If you have chosen technology as your weapon-of-choice, my heartiest congratulation to you! Different people choose different weapon-of-choice as their assault instrument. There is no right or wrong until the last leaf falls.
I am a little bit different from you in that I am just a smallish rubber tapper. I fear the elements. If there is no rain, I will dance to the rain gods for comfort. If there are blizzards, I will pray to the rain gods again for mercy. If there are land robbers, I will discuss with the boss of the robbers for a lower ransom. I am not a changer, but a person who accept one’s fate as given. There is little or nothing I can do to change the elements, be it natural or artificial.
2,500 years ago, the Qin (秦) conquered Zhao (赵) and forced surrender a 200,000 Zhao army. As the saying goes, the Qin army killed off every one of the Zhao’s surrendered army. The reason being the Qin couldn’t feed the surrendered army for long. All Qin was interested was only the land mass they conquered. That was not too long ago, only just 2,000 - 3,000 years away.
Fast forward to almost present days, WWII (1940s) saw the Japanese trying to kill off every single male in South East Asia (SEA), reason being they were deemed resistance potential. All the Japanese wanted was none other than the land-mass of SEA and the resource that comes with it. That was not even 70 years away. It was a WORLD WAR.
Another fast forward to present days, just look at North Korea, the number of populace that was starved to death every year (totalling in the millions) was not even declared. Like you have suggested, all fatty Kim needs to do is to just release his population to the world, I am sure there would be takers from South Koreans. In so doing, fatty Kim would have lost absolute power. That is why fatty Kim is not doing it. Stop.
Other obvious examples are the African blacks. Every year currently, millions were starved to death in Africa. But, if released to the outside world, or, for that matter, improved its agricultural machinery, they would become the champions in sports and may even sport a USA president. These starving African blacks are not stupid. They just aren’t given a chance to grow. Why should they be given a chance by others?
Researchers had concluded that our human brain is 60% too big. We don’t need that brain power to stay on top of the food chain. Then why should the human brain be so humongous? It is from the fear of our neighbours. Our greatest threat is not of any natural elements but the self-preservation from the possible attacks from our neighbours.
http://www.slate.com/articles/healt...ups_led_to_the_evolution_of_large_brains.html
You must have recently watched the video and read the news that a 31-year-old man dies after attack at Clarke Quay carpark; 9 arrested for rioting (16 Apr 2017). It was nothing more than a not-too-discrete staring game of one’s gf.
Therefore, I fear the elements. I fear most of all - Man. Technology to me can be used by me or against me. I am not too zealous to think which is which.
If mice (0.4) cannot solve a puzzle of procreation using simple social interactions, I am very doubtful if I am clever enough to solve the precreation puzzle with my follow humans (7.5).
I therefore choose to be a quitter, just like my forefathers before me. Our good friend, Stalin, killed 20m just to retain control and our very good and better friend too, Mao, killed “50m” to retain power.
Well, fatty Kim, like you have suggested, can choose to import food and water to feed his population. But, can he or did he do so? NO. He could follow the pinoy and indian idea of exporting “foreign talents” to generate more income. NO. He did not. By so doing, his people would have opened their eyes and wanted more. Simplistic mind-control can no longer work for fatty Kim. Fatty Kim chose starvation as his weapon-of-choice.
Our islanders in general are lazy people. They stopped thinking when the going was good and had depended on the king rat to dish out his nuggets of wisdom and followed them. When the going was bad, they too try to listen hard on the king rat’s advice. After all, what can go wrong since they have listened before and prospered? I don’t blame these followers as they came from an even more horrendous situation. With little to zero education, it was a blessing they could even read the newspapers. But, unknowing to the populace, the king rat has a change of heart or was it, never change of heart in the game of ruthless mind-control.
Food can be gotten on the table only through technology OR conquest. Since conquest is a tabooed word, I shall restrict myself to discussing technology. Technology, unfortunately, is a double-edged sword. It cuts both ways. If one wants to be good in technology and ground-breaking, then one must have freedom to think and explore. But, freedom breeds adventurism. The islanders would question the very pillars of power above them and asking why are they not being rewarded. Herein, lies the irony. If one wants control, there would be no freedom. If one wants technology in exchange for food, there would be a loss of power. The old king rat chose control over freedom. Therefore, as time goes by, life becomes harder and harder. Technology lags no man.
If technology makes me drink shit water and tell me that it is good for my body, I would rather trust my rain gods and drink water that is filtered through thousands of miles from the mountains by mother nature. I don’t like technology.
Same, same for the old king rat. He feared most his adversaries. He then controlled the press and freedom of his people from as early as 1960s, the start of his leadership and disallows any technology to take root. His company can’t even sell a rifle, SAR 21, to anyone. When in use, it blooded every soldier’s back. The buyers are not stupid. Old king rat couldn’t have done any better. Therefore, it is indeed your personal choice to stay within or without. But, since you are not yet a true islander, your choice may have a slightly different slant, which is not usually confronted by the islanders.
The story of how Qin came from a humble beginning or internal chaos to strong governance to emerge as a uniting force for China is truly refreshing. It spanned 25 generations of Qin’s hard work. But, one small mistake of taking victory enjoyment march (秦始皇帝 and his son) too soon, the Qin was annihilated within the reign of just 2 emperors.
I am a believer of history. I believe, by learning history, I get to reduce the mistakes I can make. History has taught me to be patient and not try to be too playful with my humble resource.
I remained a rubber tapper … fearful of both natural and artificial elements … choice of weaponry is indeed and shall remained a very personal choice …
in metta …
"liked" ( now too little characters)
