CCRC Editorial Section

An Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial view of Terrestrials 
                      - By Fred Ward

 An Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial studying the earth might report back as follows..........   

This planet is divided into a number of “countries”, each with its own assortment of people, customs, languages and rules (laws).  In many of these countries, the rules are made to be broken, with “dictators” doing as they please.  They continue in this manner by claiming to be working for the people, “people power” it's called, but their decisions are not what the people really want.  In other countries, the people more or less run the government, but with little actual knowledge and control.  But the biggest differences between the countries was how well people in some countries lived compared to how poorly the people in other countries lived. 

There are some interesting reasons for these marked disparities between the “rich” and the “poor” countries, reasons which are obvious to us, but which seem to be little known to the Earthians, and especially to those in the “poor” countries.  I say this because we must assume that these “poor” countries don't want to remain poor, yet do. 

When we look back at how we advanced beyond our humble beginnings to get to our current interplanetary travel stage, I recalled some of the debates we had many eons ago.  We argued about the best forms of government, the proper incentives for our people, and what rewards were to be given for  specific behaviors.  Fortunately, our selections turned out well, but recalling our history, I couldn't help but notice how one Earthian country stood out from the rest.  It's called the United States of America, America for short.  Interestingly, almost all the people in America came from other countries on the Earth, some quite recently, so the difference between America and the other countries would not appear to be due to genetics.  Possibly the people who moved to America were different from the people they left behind.  But whatever the explanation for these differences, the differences are substantial.

For example, the Americans lead all the other countries in science, technology, the arts, business and the general ability to adapt to changing circumstances in all of the above.  They generate most of the discoveries and advances in all these areas, and have led for many, many years.  There are waiting lists for people from other countries to move to America, while few Americans are in a hurry to leave.  America's number one status is so obvious, it's amazing that the other countries have done so little to follow the lead of the Americans.  The rest of the world is either too jealous to emulate the Americans, or they are totally blind to the obvious facts around them.  Either way, this jealousy or blindness leads to unnecessary poverty for large fractions of the Earthians and lost freedoms for the rest. 

Given these obvious differences between America and the other countries, it was strange that most of the Earthians are oblivious to the root causes of these differences.  Fortunately, we learned that this facility to develop and adapt, this can-do spirit, could lead to unlimited progress and freedom, and was the main underlying reason we are now able to traverse the universe searching for other progressive civilizations.  Maybe in a few centuries, the rest of the Earthians will decide to copy the American spirit and free themselves from unnecessary limitations.

I will write more as time passes.  And of course over time, we will see whether the rest of the Earthians choose to emulate the Americans, or settle into the dustbin of history, content with what they currently have, rather than a bright new world like us.

I will be watching very closely a man the Americans have recently chosen, a leader who wants to spread wealth rather than create it, undercut the incentives for the imaginative, and reward team players rather than stars; a man totally out of touch, and seemingly oblivious to the unlimited potential of the human spirit.  The next few years will be pivotal for the Americans. 

Stay tuned.   

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