Greetings humans of Earth at the Steemit community:
I am Yomon, Universal traveler from the Sombrero Galaxy. I have been observing humankind for approximately 100 Earth years. On January 1, 2016, I had my report published about my observance of the current state of humankind titled "The Universal Perspective of Humankind on Earth". It was not my intent to interfere with the matters of humankind, but the state of this species of yours that has so much potential appeared so grim, and that your Voyager space probe had arrived at the step of interstellar space, that I take that as a signal that your time had come. I attempted to make contact to your SETI Institute, which has been sending those disturbing signals into space for many Earth years now hoping for a response, but I was unexpectedly ignored. Via your satellites that transmit your Internet, I contacted various members of your Facebook social media outlet, but I received virtually no response. Being a novice at social interaction with humankind, I quickly realized that it would be very difficult for any humans to believe that I was who I claim to be. Therefore I prepared a formal report and contacted one of your marketing agencies based solely on its name, "Alien Media Marketing", and they put me in touch with their publishing division. They were skeptical about my claims, but they found the work very enjoyable and said that they would publish it and let individual humans decide for themselves.
The book, however, was mostly ignored, but those few who read it seemed to enjoy it. But this was not enough to spread the word by mouth or become a viral sensation. Oddly enough, the Facebook page set up on my behalf gained interest more from the Middle Eastern part of your planet, where the people are desperate for peace. The western world ignored it. As the presidential election of the United States proved, the western world has become adept at ignoring the screams of people pleading for help. I have concluded that the Middle Eastern part of Earth wants peace the most, while the Western part of Earth continues to believe that the Middle Eastern humans want to destroy them, and therefore they should be destroyed.
This latest turn of events is very distressing. I have stressed the necessity of humankind having to come together and achieve peace soon before it is too late. Your society is fast approaching a critical intersection. Here I will post the introductory message included at the front of my report. Please take a few minutes to read it. If it gets any attention at this location, I will post more. You can read the whole work if you wish at this place: http://www.yomon.xyz/downloads.html
Please, humans, do something. Work together to find peace. You will need to expand beyond Earth soon, and you will need to work together to do this. I am not referring to your fantastic fictional accounts of alien invasion. I say this because you are destroying your planet and destroying each other.
Yomon
To Humankind:
The following report presents the singular perspective of your species by a Universal traveler and observer who wishes to inform you that there is a much larger Universal society of which myself and other species hope that you will someday become part of. It is also meant to help others in Universe better understand your species through the attempted use of your own vernacular as opposed to the dry language and technical data typical of entries in The Database (which is like a Universal version of your "Wikipedia").
Before I go any further, I have discovered through your cultural works that you are somewhat mistrustful and even fearful of "extraterrestrial" life. I want to assure you that I am an individual curious in nature who is not capable of doing you any harm. Additionally, your planet and solar system is under no threat of invasion by another species (though you should pay closer attention to asteroids and gamma ray bursts). There is no reason whatsoever for an invasion ever to happen, as there is nothing valuable to gain in invading the home world of another species. Such an act would only lead to the banishment or destruction of the invader by other members of the Universal community in order to uphold the Universal Law of Freedom. As your fictional aliens often say, I come in peace.
In fact, peace, or lack thereof in your society, is the main reason I feel compelled to contact you at this time. Now that you have reached out to us through your SETI Institute and, more significantly, your Voyager 1 space probe that has left Sol (with Voyager 2 not far behind), you have shown that you possess the interest and potential to achieve interstellar travel. With this goal in mind, there are a few things you must first know about Universal society.
Before I go any further, this report is by no means an attempt to force my own or anyone else's personal beliefs or opinions upon you. I would not even be presenting you with my perspective if you had not reached out to us first. To the best of my ability I am presenting you with facts as I know them in as objective a manner as possible, but there is much information contained in this report of which you are not yet aware and that I do not have the capacity to offer proof of. Therefore, I ask that you not accept everything I say about Universe with blind faith, but as a challenge to seek and discover the truth for yourselves. As intelligent living beings, you have every right to believe what you want as long as you do not attempt to force these beliefs on others. This report details what I know about Universe and what I have learned by observing your species over a period of approximately 100 Earth years. I am not a prophet. I am a traveler, an observer, and, with this report, perhaps somewhat of an ambassador, although the decision to contact you was entirely my own and I do not claim to represent all beings in Universe. At my core, I am just an ordinary "space dude" who has taken an interest in your culture and wants to share with you what I know about Universe. I am a fan of human culture, and I have even named my vessel the Imagine after the song written by John Lennon. I hope that someday you will find peace and become an active member of the Universal community.
Unfortunately, humankind, you have much work to do in order to resume your journey along this path. Hopefully it is not already too late, as your vehicle, Society, appears to be stuck at a crossroads, while the vehicle Extinction is fast approaching from behind. Some of you already see the headlights against the dark horizon and are trying to warn the others about what is coming, but the others are preoccupied with fighting and even killing each other over whose fault it was that Society broke down in the first place rather than working together to repair it. If you remain at this crossroads much longer, Extinction will eventually catch up and run you over as if you are not even there.
Extinction is gaining momentum, humankind. You must repair Society and start moving forward again. Now.
This report, now titled The Universal Perspective of Humankind On Earth (which I will note here was not my first choice of title, but your team of human publishers and editors insisted upon it), was not intended as an "intervention". Yet, it may very well be one, as myself and others who admire some of your artistic exports are concerned that you will destroy yourself before ever having the chance to journey beyond Sol. I believe that by giving you the opportunity of viewing yourself through the lenses of another, you may feel more compelled to end your fighting and start working together to end the violence and oppression you are plagued by in order to achieve the freedom and peace that all living beings in Universe are entitled to. Only then will you be free to discover the wonders of Universe while also having the opportunity to alleviate overcrowding on Earth by expanding to new worlds. There is plenty of available real estate out here, humans.
Through my lenses, I see humankind as a fascinating but troubled species that has the potential to make significant contributions to the culture of Universe through its rare combination of high intelligence and high artistic ability. All species that have achieved interstellar travel are intelligent, but many of them, quite honestly, are uninteresting and could never produce artwork as unique and entertaining as your Mozart, Beethoven or, my personal favorite, your Rock & Roll music, nor your Shakespeare, Van Gogh, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick, or any thousands of artists who possess the ability to create works that can be appreciated by not only your own species but by intelligent beings all over Universe. The remarkable talent and wide scope of your artists contrasts other species who possess high artistic ability but have become so self-absorbed by their own existence that their art is rooted in sentimental longings that are profound to them but mean nothing to outsiders. I believe that this rare combination of intelligence and artistry is rooted in the great diversity within your species—the same diversity which you have tragically struggled to accept. Perhaps this struggle is what makes your art so profound. The greatest works of art are often a product of great suffering. While there are many artistic species who have created works of brilliance that can be appreciated by all and who enjoy sharing their work with others, these are far less common than artists who produce works that can only be understood and appreciated by their own species. For this reason, many artistic species are not interested in life beyond their home worlds and are therefore not inclined to even attempt developing interstellar space programs. Your intellectual curiosity to explore life beyond Earth is present in many of your works of art and is why it can be appreciated by just about any intelligent beings who shared that same curiosity to journey beyond their home worlds. Most of these species, however, do not also possess anything close to your artistic ability.
Like one of your plays, it would be tragic if you, humankind, who possesses the intelligence to eventually travel beyond Sol, extinguished yourself before ever having the chance to do so. While you have expressed to anyone out here willing to listen an interest in making such a journey, your messages are typically met with great skepticism. It is obvious to any observer that, while you are an intelligent and interesting species, you are also intolerant and oppressive and are on the verge of destroying yourself if you continue to deny the rights of all individuals within your society to live freely and peacefully. You must understand, humankind, that you cannot behave in Universal society as you have on Earth. In order to be accepted as a peaceful member of our society, you must comply with one law—The Universal Law of Freedom:
You are free to do and say as you please as long as your actions and words do not threaten or compromise the peace and freedom of others.
Humankind, you are currently—and quite blatantly—violating this law within your own society. On Earth and in Sol, the consequences are simple: self-destruction and eventual extinction. For billions of years it has been accepted by intelligent beings that this law is the very reason why life in Universe, including yours, developed the way it did. It is also believed that violation of this law is a threat to all life in Universe, as well as Universe itself, which is a living entity like you and your Sun and your Earth and may even be one among a species of Universes. The consequences are quite clear, which is why violation of this law is not tolerated. There is no justice system, there are no courts of law. Individual travelers who violate this law are simply banished back to their own solar system and not permitted to leave. However, it is rare that this ever happens, as most species who manage to make it out here have already long understood that their own survival depends on not threatening the freedom and peace of those they encounter during their travels.
Therefore, humankind, my objective assessment of your future—whether you achieve interstellar travel or not—is as follows: You must save yourself from yourself. You must stop oppressing and killing each other. You must learn to accept others for who they are and allow them to live freely and peacefully. You must cease all attempts to physically and through your legal systems force personal beliefs on others. You must be more proactive in promoting freedom and peace using your intelligence, not your weapons. You must not destroy the living habitat that others depend on to survive. And, every individual in your society—including you, human, reading these very words at this very moment in space-time—must learn to comply with the Universal Law of Freedom or be banished.
Humans, please, for your own good, save yourself. No one else is going to save you, and patience will not be rewarded by miracles. The survival of your species is still in your hands, but your window of opportunity is closing. You are better than this. Many wonderful things await if you can start moving forward again and leave your acts of self-destruction behind.
Peaceful regards,
Yomon
Transmitting from the I.G.V. Imagine at Stop Entrance 33697.708.53.452 ("KOI-351" / "Kepler 90")
Earth date: A.D. 1 January 2016
Post Scriptum: I apologize ahead of time for any errors, omissions, or misunderstandings of your history, culture, and society. I spent a great deal of time consulting data from my own observations, your Internet (especially Wikipedia, which I found to be an invaluable resource and one that can use your financial support), and the entries of others in The Database. I have instructed the editors of this report, which they will publish in book form, not to make any significant changes, as the perspective of humankind presented is my own. They have agreed to this but have refused to budge on the title. For the record, I wanted to title to be The Yomon Perspective of Humankind on Earth, but they said that this title was "not bold enough". I suppose such boldness is part of what makes your species so interesting.