Priorities vary across all human spectra. For some, sustaining the environment is a key driver; for others, killing perceived enemies. Well, you get the picture.
There’s a report by Samaneh Ashraf and others that Iran is depleting its water supplies at an alarming rate, one that cannot be sustained without consequent water shortages and more saline soils. * That can’t be good. But then, what’s the seeming priority here?
SETTING: THE WATER PLANET
So, two aliens walk into a restoraan and ask the pishkhedmat-e zan for some aab. She says, “Sorry we’re out of aab. May I offer you another liquid?”
To which one of the aliens points across the room and says, “But zan aab mikhorad.”
The pishkhedmat-e zan then says, “She got the last glass. We’re out of aab because we had an unauthorized well, so the government made us seal it.”
The other alien then says, “Look we’ve traveled a long way. Could we have some tea?”
A bit perplexed, the pishkhedmat-e zan asks, “What do you think we make tea with? It’s tea leaves and hot aab. What planet are you living on?”
The aliens then say in unison, “Not this one. We just said we came a long way.”
The waitress says, “Well, I can offer you doogh, it’s made with yogurt.”
“We’ll both have a glass,” one of the aliens says.
“What brings you to visit us,” she says, not knowing they are not just alien citizens, but also nonhuman aliens.”
“We’re touring the local galaxies, looking for answers to questions no one seems to answer.”
Putting down two glasses of yogurt, she asks, “Such as?”
“Well, we want to know why priorities are so variable? Why people put so much effort into that which amounts either to very little gain or to very great loss. Take your water problem, for example. We’ve found that wherever we travel, water is essential for life-forms, intelligent life-forms. Like you, we’re mostly water ourselves. So, why do you not make aab a priority over all other ventures if you know that you cannot survive without it? We’ve seen the news broadcasts. We’ve seen what your society is told to feel. And we’ve seen what other nations are saying about your priorities. What’s with this ‘death to America’ stuff? Or, ‘death to Israel’? Where’s the devotion to a priority without which you can’t flourish as a people? Why isn’t water, its preservation, its use, why isn’t water THE priority? Why aren’t the people out in the streets demanding a change in priorities?”
“I’m just the pishkhedmat-e zan; I serve yogurt drinks.”
“We’re not trying to fault you for your country’s growing water problem. We just note the strange human ordering of priorities. And we note that governments can dictate priorities.”
“What do you expect?” the pishkhedmat-e zan asks. “Look, I live in a part of the world where restrictions on me are stifling. I have little voice. But then, that’s our human way. Someone gets in control of a large population, and that person’s priorities get foisted on everyone, especially, when that controlling person or group has the force of law and the force of policing behind it. Take a look at what happened around the world during the COVID pandemic. Look at the closures of everything, including schools, where the least vulnerable population was subject to restrictions, to closures. Look how powerless the people were to act to reverse the policy. Parents saw that the priority of the government was not their priority. They saw private schools open without dire ramifications, without widespread spreading. They saw that once a government sets a priority, it can’t rapidly adapt to change that priority.”
“And why is that? Why do you humans act so?”
“Pride, mostly.” And then, whispering, she says, “My government spends much of its wealth on weapons and advancing terrorism, on trying to kill, and not on trying to solve human problems like water shortages. Once we get something in our heads, once we get the force of advertising and incessant propaganda in our heads, we lose the ability to reason, and we emote. We do so even in the face of spiting ourselves, of doing that which is self-inimical.”
“So, what you’re saying… I guess we should go somewhere else if we want a drink of aab. How much for the doogh?”
Note:
*Lejtenyi, Patrick. 18 May 2021. Iran’s groundwater depletion is reaching crisis levels, warn researchers. Phys.org. Online at https://phys.org/news/2021-05-iran-groundwater-depletion-crisis.html Accessed May 19, 2021. Samaneh Ashraf et al., Anthropogenic drought dominates groundwater depletion in Iran, Scientific Reports (2021) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88522-y
There’s a report by Samaneh Ashraf and others that Iran is depleting its water supplies at an alarming rate, one that cannot be sustained without consequent water shortages and more saline soils. * That can’t be good. But then, what’s the seeming priority here?
SETTING: THE WATER PLANET
So, two aliens walk into a restoraan and ask the pishkhedmat-e zan for some aab. She says, “Sorry we’re out of aab. May I offer you another liquid?”
To which one of the aliens points across the room and says, “But zan aab mikhorad.”
The pishkhedmat-e zan then says, “She got the last glass. We’re out of aab because we had an unauthorized well, so the government made us seal it.”
The other alien then says, “Look we’ve traveled a long way. Could we have some tea?”
A bit perplexed, the pishkhedmat-e zan asks, “What do you think we make tea with? It’s tea leaves and hot aab. What planet are you living on?”
The aliens then say in unison, “Not this one. We just said we came a long way.”
The waitress says, “Well, I can offer you doogh, it’s made with yogurt.”
“We’ll both have a glass,” one of the aliens says.
“What brings you to visit us,” she says, not knowing they are not just alien citizens, but also nonhuman aliens.”
“We’re touring the local galaxies, looking for answers to questions no one seems to answer.”
Putting down two glasses of yogurt, she asks, “Such as?”
“Well, we want to know why priorities are so variable? Why people put so much effort into that which amounts either to very little gain or to very great loss. Take your water problem, for example. We’ve found that wherever we travel, water is essential for life-forms, intelligent life-forms. Like you, we’re mostly water ourselves. So, why do you not make aab a priority over all other ventures if you know that you cannot survive without it? We’ve seen the news broadcasts. We’ve seen what your society is told to feel. And we’ve seen what other nations are saying about your priorities. What’s with this ‘death to America’ stuff? Or, ‘death to Israel’? Where’s the devotion to a priority without which you can’t flourish as a people? Why isn’t water, its preservation, its use, why isn’t water THE priority? Why aren’t the people out in the streets demanding a change in priorities?”
“I’m just the pishkhedmat-e zan; I serve yogurt drinks.”
“We’re not trying to fault you for your country’s growing water problem. We just note the strange human ordering of priorities. And we note that governments can dictate priorities.”
“What do you expect?” the pishkhedmat-e zan asks. “Look, I live in a part of the world where restrictions on me are stifling. I have little voice. But then, that’s our human way. Someone gets in control of a large population, and that person’s priorities get foisted on everyone, especially, when that controlling person or group has the force of law and the force of policing behind it. Take a look at what happened around the world during the COVID pandemic. Look at the closures of everything, including schools, where the least vulnerable population was subject to restrictions, to closures. Look how powerless the people were to act to reverse the policy. Parents saw that the priority of the government was not their priority. They saw private schools open without dire ramifications, without widespread spreading. They saw that once a government sets a priority, it can’t rapidly adapt to change that priority.”
“And why is that? Why do you humans act so?”
“Pride, mostly.” And then, whispering, she says, “My government spends much of its wealth on weapons and advancing terrorism, on trying to kill, and not on trying to solve human problems like water shortages. Once we get something in our heads, once we get the force of advertising and incessant propaganda in our heads, we lose the ability to reason, and we emote. We do so even in the face of spiting ourselves, of doing that which is self-inimical.”
“So, what you’re saying… I guess we should go somewhere else if we want a drink of aab. How much for the doogh?”
Note:
*Lejtenyi, Patrick. 18 May 2021. Iran’s groundwater depletion is reaching crisis levels, warn researchers. Phys.org. Online at https://phys.org/news/2021-05-iran-groundwater-depletion-crisis.html Accessed May 19, 2021. Samaneh Ashraf et al., Anthropogenic drought dominates groundwater depletion in Iran, Scientific Reports (2021) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88522-y
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