The enemy of mankind

Under the present conditions our reproduction instinct
is not the right guide.

As long as our population was under the control of
external factors (lack of food, large carnivores, child
mortality) we needed a high reproduction rate to keep
constant our population, small as it was.

Back then it was good that we developed
this readiness for reproduction.

But now why do we need this terrible rate of reproduction?

Especially now when the growth of the economy stops,
we no longer need many workers or many consumers.

Besides, we no longer need many foot soldiers as
"cannon fodder" for the wars.
Now it’s enough to have a few well trained soldiers
to press the buttons.

Why do we need now so many people,
especially the poor and the hungry?

There was the old view that they were required as slaves
for the wealthy, to exploit them and have a comfortable life.

That was probably true, and it is perhaps still true in part.

But only in a small part.

The continuous improvement of our living conditions
(not just for the rich but also for the poor) is only to a
small percentage based on the exploitation of human
work (the exploitation has taken other, more subtle forms).

The large, the crucial percentage
is based on the development of
technology, and on inventions.

We do not need slaves anymore.

We have machines.

Anyone who wants a slave "to fan him fresh air"
can very easily buy a fan.

Especially now when the automatic machines (those that do
not even need supervision to do their job) have spread more
and more from industrial production to household chores,

the margin for exploitation of slaves
has narrowed tremendously.

There are some who say that the progress of technology
and machines are the enemy of mankind.

The enemy of mankind is the stupidity
that led us to repeat words whose meaning we neither
understand nor who benefits when we speak them.

I know who these people are.

They are the ones who spread the phrases
"homo homini lupus",
"man is by nature evil, predatory and greedy",
"man is always alone" and other similar ones.

If someone proclaims nonsense, of course I am sad,
but I can’ t get angry with him.

Everyone has the right to be stupid.

What annoys me (it does not simply annoy
me, it makes me mad) is when the spreading
of such views diverts our attention from the
actual perpetrator, the system.

And of course the system is rubbing its hands
with glee and cultivates these views.

If you step out and preach such nonsense nothing
happens to you. Most likely you will even gain applause.

But dare to encourage people to think
before they speak or do something,
and I'll tell you what will happen to you.

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