Why Society Needs To Take Steps In A New Direction
In order to have a concrete discussion on the issues that create havoc on this planet, and why nothing less than a Resource Based Economy is going to fix these issues, we must first examine each issue on its own merit and then see how that issue is intrinsically tied in the with the others and view them not as separate issues but as part of the total global system and understand that these seemingly independent issues are just pieces of the global puzzle.
What are the most pressing issues that we face today as a species?
Well, we face the depletion of earth's raw materials, including oil and energy necessary for human growth and survival. The present state of affairs with these resources is absolutely not because these resources are scarce but it is because they are being mismanaged for the sake of profit. This inevitably produces a state known as artificial scarcity which by its nature, is unsustainable. "We will not be able to sustain food production in the coming years, without drastic change in the way we do things."
Poverty is the next one we face. Poverty is increasing exponentially worldwide, even as precious resources continue to deplete worldwide. We will see food prices rise as a result of all these problems converging, coupled with economic disparity and degredation first in third world countries, but spreading across the globe as mass consumption in the west increases even more. We have based the entire economic system on scarcity, it follows that our environment and raw resources, including food and water would grow to become scarce as well.
The depletion of precious resources, poverty and what else? Oh yes, pollution. Pesticides, of which we dump 2.5 million tons on the ground per year, car exhaust, industrial and chemical waste leaking into our food and water supply leads to all kinds of global disease; including HIV, Malaria, Cancer, neurological disorders and the like. Through technology we are able to calculate just about how far we can go, before the point of no return. "We are literally monitoring our own extinction." (Professor Stuart Hill).
Speaking of mass consumption, why do we need to keep consuming? Because the capitalist free market system has to keep infinitely growing in order to stay alive. In short, we must keep feeding the beasty. This is offensive, it borders on insanity and it is essentially an exploitation of the concept of emergence in the context of a Resource Based Economy.
It was none other than Martin Luther King that stated, "No one is free, until everyone is free!" This statement could be the mantra of those who realize that we must "declare the earth's resources as common heritage to all the world's people." (Jacque Fresco) Isn't it time for real and lasting change?
What are the most pressing issues that we face today as a species?
Well, we face the depletion of earth's raw materials, including oil and energy necessary for human growth and survival. The present state of affairs with these resources is absolutely not because these resources are scarce but it is because they are being mismanaged for the sake of profit. This inevitably produces a state known as artificial scarcity which by its nature, is unsustainable. "We will not be able to sustain food production in the coming years, without drastic change in the way we do things."
Poverty is the next one we face. Poverty is increasing exponentially worldwide, even as precious resources continue to deplete worldwide. We will see food prices rise as a result of all these problems converging, coupled with economic disparity and degredation first in third world countries, but spreading across the globe as mass consumption in the west increases even more. We have based the entire economic system on scarcity, it follows that our environment and raw resources, including food and water would grow to become scarce as well.
The depletion of precious resources, poverty and what else? Oh yes, pollution. Pesticides, of which we dump 2.5 million tons on the ground per year, car exhaust, industrial and chemical waste leaking into our food and water supply leads to all kinds of global disease; including HIV, Malaria, Cancer, neurological disorders and the like. Through technology we are able to calculate just about how far we can go, before the point of no return. "We are literally monitoring our own extinction." (Professor Stuart Hill).
Speaking of mass consumption, why do we need to keep consuming? Because the capitalist free market system has to keep infinitely growing in order to stay alive. In short, we must keep feeding the beasty. This is offensive, it borders on insanity and it is essentially an exploitation of the concept of emergence in the context of a Resource Based Economy.
It was none other than Martin Luther King that stated, "No one is free, until everyone is free!" This statement could be the mantra of those who realize that we must "declare the earth's resources as common heritage to all the world's people." (Jacque Fresco) Isn't it time for real and lasting change?
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