Cooperation

I've come across a couple of things today which have rather piqued my cynical inclinations. I was watching a programme earlier about the possibility of an asteroid, or other large space rock, hitting the earth with life-threatening consequences, as per the Chicxulub impact which is thought to have contributed towards the extinction of dinosaurs, and what might be done, with modern technology, to potentially avert any collision detected in sufficient time. One of the speakers made a comment along the lines of the first thing that would be required to deal with such a situation is international cooperation, to which my immediate reaction was 'we're all dead, then'. It seems to be virtually impossible for politicians and other interest groups within countries to agree on any course of action that would benefit everyone, so the chances of any cooperation between countries, even in the face of an apocalyptic threat, are, in my opinion, nil.
This kind of compartmentalised thinking, and the lack of empathy between people, was underlined by something I found online today, a poll which found that a majority of respondents amongst Republican voters in certain southern states in the US think that interracial marriages should be banned by law. I'm aware that those polled are not likely to be representative of everyone in the US, or even in those particular states, but the fact that a significant body of people, in the 21st century, should hold such antediluvian views really doesn't inspire any confidence whatsoever that Homo sapiens has any long-term future at all. As I think I've said before in this blog, if people can't accept that we should live together tolerantly as a species, we'll surely die together.

Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B