Richard V. Rupp

December 19, 2024

I wish you Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas.

 

I'm novelist Richard V. Rupp, writing to you from Burbank, California – "Media Capital of the World."

 

Welcome to my monthly newsletter, published on the third Wednesday of each month. Except for this issue, which is a day late because of a personal problem and my second root canal within a month.

 

As I write this, I can look out on my apartment balcony, which now includes a herb garden. So far, they are all still thriving. For some reason, it's a comforting feeling to be able to look out at pots of live plants you planted yourself. I am still working out how to include herbs in my cooking.

 

Yes, 2024 is coming to an end. For most of us I think our feeling is - Thank God. It was a troubling year that presented a host of problems and conflicts. It's a year that moved humans further apart, rather than closer together.

 

On the lighter side, I can't believe my RAMS have moved into first place in the NFC West. Thank you, Green Bay, for beating the Seattle Seahawks. GO RAMS!!!

 

Some of you will agree with my comments below; some will not. Here are some of my thoughts as I look back on 2024 -

 

HUMAN REALISM

 

We are in the process of moving into a new revolutionary state that will have a significant impact on our lives. We are leaving behind the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" to a new form of revolution – What I am calling the "Augmented Human Labor Revolution."

 

The "Fourth Industrial Revolution" introduced us to artificial intelligence, genome editing, augmented reality, robotics, and 3-D printing. It was a period where employee engagement and team building were emphasized.  

 

The "Augmented Human Labor Revolution" will expand acceptance of what was developed in the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" and allow these advances in various technologies to work as team members. AI, robotics, and brain-computer interfaces will greatly enhance the teams' capabilities. It will change the concepts of management and human resources. It will change all of our lives.

 

As the "Augmented Humanity Revolution" gathers steam, it will allow humans more time for themselves than businesses, government, and unions trying to find work for them. Yes, it will change our whole economic system. It will give humans more free time to enjoy their families, artistic endeavors, and recreation.

 

The concept of fighting against the use of digital and robotic machines replacing humans in business and industrial jobs will disappear. A new society that allows humans to expand beyond work will be accepted. The acceptance of the integration of digital and robotic technologies with human biology will expand.

 

Hopefully, this expansion will be a peaceful one and bring people together. If used correctly, I believe it can improve the lives of people around the world.   

 

LABOR REALISM

 

This morning, I listened to an MSNBC interview with MARC BENIOFF, who founded SALESFORCE and owns TIME MAGAZINE. He used and promoted the term "Digital Labor." On the prior day he had this to say about the concept, "When you have digital labor, you have a level of flexibility that you did not have before. This is different, and what is happening is really different. This is what AI was meant to be."

 

In the manuscript for SKYWARD, the novel I'm working on, I emphasize that for humans to colonize space they will need to rely on human labor, digital labor and robotic labor. But it is the digital and robotic labor that will keep them safe.

 

The concept of combining these forms of labor will greatly improve the lives of humans.

 

HEALTH CARE REALISM

 

Unfortunately, it took the killing of a healthcare executive to focus a spotlight on America's healthcare problem. I recently had some health issues and still can't believe the steps I had to go through to get the medical procedures needed. I could fill a trash bin with the correspondence and forms involved in what I thought was a simple procedure. There is no question in my mind that the system is broken. Here's a subheading to an article I recently read – "Health insurers and hospitals increasingly treat patients less as humans in need of care than consumers who generate profit."

 

The current American healthcare system is broken and will be scrutinized this coming year, but I suspect any major change will take a long time.

 

SOCIAL REALISM

 

The PEW RESEARCH CENTER recently issued a report that indicates 39% of US adults believe we're living in the end of times.

 

I look at the anxiety and conflict in the world today and think of JOHN B. CALHOUN's term "Behavioral Sink," where he created a series of "rat utopias" (an enclosed space where rats were given unlimited access to food and water that enabled them unfettered population growth). The results were not favorable.

 

Our world is, in effect, much smaller today (as the human population expands) than it was just a few years ago. One of the effects noted in several articles I have recently read is that people want to be left alone. I am one of them. My lifestyle is now much more reclusive than it was just a few years ago. While I do go out and love to meet people, as they are what I write about, I enjoy sitting in front of my computer researching and writing stories more than spending time with other people.

 

In talking with young people today, it is apparent that their preferred lifestyle could be called reclusive, as they are committed to cell phones, video games, and pets. Many of my younger single neighbors here in Burbank seem more interested in their pets than in people.

 

Here are excerpts from four articles on this subject:

 

A WASHINGTON POST article indicates that many people plan on spending the holidays alone. SHANNON ROSA, a neonatal intensive care unit nurse, told them, "I'm in a career where I give a lot of myself mentally, emotionally, and physically, and I realized I need to give myself something this year." The present for herself is spending Christmas Day alone.  

 

An article titled "Solo Dining – Leave Me Alone" by DEE-ANN DURBIN and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO with the ASSOCIATED PRESS tells the story of a scientist and cancer researcher who is married and has a wide circle of friends who has elected to once or twice a week go to a restaurant by herself. The woman indicated she tries not to touch her cell phone and relishes the silence. The article indicates that according to OPENTABLE solo dining reservations in the United States have risen 29% over the last two years. In Germany, they are up 18%, and in the United Kingdom, 14%.

 

The NEW YORK TIMES DAILY report titled "Why So Many People Are Going "No Contact" with Their Parents" explains there is a growing "family estrangement" movement – where members of the same family become strangers to one another. The article indicates that "There are many reasons that individuals choose to go low or have no contact, especially with their parents. Some cite physical or sexual abuse, but others point to something more ambiguous, such as general toxicity or even differences in opinion."

 

Then there is a report out of Russia that I love. The Russian Government is considering the establishment of a MINISTRY OF SEX. In SKYWARD, the novel I'm currently working on, the space colonists are encouraged to have consensual recreational sex. This decision was made as they determined it was far less expensive to have children in space than to transport people up from Earth. My writing may be helped by the following -

 

Russia is reported to be considering the creation of a "Ministry of Sex" to boost the nation's plunging birthrate. Here are some suggested objectives of the proposed ministry –

 

The cutting off of both the internet and electricity between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. would be considered at night to reduce distractions and help couples spend more intimate time together.
The funding of first dates for young couples, with a budget of up to 5,000 rubles, to encourage romantic relationships that might lead to intimacy.
The public funding for honeymoon hotel stays for new couples, with a value of up to 26,300 rubles to encourage couples to consider starting family planning.
Stay-at-home mothers would be compensated for housework, with these earnings contributing to their pensions, acknowledging the value of their domestic contributions, and
 

Yevgeny Shestopalov, a regional health minister, suggested that Russians use work breaks as an opportunity for "procreation," urging, "You can engage in procreation during breaks because life flies by too quickly."

 

From what I hear, the "friends with benefits" concept is catching on in the United States. But I also am hearing that the feeling of our younger generations is that "protected sex" is preferred. They are not interested in bringing children into the world as it currently exists.

 

Lonely times.

 

CLIMATE REALISM

 

The science of climate change has been well-established since the 1970s, and numerous groups and organizations were established to fight those contributing to the change. But, in my mind, those groups and organizations were "shouting into the wind" (an idiom commonly used to describe an unsuccessful attempt to communicate).

 

They would need governments and industries worldwide to cooperate to accomplish their objective. That is not going to happen. Even those who say they will cooperate have too many financial and political obstacles to comply with their words.

 

The United States wants to cooperate, but it is producing and exporting more crude oil for economic reasons than ever. In August, crude oil production increased by 1.5% to hit a record 13.4 million barrels daily. The top producing states – Texas and New Mexico set new production records of 5.82 million barrels and 2.09 million barrels, respectively. It is expected that this production boom will be making an extra 600,000 barrels each day in 2025. Over the last six years, the United States has produced more crude oil than any other nation, according to the ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION.

 

Right behind the United States is Russia, the second top oil producer, which is also increasing it annual production

 

Then there is China, which produced and exported more coal last year than ever. Its annual coal production has grown every year for the past eight years. China supplies more of the world's coal than any other country and relies on its income to keep its government afloat.

 

For third-world countries to survive, feed their people, and expand, they economically need to do what the advanced countries did – use fossil fuels. And the United States, Russia, and China will continue to provide it to them.

 

* * * *

 

I'm not trying to compete with the EBENEZER SCROOGE of A CHRISTMAS CAROL with a BAH, HUMBUG feeling. But the above is my read on the times. I look forward to what you may have to say. I do wish all of you Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

 

If you are new to my posts and find this one interesting, you can read my prior posts, learn about my novels, and learn more about me on my website at www.richardvrupp.com. You can also sign up in the RUPP'S NOTES section to get my posts directly.

 

For those of you who have not read my novels, they are available on Amazon.com. Amazon.com: Richard V. Rupp: books, biography, latest update 

 

Until next month.

 

Cheers, 

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright@2024 by Richard V. Rupp