Let’s imagine that Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is a stepping stone in the evolution of humanity as we now know it, on Planet Earth. As we all know, there is life elsewhere in the universe.1 In my mind, this life is more than human. Humanity is so small. Yet, we think we are so big. We humans, an animal species, readily kill other animals and humans for too many reasons to go into here. This is an important fact to remember for the sake of the big picture.
Now, that said… Those of us with T1D are a minority on this planet, this Lovely Blue Marble that we all inhabit. But we must remember that we, like the life elsewhere in the cosmos, are more than human. We don’t have to be so small. We can, must, and will be our own heroes.
Yes, we will be the heroes of the science experiments that our friends, the space aliens2, are performing on us.
What science experiments, you may ask? Let’s just imagine that our alien friends are out there, and here on Earth too, doing these experiments to answer the following question: How does humanity on this lovely blue marble evolve and treat its fellow citizens who, for whatever reason, end up living with T1D?
Hmmm, it’s an interesting question! Don’t you think so? But I know… You may be asking, “Why are aliens performing experiments on us in the first place?”
You see, our alien friends all live with T1D. Oh, come on! You’re pulling my leg, right? No, I’m not kidding. It’s absolutely true. :^)
But again… Why?? Well, it’s really pretty simple in the grand scheme of things!
The objective of their experiments is to see whether or not we, the Humans of Earth, are worthy of their efforts to communicate with us. If we are, meaning we are helpful, they will reward us. If we are not, meaning we are harmful or greedy, they will obliterate us (or more accurately, we will obliterate ourselves).
So, who are these aliens anyway?
Well, they (the Asgard) are like us in some ways and unlike us in others… But in spirit, we’re more alike than different.. They speak the Asgard language, inhabit many different planets in the cosmos, and also speak many locally unique languages derived from the Spanish (Español) language of Earth. This allows them to communicate with us more easily, of course.
And so, what is this you were saying about they all live with T1D? Yes, it’s really fascinating. Suppose you transport our little T1D Earth experiment into the future by 10,000 or 100,000 years, and you see that so many of us have evolved for the better to be T1D-Humanoids.
You may be wondering how on Earth, or how in space, did these aliens all evolve to live with T1D. I was having a conversation with one of them, and it3 told me of their history. I’ll give you a brief summary of their T1D story below…
Well, it turns out that one of them, named Loki4, is like the trickster god of the same name. It is a scientist who is in charge of maintaining & researching their health & reproductive problems. Our alien friends are clones without gender, you see.
Well, Loki made a mistake one day. The clone prototype body it created was missing something important. Oh? What was missing? Of all things, it was missing a functional pancreas!
So, the prototype went into production with this flaw. Loki didn’t bother to test it first, you see. Consequently, you probably have an idea what might have happened. And slowly but surely, as the mind and spirit of each alien was transferred into one of these bodies, each of them discovered that it now had T1D, whereas it hadn’t had it before.
Most of the aliens were fine with this, as it simply meant they had to learn something new. Of course, that’s easy for them because they have super dooper powerful brains that have absolutely no limits. But as we humans with T1D know, D doesn’t always play fair or behave by the rules. So, as time progressed, some of the aliens realized these problems and decided to revolt. They blamed Loki and wanted to punish it for its careless mistake.
Needless to say, these were to be difficult times for space alien society as a whole…
Hehe ;^)
Why practicing peace is helpful…
Well… My reasoning on peace is simple! It boils down to making it possible for more people to be more happy. I figure it’s all about treating others as you wish to be treated. Remember though, none of us is perfect!
So then, how exactly do we do this and practice peace? I don’t claim to know the answer to this question. Besides, there is surely more than one answer. Like most things in life, it really depends on the individual and the fact that different things work for different people. But I’ll share my thoughts with you, if I may…
For me, it comes down to being as observant as possible. This includes opening my ears (listening), eyes (seeing), heart (loving), and mind (appreciating). It helps me in more ways than I can really say without going off on a ramble here. But for example, listening is the starting point. It helps when communicating with others and helps in creating important learning opportunities.
But wait! Learning opportunities are always important, you say? Indeed, it’s true… That said, what’s particularly compelling here is that besides being important in their own right, they are (or can be) shared in so many powerfully important ways. For example, they might be shared between our alien friends and ourselves (see Lessons1 below).
Why waging war is harmful…
Point blank! War is never a good thing… :^(
The simplest reason is because it’s a surefire way to get ourselves obliterated by our alien friends. I mean, to obliterate ourselves. It all boils down to greed and whether we aim to harm one another or to help one another, meaning our fellow humans and aliens.
Now… There is some grey area here, and grey areas can be open to interpretation.. They can also scare the weak and encourage them to kill the things that scare them without thinking.
So, saying something like: Let’s get out our guns and go kill these aliens before they kill us. Wrong, that won’t help at all. Besides, guns can’t kill the Asgard. Nothing can, in fact. So, it ends up being a case of black or white here.
Why greed is harmful…
Because it helps less people than it harms, assuming that people are paying money to a company or organization for some T1D treatment that should be equally available to all.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that greed solely helps to line the pockets of those who already have too much (money for example).
In my mind, there are solutions to this problem. Here’s a simple one, off the cuff. We need a new worldwide (or universal) diabetes currency. You could think of it as money in a way, but the thing is…
In one way or another, we have shelled out a lot of money for various T1D treatments over the years. Now, I figure that each of us should be repaid according to the number of hours we’ve been living with it. Let’s say something like: Your repayment in USD (United States Dollars) is equal to your number of hours living with T1D * your inconvenience factor from 1 to 10, inclusive.
So then… In my case of living with T1D for 32 years or 8,760 hours (rounding down to the nearest year’s worth of hours and using 365 days / year & 24 hours / day for the sake of simplicity), we would calculate this as follows:
For a minimum of$280,320 USD == 8,760 * 1 or a maximum of$2,803,200 USD == 8,760 * 10… Whew, that’s not nothin’ either way! ;^)
It sounds perfectly reasonable to me! After all… The big insulin-producing companies out there (e.g., Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and others?) are indebted to each and every one of us who lives with T1D, or they should feel that they are in our debt!! And I know… You may be wondering, “What is this inconvenience factor?” Simple.. Answer the question, “How much inconvenience has T1D caused in your life?”, and give it a number from 1 to 10. For fun, we might call it your T1D Pain-In-The-Ass Factor (T1D PITA Factor) instead. But call it whatever you wish.
Oh, and for the record, I’m using USD here simply because it’s what I grew up with and know best. But hey, why don’t we call them something else? Like ummm… Ah, I know! Bleed my T1D-Wallet for all it’s worth Jahoongie Yub Nubs (JYNs).. Hahaha! :^D
In my estimation, something like this would at least balance the books here on Earth. For the record, the rule in space alien society as a whole is one of equal access for all… And that, my friends, is exactly how it should be!
There is absolutely no place for greed in the T1D game. It’s a stupid business decision, for one, and pushes potential customers away from treatments that are possibly advantageous. Besides that, greed is a form of violence. What do you get when you punch your customer in the face?
That depends on the person, of course. But the negative repercussions for any business are many. In the end, the business (or businesses) will end up losing.
Not to mention, a shitload of us have been your playthings for far too long.
Could it be that we might make insulin ourselves in the kitchen, a personal lab, or whatever? Hmmm, anything is possible (especially when Less is More)! :^)
An open question? Do or how might conflicts of interest, greed, and politics interact to poison the notion of equal access for all, effectively turning possible into impossible?
Why conflicts of interest (COIs) are harmful…
Well… How about the idea of big pharma lining the pockets of politicians in government to turn what should be problem solving into nothing more than big talk and zero action. Now, I don’t know much about politics in general because frankly it all disgusts me and does nothing to help me keep my BGs where I want them to be.
Not to be judgmental, but they all look like a bunch of self-interested wankers to me (see Lessons2 below). But hey, what do I know? ;^)
What lessons can we learn from this story?
Good question. I figure we can learn a lot if we want to do so.. So, let’s see…
Not to state the obvious, but please notice that your perspective on this story may or may not differ from mine… Either way or somewhere in the grey.. We’ve all got something to do, say, and/or write! This story is my something, and it’s part of my mission. What’s your something / mission?
If you would like to share your thoughts, feel free to send a tweet to my @v6shell_jan Twitter account to do so!
Peace & Love & Cheers !!! <3 :^)
Remember; we are using our imagination here, but you can always ask the is there life elsewhere in the universe question on your own if you like ↩
The space aliens included herein are inspired by the Asgard of Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis, and other space shows / movies & philosophies / concepts that have played a role in my evolution as a T1D-Human of Earth for most of my life too ↩
It (not He or She); these Asgard space aliens have no gender, you see ↩