I recently called my buddy Doug (https://laskenlog.blogspot.com/), which surprised him because I don't have a phone. As Doug knows, this is because I'm a telepath, the real kind, retired from playing nightclubs and cruise ships, where I pretended to be fake. These days I inhabit a one room shack in the Mojave desert north of L.A., where I get my fill of human communication out of the air and have no need for additional verbiage via technology.
Nevertheless, I called Doug on a pay phone.
“Hey man, I need help processing some things,” I started with.
"Harry? Why aren't you telepathing me, if that's a verb?"
“I need you to help me think in human language. Normally, as you know, I find it an overly causal, rather pushy means of expression, but for once I want to control things.”
"This must be serious!"
"We're all in the same boat," I sighed, "...the same sinking boat."
I am pessimistic by self-definition, though I often strive to burnish an appearance of optimism with incomplete expressions like, "The glass is half full" (of shit).
I explained to Doug, for the umpteenth time, “I believe that human consciousness is a construct, one of whose purposes is to individualize us, so that we believe we are independent actors, ‘people,’ if you will. When I telepathically travel outside of human language, I see further possibilities. Once I experienced being a porpoise with half its brain asleep; another time I was Zephyr- the spirit of the West Wind."
"But lately," I continued (though I wasn't sure Doug was listening), "I've been alarmed by what I pick up from media and real time humans and animals who pass my way. Now I see 'us,' my term for atoms and molecules of all sorts, including our own, as increasingly unstable, fissionable material."
“In other words: Ka-Boom!” I spouted, in what I hoped was a decisive summing-up.
I told Doug that I want to function like the city of Los Angeles' phone app that alerts users to imminent earthquakes. But I want to alert people to mindquakes, which are at least as dangerous as the geologic kind. Once the distinctive shaking starts, it will gradually accelerate, either concluding in destruction, or slowing down, dissolving, and giving us another chance. We should have some say in this.
"The instability we face," I went on, "though it appears localized in time, emerged eons ago, after hundreds of millions of years of single-celled life grazing and meditating on the ocean floor. One day their unending joy offended God, who proclaimed, 'For their sins, let them eat each other.'"
When will the age of predation end? I asked Doug to contrast two hypothetical versions of this end, one, the popular concept of "The Big One," the other, that of Christian apocalyptic thinking as expressed in Revelation, the final book of the Bible.
The Big One is a modern concept of secular events, like atomic wars or massive earthquakes. The other, Revelation, is a mystic vision of a God-mediated termination of our world.
Though widely popular with early Christians, Revelation at first met resistance from Church authorities, who were perhaps wary of its explicit message. Revelation was rejected for inclusion in the canon by the Council of Laodicea in 363 AD. The Synod of Hippo, in 393 AD, was poised to reject it again but had second thoughts when it realized that Christians were going to read Revelation whether it was canonical or not. After all, it provided human life with a purpose: To die.
The Big One does not entail an afterlife, and Revelation is vague on evidence for one. As I argued to Doug, I think we’d be better off, instead of figuring out how to end it all, seeking decent ways to survive it.
Doug said he agrees about survival, but hopes it doesn’t entail too many Revealed Big Ones. We were in agreement on that.
The post after this discusses a new money-maker, Duanju, the Chinese term for the micro-dramas they created that are sweeping cell phones and reaping big financial rewards. I submitted two draft episodes, but have not heard back. Now I read in the Los Angeles Times (4/31/26) that the vertical/micro/cell phone genre has arrived in the U.S. and is raking in big bucks on Tik/Tok and other sites. What am I waiting for? While China procrastinates, America, here I come!
Suggested first episodes for two US produced vertical dramas:
Trump the Great
Episode 1
Open in Oval Office. President leans back in his chair, smirking as he reads a newspaper. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth paces anxiously behind the president, trying to attract his attention.
Hegseth: Sir, your ratings are sinking to new lows, even beneath last week’s 38%! Don’t we need to do something?
President (continuing to smirk, still looking at his paper): Like what? Pete, you’re ruining my morning.
Hegseth: With all due respect sir, how long can a president go on like this, in terms of screwing our allies…in terms of screwing yours and… well, my future careers?
President: Pete, you worry wart! You know, don’t you, that catastrophic turmoil is about to engulf the US and most of the world?
Hegseth: Well, I….
President: Yeah Pete, you know. And don’t you realize that when people are rushing around trying to survive, they won’t have time to protest their president? They’ll be too busy looking for food, shelter and so on.
Hegseth (smiling broadly): Sir, once again you prove the greatness of your vision!
President (broadening his smile and leaning back more): Good boy, Pete!
Estimated time of episode: 5 minutes.
Ricky, Boy Wonder
Episode 1
Open on Ricky, a 15 year old prodigy, known by teachers and friends (but not by his mother, Doris) for uncanny powers of prophesy. Ricky is lying on the bed in his room, writing in his notebook, when his mother bursts in.
Doris (putting hands on hips): Ricky, at it again? I’ve been asking you for two days to rake the back yard leaves!
Ricky: Mom, I’ll do it, but I’m on to something really critical, about….
Doris: I’ll give you something critical, young man, if you don’t rake those leaves!
Ricky: Please mom, at least let me tell you what I’m working on, then I promise I’ll rake the leaves.
Doris: You’ll rake them right after you spout your latest?
Ricky: Yes mom, right after you listen to me.
Doris: All right, Mr. Know-it-all, let’s hear it.
Ricky: Ok mom, I’ve been considering how the internet and cell phones are making it less and less necessary for people to be in each other’s presence in order to have relations.
Doris: Hey, why didn’t I think of that? Are you done? The leaves, you promised, remember?
Ricky: No mom, I’m not done. Also consider how every time you write something on your laptop, a message comes up asking if you’d like to improve your writing by letting an AI do it.
Doris: Ok, I’ve considered it. The leaves are waiting, buster.
Ricky: Mom, don’t you see what this means? It’s not just human jobs that will be phased out- it’s humans!
Doris: Don’t get smart with me buster! Get off that bed and do what you promised!
Ricky: Mom, we are developing ourselves out of physical existence! Future humans won’t need proximity, all they’ll need is to be plugged into each other.
Doris: Your big words don’t work on me, smart ass! Get off that bed and rake the leaves!
Ricky: Aw, mom.
Estimated time of episode: 5 minutes.
For years I worked on a fictional series on this blog, Harry the Human, about two telepathic, alienated souls: Harry the Human and Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster. Sadly, the series did not generate the financial return I had sought in order to end my bondage to the Los Angeles Unified School District.
But there is hope! A new market for mini-dramas, or "duanju" as they are called by their Chinese creators, is making billions on soap opera- like episodes, only a few minutes in length, that combine themes of greed and eroticism. These mini-dramas appear on millions of cell phones every day.
Ka-ching!
Below, I hopefully submit to duanju producers two beginning episodes for a newly sculpted Harry and Robert. Thank you for your consideration!
Episode #1 of The Controlling Father
Harry the Human goes out into the desert once in a while, when the urge overcomes his distracted soul, to masturbate into the wind. On one occasion, Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster, from behind a rock, observes Harry in this shameful act and is consumed with grief at his friend’s desperation and depravity. That night, Harry receives a knock on his door, opens it and finds Robert carried in the arms of a beautiful woman named Trish, the daughter of a billionaire tech mogul. It turns out that Robert, combining his mystic background with esoteric traits found in gila monsters, is able to convince humans to try novel experiences, and he has used his abilities to induce Trish, who is intrigued by the idea of escaping her controlling father, to travel to Harry’s shack, where she finds Harry to be, indeed, a far cry from anyone’s controlling father. Harry is at first taken aback, but then succumbs to his not so cosmic cravings. You can guess the rest.
Estimated time of episode: Two minutes.
Episode #1 of Lizard Love
Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster travels to Bhutan where, atop a Himalayan peak near the famed Tiger’s Nest Monastery, he meets Sylvie, a hot tokay gecko (a distant relative of Robert's brand, the Mojave gila). A mutual attraction develops immediately, but differences between the two species present a problem. Sylvie explains that female tokays find a partner through a mating call, but, when she demonstrates the call, Robert develops an intense headache, and also finds that he is unable to reproduce the call (represented in English as Ke-ke-ack-a-grrrrp). Robert explains to Sylvie that the come-hither message of the Mojave gila is not conveyed by sound, but by a smell emanating from a naturally produced chemical called a pheromone. The scent stimulates a strong sexual response - at least in the right species. After Robert squirts a sample, Sylvie becomes nauseated and can barely keep from vomiting. The two reptiles experience a few moments of despair, but Robert suddenly receives a message from his cosmic birthplace and proclaims, “Sylvie, we don’t need these random accoutrements. Let’s just gaze into each other’s eyes and let nature take its course!” Sylvie sees the logic in Robert’s idea. The gazing begins and you can guess the rest.
Estimated time of episode: Two minutes.
Thank you for considering these proposed series for Harry the Human and Robert the Telepathic Gila Monster mini-dramas! I look forward to a profitable and fulfilling collaboration!
All the best, D.L.
Thanks to a technique I learned from Betty the Coyote Goddess (keep reading for more on Betty), I've been able to telepathically link to far away people. Most notably, I had this exchange with President Trump earlier today. I post it here without comment. Harry the Human
Me: Mr. President, some of the things you do don't make sense.
Trump: Such as?
Me: Well, I don’t understand why you ridiculed Rob Reiner and his wife after they were murdered. It upset people. Even many of your supporters didn’t like it. Since we’re in this special, protected space, can you explain why you would do something like that?
Trump: Sure, Harry. I don't really have to please anyone any more- that's the beauty of being on top like I am. All of MAGA could turn against me, I wouldn't care. I'll be starting some big major wars, and my opponents will be too busy surviving to bother me about anything. As for Reiner, he criticized me. I hate when that happens. Don't you hate when people criticize you?
Me: Sometimes, but I don’t rejoice at their deaths, at least not publicly. Don’t you worry that people will rejoice at your death?
Trump: No. Quite frankly, I don't give a shit. How about you, do you care what people will think of you when you're dead?
Me: Uhm, kind of.
I first met Gregory, the twenty-four year old leader of the revolutionary group Mantis- known more popularly as Gregory's Army of the Young- and the author of the widely read essay,
Introduction to Revolution (posted below), in the Bakersfield Woolworths, a week before the coronavirus stay-at-home order hit California. We sat at an old-fashioned soda counter and talked for a long time.
Gregory is a visionary with many devoted
followers. He brings word of an approaching non-human future guided by Artificial Intelligence and biotech, disguised as helpers so they won't appear to be engineering our replacement.
Gregory's followers have been growing their numbers
through subtle Internet use and word-of-mouth. I wish there had been a Mantis when I came of age in the 1960’s, but that was an era of post-war stalemate. All we could do was compose interesting art and
music. There was no revolution to be had. That stalemate
is over. Mantis is the group to join if you want your descendants to have a human life.
I urged Gregory to let me publish his story. He tends to be secretive, but he gave me permission to repost Introduction to Revolution, along with the future nomination acceptance speeches of Gregory’s proteges (and former allies) Anthony Roberts of the Scientific Humanist party, and Rebecca Silversmith of the Cosmic Merger Party, for the presidential election of 2044. With help from the Time Artists (continue reading more on them) this is the only time I, along with a companion (Gregory observed his future self as well) have been able to use my telepathic abilities to see the future. The Time Artists were reluctant, but Gregory and I felt that events in the “real” world had reached a point where something new was needed.
All the best, Harry the Human
Introduction to revolution
By Gregory
Greetings fellow humans! My name
is Gregory and I am the leader of Mantis, a revolutionary movement on the West Coast whose aim is to ensure that the coming pre-emption of human evolution by AI and biotech companies will not exclude the co-evolution of
human groups who wish to determine their own culture.
Why might some people want to determine their own culture? Simply, some people may not want their progeny to end up as machine parts in a factory, or as medicated zombies waiting to blink out of a new world.
Some people might want to create a
world for themselves, not for a corporation.
My friend and colleague before the war, nom de guerre, "Harry
the Human,” fancied himself a revolutionary in the 1960's, but he tells me that no revolution was happening then, at least at a basic level, so there wasn't much for a revolutionary to do. Now, he and I agree, revolution is well underway.
What do we mean by "revolution"? First, here's what we do not mean: We do not mean a violent overthrow of governments or corporations. We do mean a consistent refusal to submit to government/corporate plans if they stand in the way of our new, human lives.
When test-tube babies grow into optimal factory workers, we want nothing to do with it. When governments clone AI-guided soldiers for wars of corporate conquest and domestic
manipulation, we want nothing to do with it. When education becomes a tech manual, we want nothing to do with it.
We want what many people have wanted: A
rational life that fits into the planet that engendered us. We are
not opposed to AI or genetic engineering, or the rest of science with its powerful gifts for our
kind, but we want a say in our re-creation. For instance, we want beauty in our society. Our species has beauty receptors, but we destroy all beauty as
if it threatens us. When the industrial world is ugly as perceived by traditional human receptors, people are guided to de-evolve their beauty receptors and replace them with AI-managed receptors designed for new, pale definitions of beauty, or they are supplied with "antidepressants" to dull the pain of an ugly world. We will do no such things! We will develop our beauty receptors, our poetry
receptors, our thinking receptors, our love receptors!
We in Mantis believe that the re-configuring of all or most nation-states will occur a few years after the wars now unfolding have reached their climax, the
purpose of those wars being to distract populations from the inability of nation-states to integrate the new technologies into human culture with any semblance of "democracy." That
inability will be too evident to hide in the aftermath of the wars now being started for us.
Mantis will resist subjugation by securing its own territory, politically and legally. We will interact and have
peaceful relations with corporations and governments, but we will not be subject to them. We will be subject to our own laws.
Where will our territory be? Since Mantis is spread up and down the U.S. West Coast, it will likely be in some part of the current western U.S. It is too early to know the location, because the re-configuration of the U.S., along with the redrawing of the borders of all the world's nation-states, will be a post-war process. When it arrives for the U.S., Mantis will be strong and ready to negotiate our new place.
Through the following speeches from the 2044 US presidential election you will meet my young proteges, Anthony Roberts and Rebecca Silversmith, who will run against each other in that election. Much can be learned from reading these speeches (because of complications arising from meddling in the future, I cannot endorse or comment on either Anthony or Rebecca's future platforms).
The Media/Government/Military Complex does not want people to be aware of their evolution.
But we of Mantis are aware.
With hope, Gregory
Candidate speeches from the 2044 U.S. presidential election
Statement from Anthony Roberts, candidate for the Scientific Humanist Party
Greetings Americans and all people of Earth! We approach this election at a critical time, as the forces guiding our species converge to offer us a moment of decision. By using the term "decision" I have already distinguished our party from the opposition, Cosmic Merger, which sees the next step in human evolution continuing the passive, uncaring process we have known since we began what we thought was the domination of this planet. In truth, we have never dominated anything; we were thrust into the appearance of dominance by who-knows-what forces, making a virtue of necessity with the old scriptural command for "dominion." As the catastrophe of the Third World War made clear, we have had no more dominion over our planet and our lives than fruit flies. The science of consciousness has shown that we haven't even possessed our own selves, as we find that the fictional self in our heads that details the "decisions" we make and our moment-to-moment being occur a full quarter-second after the fact. We have been automatons, slaves if you will, to forces that our "science" could not, indeed did not want to see.
That has changed with that very science of consciousness, as foreseen in the pre-war "movie," The Matrix, recently restored and understood as prophetic. This work suggests that when we realize we are shadows on Plato's wall, a brave achievement in itself, we change. This change has occurred to our entire species, and we face a clear decision, yes, a decision! Do we want to participate in our own reconstruction, or do we not?
Scientific Humanism started, as our opposition Cosmic Merger did, from the teachings of our beloved Gregory, teachings which he developed as World War III was developing. Gregory helped us understand and deal with a disaster taken by many as the final repudiation of the pride our species once had in itself, in its rationality and resourcefulness, happening ironically just as we seemed to acquire, at least technologically, the long-sought dominion of the earth. The war was- as Gregory warned- a product of covert technocrats who corralled eight billion confused and frightened people into believing that whichever "nation-state" they belonged to (non-belonging being a dangerous rarity), or whatever cultural or ethnic tribe, other nation-states, tribes and factions were moving against theirs, so that the ancient valorizing of combat was revived and people were manipulated into global war. While each side believed other sides had started the fighting, in fact the technocrats of the species had worked together to start it.
Every schoolchild knows that World War III, using AI-assisted nuclear, biological, geological and meteorological weapons killed two-thirds of the human population, a slaughter we now recognize as the intent of the war from the beginning, killing roughly the segment of the population that was about to be rendered unemployed by AI. The instigators eventually turned on each other, revealing themselves in the process, and a great purging ensued. Many of their oligarchical ideas were exposed by documents uncovered in the year leading up to the Treaty of Los Angeles in 2027. The universal acceptance of the Treaty led to a resurgence of old-style domestic politics, most of which, my opponent and I agree, was noise. The most prominent of the nascent political parties, led by Gregory, was Purposeful Beginning, which had a compelling vision of humanity's preferred course: that we should take control of the newly powerful biological and AI technologies to remake our species from another blueprint than that envisioned by the instigators of the war- a blueprint that would represent what the species as a whole desired for itself. The World War had effectively sated the part of the human psyche that craved fire and death, so this would be a rare opportunity for a species to set its own agenda. Young people flocked to our message and we became the dominant party.
There was loose unity for several years, until two opposing factions emerged with differing visions of the coming prototype for human biology and culture, and Gregory has judiciously stepped aside to let the process unfold. Those who drifted from PB's founding principles of self-determination, later becoming, as noted, Cosmic Merger, were comfortable with the traditional hierarchical society of the industrial world- the management/worker dichotomy- and justified it with a veneer of mystical babble to cover the lack of actual change in human nature. CM envisioned compliant workers and consumers living modest and intellectually restricted lives in service of a small class of highly comfortable "managers," these being, of course, the party elite. The problem discerned by the founders of Scientific Humanism was that, without fundamental change in our psyches, the managerial class would be as much in the thrall of the workers as the workers were of them. The basic thralldom of our species would be unchanged. We would still, without further understanding and modification of our "specs," be laboring to fulfill imperatives not written or understood by us.
Take sexual pleasure for example. We have learned that sexual reproduction is a response to the rapid evolution of parasites, who are so aggressive against multicellular creatures like humans that we must continually reshuffle our genes merely to survive. Our science, however, is reaching a point where the parasites can be confronted, perhaps co-opted by us, so that rather than wiping them out- which would probably wipe out many ecosystems we depend on- we might incorporate them into our biology. This is the way to true dominion of our earthly environment, not the mindless kill-offs we pursued in the past.
And what of sex, then? In another prophetic pre-war work, Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, the workers had no need of sex, being mass-produced in petri dishes, yet the managerial class enjoyed culturally approved promiscuity. Along with the recently recognized impracticality of cloned humans- in terms of matching parasite evolution- it is now clear that the sexual pleasure of the managers depicted in the book had no biological function, since the managers too were lab-born. What we need now is a conscious decision about what sex is and what it could be in the post-parasite world. Do we need two genders? Should there be relentless recharging of desire, expelled periodically in orgasmic release, or should we experience a sort of steady-state orgasm? At last, we can decide!
In addition to an incomplete understanding of sex, Brave New World did not fully explore the age of automation, which is reaching its climax now through AI. We will soon have no need of a worker class. There will literally be no work. Some will try to take refuge in the managerial class, but what will they manage? At that moment we will have an existential crisis like none before. Will we become so bored by our purposeless state that we start fearing/loving our robots and have a war with them just for something to do? An alternative would be to grow up, become rational and self-aware, and be on this planet for the first time. The Scientific Humanist Party chooses the latter.
I humbly accept my party’s nomination as its presidential candidate. A vote for me on November 2 will be a vote for decision. A vote for Cosmic Merger will be a vote for the passivity that time and again has nearly destroyed our species.
The choice is yours!
In Solidarity, Anthony
Statement from Rebecca Silversmith, candidate for the Cosmic Merger Party
Greetings, fellow humans! This election offers the starkest choice that our species has faced in many years. Do we choose the arrogant and selfish path that has dimly lit the way throughout our desperate and tragic history, as my opponent from the Scientific Humanist Party has? Or do we at last follow Gregory's true path and combine with the forces that brought us into being in the first place?
The recent war offers all the proof we need that the old ways of humanity did not serve us well. We dub it World War III, as if only three big wars characterize the species, when in fact we should call it Human War Three-Hundred Thousand, suggesting the non-stop wars we've engaged in throughout our recorded history. The Scientific Humanists point out, correctly, that World War III was a manipulated effort by mostly hidden technocrats to scrap an infrastructure of obsolete technology and discontented humans, replacing it with obedient AI driven humanoids. They suggest that the passivity of humans made the war possible. The Cosmic Merger Party understands, however, that the arrogance of the technocrats who promoted World War III is exactly what the Scientific Humanists now extol. Those technocrats embodied the very traits that my opponent would like to see enshrined in the species, glorified in a credo of "rational decision making." How many times has humankind paid obeisance to decisiveness as a trait divorced from what it decides? How has that worked? Look no further than Nazi Germany, whose leader's favorite philosophical concept was "will.”
Take sex for example. My opponent is correct that a potential modus vivendi between humans and parasites may open up sexual reproduction and its cultural artifacts to reinterpretation. But he insists that we are in a position to decide in detail how that should be expressed. Do we actually know enough to be in the position of decision we're in, regarding sexuality or the many other evolving aspects of human culture and physiology? What the Cosmic Merger Party understands is that our current position of apparent "dominion" remains a result of forces we cannot see. Why are we in this apparent dominant position? We don't know why, any more than we've known why we've been in any position throughout human history.
Should we depend on AI to figure out our coming role, before we've done it ourselves? Where is the wisdom that people used to speak of? The term "wisdom" is not used by my opponent, because he knows that his understanding does not go beyond the mechanistic understanding of past industrial eras. Wisdom is the term for knowledge that cannot be known. My opponent would scoff at such a formulation, but if he meditated, if he opened his mind to the non-human universe, he might have a better idea what we should do.
And what of science? Does the Cosmic Merger Party oppose science and its gifts? Not at all. What we call for is a new type of science, so that, for instance, instead of finding out what atoms are made of by smashing them into each other, or determining how animals operate by torturing them to death, we find new tools to "see" into things. There is evidence that the ancient cultures of our species did indeed see into things, and speak with things. We've been taught to ridicule and dismiss such notions, in favor of my opponent's credo of "deciding," of keeping the human in charge. And look what that got us: Human War Three-Hundred Thousand.
The next leader of our nation will represent one of two competing philosophies. Will you elect my opponent and plunge us into a high-tech dark age? Or will you elect me and usher in the age when our species meets its true parents, the earth and the sky, the inner and the outer, and we merge as one?
This is what I seek, as I proudly accept the Cosmic Union Party's nomination as the standard bearer for Gregory's vision.
Listen to your brain, follow your heart, and on November 2nd vote for me!
Thank you, Rebecca
[For more on Gregory and his movement, continue reading Harry the Human.]
I want to see the final vision
between reductio ad absurdum
And primal sleep.
I think that’s where you keep it.
Does it last just that moment
When the eye expands
beyond light
to see its own context?
I want to see it now!
So I won’t need death
to be alive.
Jacob Wrestling God; Jacob Epstein; Tate Gallery, London
This is Doug, not Harry. I usually post on my blog (Lasken's Log at https://laskenlog.blogspot.com/) but technical problems forced me to post on Harry's for a while. Keep reading and you'll come again to Harry's realm.
Don't be afraid to feel like a character in a science fiction story, because that's what you are. In this story, a New York shyster takes the presidency, undermines all of the country: rural areas, national parks, cities - in my case Los Angeles, attacking schools, social structures, economies and self-esteem - and works as well to undermine the rest of the world. If you're a science fiction fan, you know what's next : Wars of the World, disguised as expressions of history and destiny that are in fact cover stories obstructing the real unfolding history: our transition from homo sapiens to AI powered, genetically engineered quasi-humans.
You can call this scenario a science fiction story, or, if you're brave, a conspiracy theory. We’ve been trained to attach a negative connotation to “conspiracy theory,” but you can tout this one, because it's true. Trump, at the moment, is the outward force of the conspiracy, paving the way for acolytes to make fortunes beyond Midas' dreams, and downfall for the rest.
We need a new political entity to modify this conspiracy's vision, but such an entity does not seem forthcoming from the familiar poltitical parties, the Democrats and Republicans. The decent Congresspeople - the ones who are not just pretending to push back against Trump - have slim chances without much more support from their colleagues, and three more years is more than enough for Trump to wreck the planet.
What is required is a force that can move quickly and effectively. Such a force would need support, and for support it would need to espouse purposes that no one else is espousing. Here’s a suggested purpose statement: "We seek to ensure that the current biomechanical revolution produces more than mere replacement of the traditional human species with a new one. To this end we will work to establish cultures in which the current human model, though accepting supportive improvement, maintains its independence and remembers its origins."
Such a purpose statement could attract funding as more people realize what is happening. So far that's not where the money has been. The money has been on sucking up whatever sustenance is left in the earth in order to establish a few fabulously wealthy autocracies that rule the lives of bio-bots.
If we don't work towards modification of that plan, we face multiple levels of extinction.
