Cultural Quarantine
Open borders and travel help the planet survive?
Hmm, maybe. Certainly Bruce Sterling seems to think so. In his article on Wired News, Guns, Germs and Software, he talks about diseases breeding in isolated pockets of isolationist extremists that could ravage the planet. And, based on what I read in Guns, Germs, and Steel, he may well be right. (His title is, of course, an allusion to the aforementioned book.) It’s certainly an interesting proposition. In fact, it wouldn’t suprise me to see this in a book from Mr. Sterling one day.
In today’s climate of isolationism and fundamental extremism, there are a frightening number of populations that could incubate such a disease, but the most notable are factions in the Middle East. And, of course, such an extremist group might find a use for such a disease…..
Hmm, something to think about….
Of course, Mr. Sterling takes the opposite stance. He posits that those isolationists are putting themselves at great risk. Cutting themselves off from technology, especially medical technology, and becoming hotbeds of incubating diseases is a recipe for disaster. At least, to them. And, again, something to think about.
Sometimes the business of writing is inspired by grim details of brutish existance.
