I am very interested in everyone's thought's on this matter:
On the surface, we all have to say: Cool!! How neat is that!?? But, think about the implications for a moment...
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tec...bo.soldier.ksl
It is a link to a new robotic exoskeleton. It IS the future of warfare. But I propose to all those (in one of my few, serious threads) the real dangers of technology - this being a good example.
How??
Well, first let's all step back a little over two hundred years ago. The citizens of our country decided that they would split away from the oppression of England. Men, women and even children banded together and formed miltias and even formed an official army. Where there were not enough muskets or cannons, we made use of bow and arrows or other means. A man could defend his home with things he MADE. And though there is some complexity to making muskets, they (and the bullets) can be made. To end our example, our country was succesful in defeating England and a new nation was born as a new goverment took hold.
Now, pretend we were still a colony of England (or any country... this is just an example). Oppresion was running rampant. Men and women were being murdered for stepping out of line, crimes against humanity were unbelieveable. We decide, as is the right of man, to rule ourselves and break away. So what is the reality of that with these types of weapons?
My opinion: It is not. Perhaps we have already passed the point where a man can truly defend his home from a soldier or a foreign force, but the mere fact that these types of things are being developed (and are quite real) could lead to a level oppresion and dictatorship that our world has never known. The days of storming the capital are over. Is it conceiveable that we no longer live in a world where we can overthrow our government? Perhaps now, more than ever, our soldiers should given the responsibility to think for themselves on the outcome of who they support and what orders they follow. Yet, in doing so, would we not open ourselves up even more to the possibility of a military coup? By not doing so, do we relinqush our rights for governmental change/oppresion, should that ever happen?
I remember in college a history professor outlining the achievements of mankind. It was a line graph. It started a the bottom left corner and jumped up a tad with fire, then clothing, etc. Slowly over thousands of years it crept up to about an inch off the bottom of the graph. Then, about the early 1900's, it shot up exponentially until it went off the board. We, as a species, have learned more in the last 100 years than in the thousands since we have been on this earth. Has our maturity level increased proportionately? Are we ready for the responsibility weapons like these bring to our race?
Deep questions, huh? Your children will learn the answers.
- CD
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