March 2020 – Page 4 – Rural Tompkins County

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Whole Human Replacement Parts

As Artificial Intelligence looms larger and larger, overshadowing humanity, there is one clear result — nothing is being done to protect us. The actuality of human displacement has been met, not with protections or retraining programs, but with indifference and vague assurances of new jobs in the future. There’s not even a mention of what country those jobs will be in.

There is an old joke in which a corporate “tycoon” vacationing in a small fishing village instructs a skilled fisherman on the steps he can take to become rich so he can retire and enjoy life. The fisherman responds by asking “Why? I’m doing that right now.”

We could have a simpler and much more fulfilling life with all the latest technology, but then where would the “tycoons” be?

The once independent rural community I live in has been taken over by an affluent suburban pastiche of incomers. They recently pushed through a 300 page Comprehensive Plan whose most influential writer stated that she didn’t think the rural people “deserved to live there.”

There won’t be any “fishing villages” in their Cornithaca County!

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Do•Doctrine Nail Art Advertisement

It’s a common occurrence in satire to question whether something is actually satirical or not. Since the Cornithaca County book is intended to challenge the reader, I have tried not to give even that solid ground. Some parts are obviously outrageous and others quite “sensible.” It’s easy today to only connect with the people and sites that reinforce your beliefs and not be exposed to different ways of viewing the world. Thinking and learning can be uncomfortable, but there’s a comfort in realizing you are part of a larger world than you ever knew existed.

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Back to School – “The Gift of Grab”

Have you ever gotten those large, bulging envelopes from charitable fund raisers and wondered who is paying for all the printed enclosures, the cards, address labels, pens, t-shirts, ornaments, personalized note pads and attention-getters they contain?

Do you wait in a long line at the only open check-out counter, only to be publicly questioned about your charitable intentions so the store’s owners can brag about how generous they are?

Non-profits are increasingly using aggressive and psychologically manipulative means to enrich themselves; and why not? — Since they are “good” by definition; every act is cleansed. Cornithaca County’s Corporate-Educational-Non-profit- Bureaucrat-Conglomerate is more that “good” by their own definition; they’re “better.”

And if you’re “better,” what acts can’t you justify?

“Cornithaca County” Book Preview – Back to School – “The TMDL Theory”

Another structured lesson for students. Government authorities have traditionally claimed to aim at perfection and have fallen far short. You can imagine how far short they’ve fallen when they only strive to reach adequacy — or you could take a look around and not have to imagine.

You know you live in Cornithaca County when they don’t fix the problem, just change the definition.