Source of threat: extraterrestrial life or epiterrestrial life?

Systemic Equivalences between Ebola, Alien Invasion and Dissidence (Part #10)

---

[Parts: First | Prev | Last | All] [Links: To-K | From-K | From-Kx | Refs ]

---

Otherness as a threat: There is a case for considering threat as a boundary problem. Threats then become evident as emanating beyond the boundary of the healthy community. They take form in another domain -- beyond the home territory. Disease may be seen to originate in environments defined to essentially unhealthy -- of which developing countries constitute an archetype. Some cultures may be similarly framed as a source of dis-ease. Other religions may be so framed -- as an unhealthy threat to adherents of any belief system.

The focus on the boundaries of healthy community is currently evident in the case of the provisions of US Homeland Security -- offering a sense that dis-ease comes from elsewhere. More challenging is the possibility that any threat to homeland health may be "home grown". Sub-cultures within the US may, for example, represent a source of threat -- whether or not it takes the form of disease. The US is remarkable for incarcerating a larger proportion of its population than any other democratic country.

Threat from extraterrestrial aliens : A useful challenge to any such argument is the hypothetical existence of extraterrestrial life and the possibility of some form of alien invasion -- as has been so widely imagined. Such aliens may be vehicles for deadly disease of pandemic proportions -- whether or not it takes memetic form of the deepest concern to the worldviews of religions and science.

Endeavouring to frame threat as "from elsewhere" -- by them against us -- is usefully reframed by considering that so-called extraterrestrials may well take epiterrestrial form, effectively embedded and home-grown, as separately argued (Sensing Epiterrestrial Intelligence (SETI): embedding of "extraterrestrials" in episystemic dynamics? 2013). The challenge of protection from "aliens" may need to be reframed in terms of "them is us" (Roger Koppl, Them is Us: More Thoughts on Oslo and Multiculturalism, ThinkMarkets, 26 July 2011).

More intriguing is the possibility that such aliens may frame the condition of humanity -- with concern -- as being profoundly unhealthy. Remedial measures considered appropriate in terms of "universal standards" might then be righteously imposed -- following the pattern of European colonial missionaries. Appropriate to this argument is the possibility that ebola may itself be of extraterrestrial origin (Kabita Maharana, Ebola is an alien? British Scientist Claims Deadly Virus Came From Space, International Business Times, 10 August 2014).

Threat from terrestrial aliens: Irrespective of the possibility of extraterrestrial alien invasion, there is considerable irony to the fact that those from foreign countries may be termed "aliens". This conflates "extraterrestrial" with those seeking to enter a country (illegally) from elsewhere -- illegal immigrants and "boat people". This issue of alien immigration is of increasing concern -- most notably with respect to border control and the emerging nationalist policies of a number of European countries.

The concern is conflated with that of terrorism in that a significant proportion of those seeking entrance are of Islamic faith -- a faith as alien as is Christianity in Islamic cultures. The situation could take on other dimensions if Earth were to be faced with extraterrestrial refugees -- "boat people" from outer space.

Equivalences? In this exploration of "systemic equivalences", between seeming disparate processes constituting a threat, it is appropriate to note that a fundamental distinction can be made -- questionably, as separately discussed (Theories of Correspondences -- and potential equivalences between them in correlative thinking, 2007). The distinction is between "threats to us" -- necessarily problematic -- and "threats by us". The latter can be readily ignored or dismissed as misguided or irrelevant.

The issue is highlighted by the dissociation of "moral equivalence" from "systemic equivalence" as in the case of the USA, as notably championed by Jeane Kirkpatrick following her period as the first woman US Ambassador to the United Nations (The Myth of Moral Equivalence, Imprimis, 15, January 1986, 1). Such views were effectively echoed and affirmed by a subsequent US Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, the first woman to become US Secretary of State. When asked by an interviewer with regards to the effect of sanctions against Iraq: "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima...is the price worth it?". Albright replied: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price -- we think the price is worth it." (We Think the Price is Worth It, Fair, 2001).

Clearly this attitude plays out with respect to other species on Earth, as suggested above. Humanity is an obvious threat to other species. With respect to endangered species, Wikipedia notes that in 2012, 3079 animal species and 2655 plant species are endangered worldwide, compared with 1998 levels of 1102 and 1197, respectively. Many are threatened with extinction. The process is attributed to the invasive threats of human activity and population growth. Given the supposedly unquestionable biblical mandate, humanity might indeed be assumed to have a moral right to act primarily for its own benefit. This suggests that human groups -- including "terrorists" -- can also claim that right, especially including the People of the Book.

---

[Parts: First | Prev | Last | All] [Links: To-K | From-K | From-Kx | Refs ]