| abstract
| - Why now? The world we live in is ceaselessly changing. Old ideas give way to new and we always suppose that each change moves us in the right direction. We implicitly accept that change is a the heart of a healthy government. Yet, this implies that there is no best set of rules... no superior method of organization and cooperation that can withstand the test of time. This does a great disservice to many of the ideas and liberties for which our constitution has provided a fortified sanctuary. It is possible... no, inevitable, that humanity progresses towards the goal of effective cooperation. In times past, the means of cooperation were necessarily delegated to flawed men, whose judgement we have no reason to assume is superior to our own. No other option exists in a society restrained in their communication by physical and social barriers. Those barriers are quickly disappearing. Technology has granted mankind with a control over nature and a means of production at a level undreamed of by our ancestors. The benefits of technology pervade our every waking minute, lending its utility to our every endevor. When our goals are grounded in principals of justice and liberty, technology can only aid in our quest. There is a danger, however. Technology, like any tool, is both a boon and a danger. It grants us the ability to monitor our children in day care, it prevents medicine from being improperly administered, it entertains and informs, transports us, feeds us, clothes us, and confuses us. Technology is power, and like a uranium mine, it can be explored and exploited for the betterment of mankind or for its destruction. Technology will continue to be refined over the decades, and as this refinement occurs, the ability of technology to affect our day to day lives will increase, for better or worse. In ten years, it will be possible for government to track every individual walking on a busy street. It will be possible for government to acheive any goal, any aim that the people give it the authority to confront. In the hands of an irresponsible or unrestrained government, this must move a nation inexorably toward totalitarianism and tyranny. Even if we ignore the threat to ourselves, this same technology will be used in other countries. Like the proliferation of nuclear weapons, this represents an unignorable threat to human life and liberty across the face of the earth. The powers that foment war will be bolstered in their effectiveness by this new technology, to the detriment of all mankind. When the atom bomb was developed, nations cooperated to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The need for huge industry to make these weapons viable allows us a limited success with this doctrine, but what will prevent the much more portable technologies of the future from being turned against mankind. In fifty years, if a nation decides on a course of war, what weapons will be available to them. Nano-robotics? Genetically engineered viruses? Automated machines of death? New chemicals? It is crucial that we act before the first blow is dealt, because the destructive power that technology will release on humanity is clear and inevitable. It is futile to rely on those institutions which have failed to promote peace in light of the dangers we are on the cusp of facing. If we do not come to an understanding now, before the next weapon of mass destruction is invented, then that weapon will be used. To confront this technological advance is futile. We may slow it, but we cannot stop it. The only grounds on which we can effectively confront this threat is on the grounds of human action and understanding. Most of us agree that war is bad, and there is no reason to assume that free people in other countries do not hold the same view. It is not the people who prepare this stew of war and conflict, but rather those institutions of power which stregthen their position in every way they find possible. To disarm the ideologies that create war, we must dissolve the ideas of man which cause them to naively submit to arbitrary power. These institutions of power, not the people over which that power is exercised, are the proper targets of any attempt to end the prepetual bloodshed. Technology is the reason we must act, and it is the very tool that enables that action. We are privaleged to exist in the first society where men and woman can freely communicate, across national boundaries, across languages and cultures, and apart from popular media and government. Whereas media and government serve their own ends, reacting and highlighting the worst of mankind to sell advertising and to consolodate power, the global communication network provides us the chance to communicate directly and honestly with our fellow man. Technology gives us the ability to communicate, in the open, with any message we wish to send the world. Let us bind together in a sacred covenant to move mankind past the barbarism of power networks designed primarily to secure those same institutions in a position of tyranny over mankind. Technology gives us the ability to collaborate toward those goals that mankind has long wished to achieve. It allows us to compel a citizen to contribute to the society that provides the foundation and rule of law that makes society possible, while removing the power of demogogues to distribute that wealth for their political or financial advantage. It allows us to have a government committed to the citizens it is designed to serve, rather than a master of faceless pawns. Technology gives us the opportunity to integrate our environmental goals into our economic system, ensuring that citizens are given the opportunity to mitigate the harm that our consumption would otherwise promote. Technology offers us a framework to communicate, to discover truth, and to effectively act on that truth in collaboration rather than the doctrines of control and compulsion which were the instrument of change in every past generation. Technology presents us the ability to diagnose disease systematically, eliminating human error and saving human lives. Whereas a skilled doctor can tell you she approves of a course of treatment, a computer can tell you that at your age, with your particular level of health, a particular operation has a 73% chance of success, while carrying a 2% risk of serious side effects. With this information in hand, a patient can enter into treatment informed by the best information that society has available. Only a patient can assess their personal acceptance of risk, and only a complete and impartial analysis can provide the risk assessment that will enable that patient to make that decision. Further, this technology will reduce the cost of medicine far more than any plan a government could invent. Technology will provide the best possible education to every single person who wishes to persue their self improvement. For she who wishes that education in the pursuit of productive employment, we will provide both the means of education and a mechanism to advertise newly obtained skills to the public. We will use technology to better suit our education to the individual needs and goals of the student... not the government... not the teachers' union... not even the parents, for education... true education relies on the interest and discipline of the student above any other consideration. Technology will allow us to direct our public aid to those who WE feel will benefit most from our gift. We will dissolve, completely, the mingling of our generous philanthropy with those aspects of the political machine which prevent the realization of real progress. Technology will grant us the ability to assure someone across the world that we are who we say we are... it will allow us to keep our information secure, while allowing us to give access to whoever we wish. Technology will aid us in keeping our children innocently out of reach of those things we wish safeguarded from. Technology will replace keys and cards and certificates. It will allow us to secure our property and our person. It will watch over us on city streets, demolishing violent crime. It will allow us the freedom from coersion that mankind has sought since ancient times. In all the confusion... in all the bitter argument, we may have missed one critical point. World hunger is already solved. The past century has shown us that the people in any land can be free of hunger... poverty... corruption. The plans have been lain for years, but the engineering needed to complete the project were sadly absent. We now have the ability, and all that we lack is the will to action. With technology under our control, rather than the reverse, we will light up the truth like a beacon, leading by example and inducing the entire globe to take their destinies into their own hands... embracing the sovereignty of humankind. Technology will put US in control... of our country... of our health... of our contribution... of ourselves.
- Why has The Secret just been discovered NOW? Many proponents of The Secret express wonder at why it has come into public view only now. The book and movie emphasize that the essential message of The Secret has been known through the ages, but seem to suggest that there was some type of conspiracy of the information that kept it from the public in earlier times. Why now? There are multiple aspects to this apparent mystery. Some emphasize that in the past, this knowledge was kept from the public out of the belief that it is too powerful and potentially dangerous for dissemination to all, but qualified initiates. It is true that all spiritual traditions in the past emphasized that their knowledge was not meant for all. One had to prepare, purify and qualify oneself to receive and use it properly. This is especially true since the method advocated in The Secret could potentially be used to achieve negative as well as positive aims. Others have pointed out that in the past, spirituality turned away from life and human accomplishment toward fulfillment in some far off heaven, nirvana or the unmanifest Infinite. Those who pursued the spirit, applied these same methods for spiritual realization, but had little interest in the practical application of this knowledge in life. There is a truth in all these observations, but none that adequately explains how The Secret has so suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shot into universal prominence. Various spiritual teachings based on similar knowledge have been widely available in print and translation for a century or more. So how then can we explain the meteoric rise of The Secret during the past six months? If the knowledge has already been available for some time, why has it only attracted public attention so recently? The obvious answer is that for several reasons humanity is now far more receptive and eager to attain the knowledge that The Secret offers.
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