Thursday Revisited Classic: Why Solving Small Pox is a Problem for society

I recently saw a sharp little video that argued that our ability as a species to eliminate small pox is reason for us to be optimistic about our future.

The speaker shows us how much damage global warming will do to Bangladesh alone. He gives us a view of how devastating our actions will be to the earth and ultimately to ourselves.

He also shows us a host of communicable diseases that we have almost eliminated- such as Guinea Worm.

Now he is very right. Dedicated individuals eliminated small pox, and other dedicated individuals have nearly eliminated other communicable diseases such as guinea worm.

The question is not 'does this mean then that we are able to achieve this kind of effect upon problems such as global warming?'. The question is 'why did we put such effort towards this problem, and why have we failed to put that same effort towards problems such as overpopulation or global warming?'

I believe that the problem has to do with cultural mythology.

We seem to believe that the world was made for man, and man was made to conquer and rule the world. Because of this we will put a lot of effort into destroying enemies and competitors- like wolves, and Indians, diseases that hurt human beings (sorry, diseases that hurt domestic humans) and anything thing else that stands as opposition to our rule.

On other hand, global warming is just a side effect of ruling the world. Over population is our cultural destiny. We can talk about fighting these things, but to actually do something significant about them would require us to change our cultural mythology.

A Short and Simple Overview of Our Free Game Workshop!

A Collapse! Game Workshop?

What is that?

Genus Rex Enterprises Inc. runs free Game Workshops using Collapse!, our educational board game. The board game teaches players the need for sustainable skills such as gardening, and awareness of how environmental damage anywhere in the world can impact them at home.

We run a 2 hour free event for you club, school, event or organization- that will help engage and excite your members, while allowing them to explore concepts and teach themselves.

How Will This Help You?

Finding the Why
The Game Workshop teaches motivation, which is difficult to teach under regular circumstances- such as a lecture or readings. Through experiencing the game workshop, players will teach themselves of the need for community involvement and the need to acquire leadership and self-sufficiency skills.

Supported Information
The events depicted on the Event Cards in the game are based either on actual events that have occurred already or based upon scientific theories and conjectures currently being discussed in political and scientific communities. Each Event Card will give an example to help connect the game to real life and make players curious about these subjects.

Self Running
Genus Rex Enterprises Inc. sends its own team in to set up and run the Game Workshop entirely. The event takes 2 hours, and can be allowed to run to 3 or even 4 hours for longer requested events. And during this time, you do not need to coordinate anything! you may even play the game along side everyone else.

Who would be Interested?

A Collapse! Game Workshop is ideal for anyone seeking to raise interest in  Sustainability, Community Involvement,  Self-Sufficiency Skills,  Environmental Concerns,   
and Teamwork skills.

A Collapse! Game Workshop is ideal for Classrooms (grades 5 and up), Scout and Guide Groups and related Youth Groups, Environmental Groups, and any group interested Sustainability and encouraging Youth Leadership.

The Game itself

The game takes roughly 2 hours to set up, explain, play, and answer questions about following play. Scoring is designed so that players compete against the game rather than each other. All elements of game play are designed so that players teach themselves and each other, rather than being taught, in order to improve the impact of the game. Players must obtain their personal needs of food, shelter and safety, while also protecting the community well-being and infrastructure. Players receive both a group score and a personal score, allowing players to choose between community centered altruism or personal gain- and teaching the consequences of both. Up to 30 players can be mentored through five separate games, playing against the other players and the other boards in the room- learning social responsibility as they do.

Players will learn about: International environmental challenges and how they can affect local conditions The networks that make modern industrial life possible and how they can be affected by an emergency The importance of community involvement in maintaining communal stability The need for practical leadership and self-reliance skills

For workshops outside the British Columbia Lower Mainland- you will be charged for our travel expenses. All workshops done within the Lower Mainland are performed free of charge.

How We Make This Easy For You

We arrive at least thirty minutes prior (and up to one hour prior if needed) to the start time to set up and and deal with any surprises.

We do all necessary clean up relating to the workshop itself, although there shouldn’t be much.

We are easy to get a hold of through Senior Event Coordinator Ryan Cove- via his cell number (778-998-1377).

We run the event free of charge. We do not charge for the workshop, but make our income through advertising and sponsorship through social conscious organizations.

The workshop itself is not active and does not have safety concerns. Players sit in groups of 5 to 8 and play a board game and discuss what they are doing, as facilitators walk around and clarify rules and help keep the games moving along.

The workshop is also amenable to pauses and breaks as needed by the venue and any larger events to which the workshop may by subordinate.

Schedule Your Free Game Workshop Today- And Teach people about Tomorrow!

We are now scheduling November and December workshops for our learning game "Collapse!". Please call us at 778-998-1377 or email us at ryan.leach@genusrex.com for more information. We also still have a few available dates in October if you are interested.

Further information can be found here.

Contact Us

Phone: 778-998-1377
Email: ryan.leach@genusrex.com

Volunteers and Sponsorship

Genus Rex Enterprises Inc. is a social business and is not trying to maximize profit. That is not our goal. We need to make money so that we can continue to do what we do, and expand the services and resources that we offer. But we are not out to maximize profits. As a result, we give a lot of stuff away and do a lot of stuff for free. The reasoning behind this is simple- our number one goal is to get the message out. Money is simply the medium of exchange that society has agreed to use. So we use it, but we aren't very attached to it.

Volunteers

Right now, we are all volunteers. Nobody is being paid for what they do. We hope to reach a point where we can provide room and board for everyone and possibly pay people in the next year. This means we are all on the same level. Some of us have more of the picture than others, this site is a resource to put us all on the same level of information, so that we can all contribute on the same level.

We are working to create a massive social change that will improve competency in people under 30 across Canada. We want to save the world by making adults out of consumers, and leaders out of 'the masses'. This sounds huge and maybe a little intimidating, but it will happen one small step at a time. These small steps will not normally be difficult, but they will normally look difficult. We have to realize that things maybe scary, but they are not normally difficult once you grab them by the horns.

Sponsorship

As said previously, we do a lot thing for free and give away a lot of stuff. This is because we are trying to reach as many people as possible. We are looking to partner with other social businesses who would like to get word about their mission, product or service to people who would be interested in it, instead just throwing advertising at vast demographics and hoping to find people who want to change the world.

We'll go looking for them for you, and when we find them, your information will be among the resource pack that we give them.

We do we do this? Shakespeare's St. Crispin Spech from "Henry V"

This speech that follows is from "Henry V" by William Shakespeare, and I felt that it was important to post it. 

If we are mark'd to die, we are enow     
To do our country loss; and if to live,     
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.    
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.     
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,     
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;     
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;     
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.     
But if it be a sin to covet honour,     
I am the most offending soul alive.     
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.     
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour     
As one man more methinks would share from me     
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!     
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,     
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,     
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,     
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;     
We would not die in that man's company     
That fears his fellowship to die with us.     
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.     
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,     
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,     
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.     
He that shall live this day, and see old age,     
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,    
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'     
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,    
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'     
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,     
But he'll remember, with advantages,     
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,     
Familiar in his mouth as household words-     
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,    
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-     
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.     
This story shall the good man teach his son;    
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,     
From this day to the ending of the world,     
But we in it shall be remembered-     
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;     
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me     
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,     
This day shall gentle his condition;     
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed     
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,    
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks     
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

'Collapse!' A Game of Social Responsibility

In a free society, we are dependent upon the involvement of everyone to keep society running. The board game ‘Collapse!’ teaches, through play, about the interrelated systems that depend upon citizen involvement to keep working for all of our benefit. It’s a delicate web of systems that deliver food, run the buses, keep the peace, and respond to emergencies.

World Politics, economic upheaval, environmental concerns, and natural disasters (here and abroad) can disrupt the normal functioning of a city or community, and even cause its collapse if there is not sufficient infrastructure and community involvement (as in New Orleans during Katrina, Pakistan's recent flooding, or Haiti's Earthquake).

'Collapse!' helps players draw a connection between the world stage, the municipal stage and their own actions. It is available free as an electronic download for any use that is non-commercial in nature. And if you are located in the Vancouver area, contact us now to schedule a free demonstration session with mentors, enough boards for 30 to 40 players and a personal instructor.