Personal World Wonders

A few days ago I talked about this marketing gimmick that encourages each one of us to vote for the new world wonders. And I had promised myself to compile a list of what I believe to be the seven world wonders. Here it is.


Racism

is not only related to genetic race or skin color . It can be also related to age groups, social standings, and sex (sometimes even sexual preferences such as in homophobia), not to religions though as this is another story that relates more to fanaticism. A linguist would know all the very specific isms, however for my purpose it is not the exact word that counts but the underlying concept. Racism has always been the major reason (together with Fanaticism) behind wars. Racist arguments and theories are also used as argumentation for most injustices in the world.


The Apollo Program


or is it Space Travel, in any case, this definitely deserves a place within the modern world wonders. It is somehow the first step that will lead us all towards the goal set by the Greeks which is to get so near to the sun that the wax melts. According to that myth we will fall down when the wax melts and we will not survive it. One though has to say that this doomed result is not the only possibility, inter stellar travel and space wars are not so much out of the books anymore.


Cloning

Eternal life is an old goal imagined by the Pharaohs and unfortunately it still does not work for the human race. Just imagine what would happen if Leonardo or Einstein could have survived forever. The down side would be to imagine what would happen if Hitler, Hussein and Hammurabi were still around. Or if humanity had to bear George Bush Junior ad vitam eternam. In such a case, I personally would not get myself cloned.

Robotics

At last, we (the human race) will have slaves without the accompanying conscious objectors around. I mean who would defend heartily enough a heap of electronic devices? Sounds good, we can be slave drivers but we will not have to deal with the accompanying social unrest that follows the implementation of any living slave system. More

Fanaticism

I refer to Religious Fanaticism. It has been somehow embedded in the religions themselves as all religions tend to be self righteous and at the same time expansionist. There is only a tiny step between evangelizing (sharing one's beliefs through "conviction") and expansionism at any price, using economical arguments, power arguments or even torture and killings. This in turn creates martyrs for the other cause and builds resentment and even more fanaticism. Snow balling is the name of the game.


Nuclear Weapons

Nowadays in the only country that actually used these against cities that were populated by civilians, it has become politically correct to call them Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), specially when they are imaginary and in the hands of "enemies". While existing ones in the hands of "strategical allies" are not to be mentioned, sometimes even encouraged and help is given under the mantle to build even more of these "Nuclear Weapons" , strangely enough these are not considered as WMD. Meanwhile the secret formula should ideally not be mentioned or researched by anyone who is not a strategical ally.


Global Warming

The historical consequences of this one have not yet appeared, in spite of some warning signs by Gaia. Maybe after all science fiction writers got it right when they argued that the only hope for humanity laid in Space Travel and expansionism. But the risks are huge.