is the world going to hell?

Perry E. Metzger (perry@piermont.com)
Fri, 16 May 1997 13:41:10 -0400

> From: "ard" <rbrown@smb.sams.ch>
>
> > From: John Blanco-Losada <jbl@clark.net>
>
> > Digging beyond the gut-level response, I'll admit that I had reservations
> > for many years about bringing a child into the world. Look around - the
> > forces of big government seem to be entrenched around the world, children
> > are being shot on the streets and in schools, couples are having to work
> > harder to make ends meet, etc. I could go on and on. It seems like the
> > world is going down the toilet, and that things just aren't as good as
> > they were when I was growing up.
>
> We have none of that where we live. Merchants take a two-hour
> lunch and leave their outdoor displays and goods in place,
> unguarded. The stores leave such things as fertilizer, wood,
> potting soil outside, unguarded at all times.

I must say that even here in New York City, life isn't too bad. The
continues to be run by socialists, but crime is not a particular day
to day worry (the murder rate is down to mid 1960s levels), work is
plentiful, and rent control may even end on June 15th if the
Republicans in the State Senate have the balls to go through with what
they've threatened -- if rent control goes away, housing prices will
likely drop and the city will probably experience a renaissance of
sorts.

In general, I'm optimistic. Unlike any other time in human history,
there is a low but good chance that we'll solve the aging problem
before I drop dead, and I'm signed up for cryonics just in
case. Business prospects for thinking people are better than ever
before, and money nearly litters the streets provided you have the
brains to pick it up.

The odds of global thermonuclear war are down (although the odds of
nuclear terrorism are up), and technology continues to develop
unabated, leading to interesting results for all of us within fifty
years or so.

All in all, a good time to be alive.

Perry