Sentient Beings, Part II

I think we are getting close to the end of the story. Here is a response to the statement that I published in my last post. You know, all my life I've been digging for answers, and now I feel my shovel has hit an iron wall. I'm not sure what is beyond this level, if anything. There is probably nothing ahead but a lot of extreme violence and cannibalism. We will go back to a warlord-type government. Young men will be forced to fight, and old men will be forced to till. And the fate of the women will be determined by the overseers. We will have at least, finally, resorted back to an efficient hierarchical structure.

From Bob in Tampa, FL:

In a nutshell, you got it. Because we understand the dilemma we are the outsiders with numbers too few to be effective even if they did try to hear us. Plus we are strange, we think differently in an age where belief equals mental virture and thinking is suspect. Where did the 60's go? "Don't trust anyone over 30." "Resist authority" "Make love, not war." The only real hope is that things will get so bad so quickly that people rise up and slaughter TPTB right down to their great grandchildren to thin out that evil gene pool and those of us commoners that survive can try to start anew. Any way it goes, the result will be turmoil and great loss of life. Cannot see it working out gradually and peacefully. We passed that window years ago. Peak Oil, Climate Change, Greenland/Antartic Melting, Ocean Warming, Methane Burp, Crop Failures, Nuclear Proliferation, are the headlines of tomorow and all we can do is relocate and make preparations. Einstein had it right. The universe MIGHT be limitless but stupidity is DEFINITELY limitless.

Sentient Beings

I'm continuing to enjoy reading the posts on the WarSocialism discussion forum. I've met some great, like-minded individuals on this list from around the world. To understand this list, you need to first study the Dieoff.org website. I was first introduced to this site 11 years ago by a fellow Sierra Club activist. Okay, it's weird to say that I've "enjoyed" the Dieoff.org website, but I can say it's really opened my mind.

One of the members of the list shared a link to a great movie called "Home." This 90+ minute minute movie is definitely worth watching — it puts the concepts of "life" and "Earth" into perspective. If evolution scares you, don't watch it.

A thanks to another subscriber on WarSocialism who has allowed me to reprint the passage below. This is in response to a movie review on the "Age of Stupid," which was shown at select theaters around the country on Monday. Unfortunately, I was unable to see it here in metro Atlanta because of closed and damaged roads caused by the flood — a flood that was exacerbated by global warming and all the pavement and rooftops. Are we really THAT stupid to create conditions for massive flooding? Oh yes we are!

From a colleague, who wishes to remain anonymous:

Age of the stupid is right. The age of human population overshoot is here. Though no one wants to believe it, let alone acknowledge it. One has to wonder: a minority believes in evolution. Fewer believe in climate change. Fewer still believe that overpopulation is a problem, or that it is critical. Even fewer than that believe that there is a critical energy problem, or have even heard of peak oil. Then there are the few of us here that comprehend the consequences of all of these issues combined.

I am beginning to think that maybe 1% of us actually understand it all and put it all together. I was talking to a very smart lawyer friend of mine a while back, and she was of the opinion that we will solve all these issues and problems... tomorrow. I cannot get it into her head that engineering 'solutions' typically beget more problems than they solve. In other words, save a starving or diseased child today so that he or she reproduces, and then you have to feed and save the set of the starving kid and parent after that.

We are up against a cultural, governmental, religious and social wall on these issues. No one wants to even hint at limiting the population, or even leveling it off. Not in any way, shape or form. The opposite is more true; there are armies of fanatical people out there trying to ban all types of birth control and all types of abortion. Seemingly according to 99% of the religious institutions in the U.S. today, it is our DUTY to reproduce. We are evil to even think about abortion and birth control.

Abortion est malum! ...so we must follow the biological path of the lemmings.

The Great Flood of 2009

This is one of the many houses in my hometown of Powder Springs, GA that was damaged by a record-breaking flood that struck my community on September 21.


On September 21, 2009 my community in north Georgia was struck by devastating floods. I would like to make a few remarks about this horrific incident:

• Prayer Power Goes Bizerk: It was only months ago when everyone was praying for rain to end the drought in Georgia. Our governor, Sonny Perdue, even held a prayer service at the state Capitol. Any one who is crazy enough to pray for weather is simply proving that God doesn't include weather in His list of miracles. Because now, our political leaders are saying, "Please pray for the flood victims." Maybe they should have just said, "Don't pray too hard for rain, or God might make it flood." I think this incident proves that the "power of prayer" is simply the wishful thinking of the desperate masses. And if God WAS responding to prayer by adjusting the weather, well, he screwed up. And if God screwed up the "rain prayer," what else has he screwed up? And how can he screw up anything since He is perfect? Of course, the religionists will tell me, "God has his reasons, and who are we to question God?" Well, I question God (stand by for lightening strike - ZAAPPPP).
  
  
• Involuntary Carbon Tax: The evidence for global warming is real and overwhelming. Yet, most people either deny or ignore it. Even as we see the horrible side effects of climate change, people just prefer to respond to symptoms rather than address the cause. It was predicted long ago that global warming would result in more extreme weather events, and with increased frequency. Hurricane Katrina did not provide a wake-up call, and neither has this week's great flood. Most pot-bellied conservatives strongly oppose a carbon tax, yet we are already forcing that tax on the flood victims. It is the victims who are paying for those fellow citizens who insist on driving their Hummer and living in a McMansion.
  
  
• Public Indifference: Because I work from home and live in a small house, I RESENT having to pay the carbon tax, but I did so anyway by making a donation to the Red Cross yesterday. I hate to see the suffering of ANY living creature, and I feel that COMPASSION is one of the greatest attributes a person can have. And while there are a lot of volunteer efforts to assist with flood relief, I also notice that a large portion of the population doesn't really care. Their attitude is, "If it doesn't affect me, then I don't give a damn." I'm sure these were the same people who went to Washington, D.C. last week to protest in the sheet-less Klan rally (also known as the Teabaggers). But, my point is, if a good portion of the population doesn't even care about their fellow citizens who lost everything in a flood, how are they EVER going to care about things like global warming, overpopulation, and environmental degradation? Is it hopeless?
  

Life: Comedy & Tragedy

I stumbled upon this quote — it captures exactly how I'm feeling today:

"Life is a comedy for those who think ... and a tragedy for those who feel." — Horace Walpole

And then a fellow activist made my day by telling me about Old Dog Documentaries, which creates movies that address issues in the developing world. The "About Us" description on their website is DEAD ON:

Anne Macksoud and John Ankele, Filmmakers
We are two “old dogs” who are worried about the state of our world and saddened by the suffering we see all around us. Since 1985, we have produced and directed documentary films about the subtleties of individual human experience and the complexities of our collective challenges. Our work encourages thoughtful responses to the interconnectedness of all life. We hope it inspires viewers to become agents of change, determined to do what it takes to create a more just and peaceful world.

It is clear to us that our political leaders cannot solve the problems of our time. They themselves are too beholden to privileged, powerful constituencies to inspire us to think beyond our own self-interest. We believe that change, if it is to come at all, must start with ordinary people around the world who understand the relationships and responsibilities of a global community. We believe that ordinary people have the will, the resourcefulness, the compassion, and the decency to craft new solutions that serve the common good.

We offer our films as catalysts for this kind of awareness— as tools for education and activism in the name of social change. We invite you to watch them at home, show them to your friends, share them with your classes and your community. We are happy to answer questions, provide additional resource materials, and suggest ways of using our films that will support your own efforts to nurture and protect this world that we share.

Thank you,
Anne Macksoud and John Ankele

Foundation for Global Community

I recently presented my population PowerPoint program to
the Foundation for Global Community/Atlanta.
Shown with me is one of the group's leaders, Janet Wells.

I have a small office in my backyard and spend most of my life there, so it's always a treat when I can actually get out and meet people. I call this "going into the atmosphere."

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, I had the honor of giving my population presentation to the Atlanta group of Foundations for Global Community (FGC). This is my fourth population presentation/event this year, and I always love getting out and talking about what I believe is the greatest issue facing humankind.

The group was kind and receptive, and this is one presentation where I gained more new knowledge and insight than the audience. The FGC is an incredible organization that is known for the behind-the-scenes work they did to help end the Cold War.

I thank one of the group's leaders, Janet Wells, for explaining to me what FGC Atlanta is all about, and just listening to her made me excited and hopeful for humanity. One of the things she shared with me is nicely summarized on their website:

It seems to us that the process of dialogue is part of the answer to HOW we are to create a cultural shift in values ... Dialogue involves listening, hearing each other, NOT refuting but HEARING. Everyone has a piece of the truth. If we remain open we might hear it.

When I think about all the rabid arguing and ugly partisanship that I'm currently seeing in the news, especially over the health care issue, it is now more obvious than ever to me that step one for achieving global sustainability is, well, talking. I know this is easier said than done because sometimes the other party is using violence, or else they are so uninformed that it's difficult to have a dialogue. But at least working toward a mutual understanding appears to be the first step in shifting our culture in a positive direction.

The mission statement on their website is so powerful and so beautifully worded, that I'm printing it below in its entirety:

The Foundation for Global Community/Atlanta grew out of the California group, formerly known as Beyond War. The name change, to FGC, reflected a shift in emphasis, from building consensus that WAR IS OBSOLETE (because of nuclear warheads) and that WE ARE ONE, to educating on the more general threat to our species and life system represented by environmental degradation and overpopulation. This crisis results from our behavior, which grows out of our values and beliefs. To change behavior we must create a shift in cultural values.

The power of culture over our lives is pervasive. It influences practically everything we do — from the trivialities of what we eat and how we dress, to the profundities of how we try to achieve meaning and purpose in our lives.

In our culture, the prevailing attitudes, values, and beliefs that guide our collective behavior — from unbridled materialism to rampant individualism — are devastating the life systems and human communities of the planet. The American Dream has become a global nightmare.

But with this crisis comes profound opportunity.

A whole new population — more idealistic and globally oriented — has emerged in the United States in the last decade. These people share a number of attitudes and beliefs: An interest in self actualization and spirituality; a desire to live a simpler lifestyle; a need for society to rebuild communities; a sense of nature and the feminine as sacred; and a concern for the global environment. Attitudes and beliefs like these form the basis of what is called integral culture. A leading study suggests that there are about 44 million North Americans who think this way, presenting a real possibility of positive cultural change. Our mission is to make this possibility a reality.

All culture is ultimately rooted in our understanding of who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going. We believe the root of our cultural crises is that our current answers to these age-old questions are obsolete. What information — from science, the wisdom traditions, and contemporary thought — can help us discover more adequate answers?

Wow, this is an incredible statement, and it has really given me a lot to ponder. I thank this group for the work they are doing, and for planting some new seeds in my consciousness.

Sincerely,

The Goose

The Myth of Capitalism

Capitalism assists humans in their locust behavior of consuming all resources of a given region, to produce wealth for the privileged few. Capitalism exploits labor and rapes the environment to create value-added goods at the lowest price possible.

Capitalism needs a larger, and ever-growing consumer base. Capitalism must have population growth because that means cheap labor and more consumers — no wonder capitalism loves immigration!

Capitalism controls government. If you think that government regulates capitalism, all I can say is "HA." Capitalism allows just enough wealth to trickle to the bottom to avoid civil disorder. Why? Because capitalism needs stable markets.

Capitalism controls the media, hires talking heads, and programs the public into believing that free enterprise is good, and that Socialism and Communism are bad. Capitalism programs the general public into booing down Socialism and accepting "the one right way" with open arms.

Capitalism dumbs down the public so that they don't question its virtues. Capitalism makes people just smart enough to serve its corporate empires.

Capitalism turns people into consumers. Capitalism lures people into believing that material goods bring happiness. Capitalism helps to addict people to consumerism.

Capitalism has no morals or rulebook. The system simply does whatever is necessary to make a profit in the next quarter. So, it's not surprising that Capitalism operates in a coalition with Conservative Religion. Capitalist-backed politicians say, "I'm against abortion," and that drives the conservative religious, single-issue voters to the polls, to vote in the Capitalist political puppets.

Capitalism controls government at all levels. Government simply provides the framework and apparatus for capitalism to function best.

Capitalism loves the high profits of war, and capitalism spreads the lies of patriotism. Capitalism build the armaments, but it still needs to convince mothers to kiss their sons goodbye and send them off to horrible deaths on the battlefield. There is huge money in "properly equipping the troops," and tending to their food and housing needs, and, of course, their medial needs.

Socialism and Communism are not good economic systems either. In fact, no economic system is perpetually sustainable. They all eventually fail. Perhaps the only system that works is straight barter — this could be made sophisticated by a computer system. If you perform a service, you earn credits. Those credits can then be spent. Government should get out of the money business. Wouldn't a world without money be wonderful? I'm not sure this system will work, but I KNOW the other three won't.

Sincerely,

The Goose

Humans, Viruses, and Favorite Quotes

At the recommendation of several people, I finally got around to renting The Matrix, a pretty incredible 1999 film. My favorite quote:

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

— Agent Smith

Here are some other great quotes I collected this week, mainly from the WarSocialism discussion list:

Moreover, brains are "physical." After about age 25, they are mostly hardwired and it's almost impossible to teach them new world views.

People evolved, and are wired by experience, to execute "behavioral algorithms" in response to "environmental cues." It's almost like reflexes, like a doctor whacking you on your knee. If you change the environmental cues, you change the behavior. That the essence of AMERICA 2.0: same people, same education and values, different environmental cues.

— Jay

And another one. This is a short book that I own. I don't even remember who gave it to me.

You don't communicate with anyone purely on the rational facts or ethics of an issue... It is only when the other party is concerned or feels threatened that he will listen — in the arena of action, a threat or a crisis becomes almost a precondition to communication ... No one can negotiate without the power to compel negotiation ... To attempt to operate on a good-will basis rather than on a power basis would be to attempt something that the world has not yet experienced.

— Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

So True:

The big corporations, our clients, are scared shitless of the environmental movement. They sense that there's a majority out there and that the emotions are all on the other side — if they can be heard. They think the politicians are going to yield to the emotions. I think the corporations are wrong about that. I think the companies will have to give in only at insignificant levels. Because the companies are too strong, they're the establishment. The environmentalists are going to have to be like the mob in the square in Romania before they prevail.

— William Greider, Who Will Tell the People

This is from an article about an ex-cop in Siberia who says that he's the Messiah. Based on this statement, I will follow him:

He says he realised that God has sent him to Earth to teach mankind about the evils of war and the havoc we are wreaking on the environment.

Oh, and the definition of Deep Ecology:

A philosophy that calls for a profound shift in our attitudes and behavior based on voluntary simplicity; rejection of anthropocentric attitudes; intimate contact with nature; decentralization of power; support for cultural and biological diversity; a belief in the sacredness of nature; and direct personal action to protect nature, improve the environment, and bring about fundamental societal change.

And yes, I absolutely love Gaylord Nelson, one of the greatest of all environmentalists:

The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around.

— Gaylord Nelson

It Is What It Is ...

I've been engaged in a fascinating debate this week on Jay Hanson's WarSocialism discussion list (see www.dieoff.org). The result of the discussion is downright depressing, and can be summed up in a few points:

• Humans are at the end of the modern age and are about to face a massive dieoff, which will likely be caused by nuclear war, an influenza pandemic, or ecological ruin. Not to mention, there is going to be mass chaos after the cheap oil is gone.
  
  
• Neither humans nor evolution have any kind of end plan or goal. As the saying goes, "it is what it is."
  
  
• The idea that human destiny is to colonize the Universe is not looking good. There are many factors that make interplanetary space travel basically impossible.

This leaves me with the conclusion that we humans are a one-in-a-trillion freak occurrence in the Universe, and we are about to go. We will likely go in an unpleasant way — extreme violence, starvation, or disease.

My own assessment is that losing jobs will just be the beginning. Before long we will be engaging in cannibalism again, like our chimp relatives. Also, I learned that a third of chimp males never make it to adulthood because they are murdered by chimp gangs, and that we share about 95% of the same genes as the chimp, so extreme violence is embedded in us as well.

This is sounding very, very grim, and tonight I'm about to give up all hope. But I know I won't, and I don't want to sell out my principles for food — I'm not sure how long I'll be able to hold out on that one.

The bottom line is human beings are a very sick, dysfunctional, and violent species. It's so sad because I see a lot of good in us too.

Space flight to other planets is impossible:

From Tom —

I recently saw a bumper sticker with the following slogan; "Earth First. We'll strip mine the other planets later." This is the perfect slogan for all the space cadets out there who believe the star trek, star wars science fiction fantasies Hollywood has filled our heads with throughout this soon to be fading, electronic age. Maybe we alpha males can even get lucky and score with some hot, green alien chicks while were propagating our benevolent expansion of the heavens as an added bonus. Captain Kirk sure seemed to get lucky a lot.

I find talk of colonizing other planets in other solar systems amusing because it's a perfect example of the arrogant, anthropocentric hubris that characterizes human beings which is what got us into this predicament of overshoot after in the first place. Colonization of other planets is practically impossible for at least a few logical reasons such as follow. The list is by no means comprehensive.

1. We are the product of billions of years of fine-tuned, ecosystem evolution and exploitation and our very existence is completely contingent upon the exact and delicate balance of atmospheric, climatic and terrestrial conditions (aka capital) that have yet to be verified on any other planet we could hope to reach before the consequences of our species overshoot overtake us.

2. As arrogant and capable as we are, the human body can't survive years in a gravity-free environment because our muscles, heart and bones are subject to radical atrophy. Any planet that we could potentially exploit is probably light years away and the laws of physics preclude such contingency. Don't bother talking to me about short-cuts through "worm holes" because no such thing has ever been verified. Worm holes are a science fiction hypothesis at best.

3. A significant feature of overshoot and collapse is the exponential conversion of capital into a waste stream leaving a degraded (read trashed) ecosystem behind with less viable resources for future generations. Translation: We won't have the energy nor the money available to get off the ground into space to export our benevolent intentions to other parts of the universe. In a nut shell, this is why space programs no longer practically exists for space exploration. Space exploration is past peak. We went to the moon, it was sterile and mainly useless and we'll probably never get any further.

Indeed flight was once thought to be impossible but the laws of aerodynamics permitted such after all (as long as the contingencies of capital, technology and energy are available). However, the laws of physics and specifically the laws of thermodynamics predict Homosapiens is destined (doomed?) to existence and eventual extinction here on good old planet Earth. It seems it's the only planet we'll ever really get to strip mine after all.

We Can't Evolve Our Way Out Of Our Problems

From Scott —

Several points to make about the likelihood of short term human evolution here. One is that evolutionary changes in primates and apes do not happen in just a few generations. It requires hundreds or even thousands of generations to evolve as a species. Humans have remained pretty much unchanged physically for over 100k years (not including the Neanderthals, which seem to have been a separate sub-species or population of humans that did not interbreed). Socially humans made a last significant change somewhere around 50k years ago into more or less what we are now. That is around 2,500 generations of humans since the last major distinctive change occured. If you want to put a stake in the ground for 'modern civilized humans' as the point of evolution that we made our last significant change (I do not believe this, this is just an example of scale) at about 12k years ago at the dawn of modern civilization, that is still over 500 generations of humans which remain basically unchanged from the dawn of history.

Another point is that as a population gets larger, like in humans today, the likelihood of a chance mutation or genetic alteration being passed on and affecting a large segment of the population (and hence leading to a genetic alteration and/or evolution) is pretty much drown out. The massively larger population of unchanged genes would be the ones that are passed on. 7 billion people are not going to evolve much, until/unless there are some abrupt environmental changes or pandemic that radically kills off large segments of the population.

Another factor that has risen from the human genome research is that humans have very similar genes to one another, as compared to our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. As I recall, both types of chimps share something like 97% of chimp specific genetic traits, whereas humans are more like 99% similar in human genetic traits. This is not to be confused with the fact that humans and chimps share somewhere between 95%-99% of functional genes. The point here is that humans have far less genetic variation within the species than other primates, so the chances of our evolving from our current population is far less.

Given the three reasons stated above, we are not likely to evolve in just a few generations when a lot of 'stuff' is very likely to hit the global fan. We can and may well adapt culturally, but not genetically. Also one genration does not make Europeans a bunch of sloths. Humans (as well as chimps it seems) are prone to war; take away resources and you will fight your neighbors for them. Given that our ancestors likely diverged from the chimpanzees sometime about 5-6 million years ago, the war gene is deep in our genetics (and probably over 6 millon years old). Chimps have been observed to go to war with and kill rival chimps, BTW. They are also prone to cannibalism. Sound familiar?

Evolution Has No Goal

From reductio0adabsurbum:

Sorry Todd, but you're wrong again. Evolution has no "goal", no direction, and no purpose. It just is. Natural selection in a nutshell: if the gene(s) that is(are) responsible for a particular phenotypic variation which endows the possessor of that(those) genes with a reproductive advantage, then that(those) gene(s) will be propagated into subsequent generations more so than will those genes that are less able to do so. That's pretty much it. You may feel dissatisfied by how inhuman and unfeeling that may be, but just because we as a species with our culture think we need purpose, (an illusion of) continuity that projects into the future, it doesn't mean that this need will be worked out into an objective reality. You can't overlay our own human frailties onto evolution or anything else outside our heads. Or at least you can't do that and expect that doing so will affect it in any objective way.

Stone Deaf, Blatant Denial

This is another great post of the WarSocialism discussion list, which I am reprinting with permission. It feels really good to find other people like myself, which assures me that most people are stone crazy, and a few people are not. Most people are just going down the river, having a great time, and not realizing, caring, or denying that there is a waterfall just ahead.

Goose

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do either of you run into opposition that uses logic to argue against doing something to save the planet? Or do they just put their heads in the sand?

Jay

Answer from Scott:

Stone deaf, blatant denial, or they run screaming for their pastor or rabbi. Or they cover their ears and say, "LA LA LA LA LA LA..." Most say its BS, an Al Gore political scam, the oil companies and Arabs trying to jack up the price of oil, or some other standard reply. Same result when I talk about evolution, geology, mass extinction, peak oil, fisheries collapse, population overshoot (or just birth control) or global warming. Does not matter which.

Even the tree huggers are not willing to listen to, 'the end'. They point to the stars, and say that we are going to colonize other worlds. That gets me riled up, as I used to work in the aerospace industry (General Dynamics in San Diego) and the energy required to go to another habitable planet in another star system is well, more energy than is available in the galaxy at least. Never mind the time or technology to cross deep space, or finding a place like Earth. Forget Mars; proof that any Mars colony will fail is right here above the timberline on Mt Hood. Pleanty of sun, water, seasonal warm weather, oxygen, all the rest, and no large plant growth. Reason? No soil microbes survive up there. Now its all rock in summer... all the Cascade peaks are grey and brown in summer now. The 'glaciers' are all melting off in summer now.

Funny (and typical) story: my ex girlfriend (we still get along) and I were in South Carolina with her brother birding at the beach. We stumbled into a rare early type of salamander, and her brother started an interesting lecture about the species. There was a small crowd gathered around after 5 minutes, and the kids and parents were interested, until... he said the "e" word. Parents' hands instantly went over childrens' ears and they were shuffled off. We still are in the cultural and religious stone age.

Hope in the Face of Overwhelming Odds

Various items of randomness:

Quotes That Don't Make Me Feel Giddy

I'm on several discussion lists that cover global issues like population and peak oil. Here are a couple of memorable quotes from the last week or so:

"Things will certainly change when the widespread domestic violence begins (probably a few years away). However, it may not be the kind of political change that anyone wants." — Jay

"As homo superstitious — dominated by his/her reptilian brain — is in massive numerical overshoot already, the only steady state likely is disaster. Humans will not reduce breeding nor consumption due to rational persuasion."
— Steve

Goose Responds: I'm just not going to give up. Somewhere deep inside us there is the ability to save ourselves. The right solution, connection, or whatever, just hasn't been found yet, but it is there somewhere inside our collective soul. I will always have hope .... always!

Book Review Time



Title: Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture

Author: Thom Hartmann



Summary (from Sacramento Bee): In "Threshold: The Crisis Of
 Western Culture," writer and Air America host Thom Hartmann argues that the
 deteriorating state of our planet, where the dynamics of environmental,
 economic, and population change are boiling over the limits within which society can function, is inevitably near at hand. In clear
 and impassioned prose, Hartmann busts the myths and ideologies of religious
 fundamentalism, capitalism run amok, male domination, and militarism that are
 draining our world of its natural and human resources and engendering the 
suffering of millions for the benefit of the few.



Goose Comment: The paragraph above says it all. It is the "myths and ideologies"
of our institutions that are destroying us. It's hard to get any meaningful change because of the pushback from people who are in power and who benefit from the status quo.

Olduvi Theory

This chart is quite interesting. Click on it to download a copy of the research paper. Basically, the Olduvai Theory states that the life expectancy of industrial civilization is approximately 100 years: circa 1930-2030.

Beautiful Un-Sunset

I was driving home the other day and just thought this scene of the clouds was pretty. It was taken in Hiram, GA. I call it an un-sunset because the beautiful sunset was actually behind me, but it gave everything an orange hue. The colors of the cloud are really vivid. As I was heading east in my car I just felt like I was in another world for a brief moment. Time sort of stood still.

Patriotic Moment

This scene just struck me as I was in a parking lot — the sun setting behind an American flag. I really felt patriotic and proud when I saw this. Despite all the many social and other problems this country has, I do love it very much. What I love about this country most is the idealism, which keeps our nation unified. We are not a people who are united because of race, religion, looks or anything else, but rather we are united by our ideas, and that is a fantastic step forward for the progression of the species. Most beautiful of all is democracy and freedom, and every day we should cherish it and NEVER take it for granted, however I do realize I'm starting to sound cliché.

Madmen, To the Death

It's 6:43 a.m. in the morning, and I'm sitting here confused, and thinking that life is a total trip.

First of all, homo superstitious is a real disappointment as a species. During this health care debate I've seen what a pathetic, ignorant, and stupid lot that Americans really are. Democracy is a beautiful thing, but before it can work the citizens must be civil and educated, and must be able to participate in enlightened debate. But what we have now is a bunch of talking heads on TV who fan the flames of partisanship for the sake of higher ratings .... and dumbed down America absorbs their crap like a sponge and then they attend town hall meetings where they disrespect their elected leaders and regurgitate the mindless crap of the Fox News hatemongers. Albeit, the political left has their share of hatemongers as well.

So, whatever happened to teamwork? Whatever happened to working together to solve a huge national problem, like finding a way to provide health care for millions of uninsured citizens? I have seen so much greed, hate, and ignorance in the last few weeks that I am totally disgusted. As Rodney King said, "Why can't we just get along?"

Now, I'm pretty sure that if we can't even solve important social problems without all the partisan rancor, how can we ever solve our massive environmental and geo-political problems? We can't, and we are screwed. We are a pathetic and disgusting species, yet every time I say that I run into some wonderful individual who reminds me that humanity is worth saving. We are the good and bad, all rolled into one.

Most offensive of all to me are the under-endowed pricks who are carrying guns to the health care meetings and rallies. Does that gun really make you feel like a man, maybe for the first time in your life? Doesn't anyone see a paradox between health care and guns? America the beautiful is actually a dysfunctional, gun-crazed society that talks about Christianity and love, but is full of violence and hate. Once the cheap energy runs out and our economy continues to deteriorate, more of these gun-toting yahoos will start cracking under the pressure and using their guns. If you don't believe me, pick up the daily newspaper — it's already happening all over the nation and we simply accept it, as the NRA works vigorously to pump more bullets and weapons into our demented society.

So, wrap yourself in your American flag, wave your gun and Bible, and scream about Hitler and Nazis and death panels all you want. Because YOU, the average Jane and John Doe American, are the source of all your angst. You have created this sick, narcissistic, double-standard society that is now consuming you and crushing you. You are the hypocrites, the Bible-thumping madmen, and the beer guzzling dittoheads. You and ONLY YOU are bringing this nation down into the abyss that it so rightfully deserves.

Goose

The Worst Is Yet To Be

This book review actually made me feel good, in some twisted way. I'm laughing ... I'm giddy. Not sure why.

GLOBAL CATASTROPHES AND TRENDS: The Next Fifty Years. Vaclav Smil. xii + 307 pp. The MIT Press, 2008. $29.95.

Prolific writer Vaclav Smil characterizes his latest book, Global Catastrophes and Trends, as “a multifaceted attempt to identify major factors that will shape the global future and to evaluate their probabilities and potential impacts.” Smil is fluent in many languages of the East and the West, and his voluminous citations demonstrate an impressive command of the literature. His two major themes are sudden, catastrophic events and unfolding trends that are catastrophic in their accumulative consequences.

The past 50 years have been exceptionally stable and unusually benign in global terms, Smil says, but this will change. The risks of what are, in his view, the two most likely cataclysmic future threats—nuclear war and pandemic influenza—can be substantially reduced, he believes. He does not see terrorism as a great risk. He also notes that mega-eruptions of volcanoes are quite rare and that the risk of a near-Earth object striking our planet is even more remote and can be handled. Instead, it is unfolding trends that worry him most and occasion the book’s most striking observations.

Energy is a key variable affecting many trends. Smil’s substantial discussion of this topic connects only loosely to the theme of catastrophe but well illustrates his debunking posture toward scary headlines and faddish “solutions.” He gives short shrift to renewable energy. For example, he considers “massive biomass energy schemes” that have been proposed recently to be “among the most regrettable examples of wishful thinking and ignorance of ecosystemic realities and necessities.” Conversion of enough farmland for the production of biofuels is out of the question, he says—we would starve. Wind power will be only a marginal and unreliable source of energy. As for energy from nuclear fusion, it is a mirage, on which the United States has spent a quarter of a billion dollars a year for the past 50 years. Large-scale expansion of nuclear power plants would face significant opposition, Smil says, because of concerns about safety and the lack of permanent waste-storage facilities. (He does, however, note with approval Edward Teller’s proposal to build a nuclear power plant completely underground with enough fuel to last its lifetime.) And he sees no realistic possibility of a hydrogen economy for many decades.

Read the complete review in American Scientist

Summary of article: We're screwed.