists admire the power, street power, of the Jihadi because personally, the are terrified of cutlery, but the Jihadi aren't and the leftists could never be so "authentic".
It's a split personality thing, leftists luv stories like "The Bourne Identity" stories where a "lone hero fights the powerful ( blank}" which, funny, is a theme also loved by the rest of us. Leftists are happiest when the powerful is something they hate, of course, and if Bourne had been fighting the Glorious Leaders that the leftists love, they would reject the film. With bogus excuses.
Self honesty is foreign to these people, since self honesty would lead to an examination of their own principals, ( which are, as declared, mostly good! ) and the results of their actions, ( on the whole, horrific ) and that cognitive dissonance inspires deep terror in them.
Not that it's wine & roses for everyone else, a lot of people refuse to examine their core beliefs.
Back on topic. Science, and it's effect on us.
I wasn't expecting this so soon. But here it is. There are serious moral questions about this subject that MUST be addressed before we have serious problems. I'd like to see what my cousin has to say about this one. ( he's a pediatrician and Medical ethicist )
Seriously though, I think if we can prevent disease and defects, we should. Generally. And no, other than watching Gattaca and predictably siding with the hero, I've not considered the ethical consequences.
as often happens, sci-fi writers consider things before governments do.
Often used for social commentary, especially in brutal totalitarian regimes, Sci-fi allows a writer to mock his own system by disguising it. Very popular in the Soviet Union ( which encouraged engineering & space, unlike "post modern" America ) you could set your tale on Mars or some interstellar civilization and criticize it, where criticism of your own government would get you murdered.
Also good for cautionary tales. Gattaca is a great example, and highly under rated.
There are multiple problems. Sure, I'd like my offspring to be healthy. Skip the bad knees, the this, the that, and it's still my child, without my flaws. Awesome.
but. While I'm at it, Hey, Doc, how about pornstar,, um, equipment? And Olympic Athlete build & metabolism. I'm overweight, why should my kid be? ( not a bad thing ) Taller? Prettier? How much different will my choices be from everyone else?
I don't anticipate cloned armies, ( the old fashioned way is way cheaper ) but "Brave New World" with people built in castes, that can happen.
Income inequality? How about gene Inequality? Will there be quotas? "we have enough Alpha kids this year, but we anticipate a need for Burger King workers, so your choice is 80 IQ or wait for the next lottery. Good thing your genes aren't suitable for sewer worker"
I don't have the answers, but I have questions and fears. And it's coming.