Sustain-ABLE

As a young teen I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to save the world. One idea I had was to create the perfect government.

I don't know how I got this crazy idea, but instead of debating legislation, all the variables would be fed into a computer, and the device would make the decision, which the government leaders would follow. In my fictional world, the computer was called Computo. By using Computo, the government made the BEST decisions instead of POLITICAL decisions.

Sustain-ABLE

Now, 35 years later, I'm not giving up on my idea of saving the world. Okay, here's my latest idea: What we need is a think tank that would focus on only one task -- creating a sustainable society. Now, the goal is NOT to create utopia, but only to make the world sustainable enough so that we don't destroy ourselves, our planet, and other animal species.

To start, we would give a group of visionaries the task of charting out perpetually sustainable ideas. Every time they ran into a social barrier, they would need to step back and say, "What is causing this resistance?" And then they would need to design a strategy to address that challenge.

Every aspect of society would be "on the table" and the visionaries would do their visioning without budget concerns.

A few ground rules would be put into effect:

• The strategy must include ALL people, and human health must be considered, including mental, physical, and social health.
• Humans must be allowed to live a reasonably comfortable life.
  
• The well being of animal life, I mean ALL animal life, must be factored in.
• Each generation must leave Earth in as good or better shape than how they found it.

As a starting point, the people in the wealthy countries must adopt a more simplistic lifestyle. This would immediately remove massive strain from the Planet. We can all have smaller cars and houses and still be happy. Most importantly, we must all have smaller families.

The think tank would recommend public policies to our elected officials. All recommendations would be based on the long-term, instead of the short-term. If politicians are unable to make their decisions based on the distant future, then we need to find out what forces are blocking them from doing that.

Human behaviors must be modified. How can we end cigarette smoking and religious fanaticism, which are two of the greatest banes on society? How can we get the general public to accept science instead of following the mythology of ancient desert savages?

What other human attributes are essential for long-term survival? Should our dream society be democratic and capitalistic? I'd say that preserving freedom is essential, but we also need to act in a more socialistic way. We all need to contribute to the common cause of creating a clean, safe, and healthy planet for our children, and other animals as well.

We must come to grips with our animalism. A lot of our religious traditions are arrogant -- we must deal with this self-conceived notion that we are better than other animals, or that we have a "soul" and they don't. Once we realize that we are a PART of the great web of life, and not the foolhardy "masters," we will have taken a major step forward.

Could Get Creepy

Admittedly, this entire thing could get out of control. What if we started doing brain procedures to create favorable behavior? What if we socially engineered our children to make them good little tree huggers? We might accomplish our goal, but could lose our freedom of thought. And "freedom" must be preserved throughout this process.

What if we really do create Computo and use Him to make our decisions? Will the masses simply turn to him as a deity? Will we have created our own master, who rules over a healthy, green planet, but sucks our free will away at the same time?

Are the forces at play here so conflicting that survival of humanity is hopeless? Can we carefully decide what tradeoffs and what rights we are going to sacrifice to ensure human perpetuity? Or should we live free and happy now, and not worry about the ruin we our leaving our children? And if the current iteration of humanity is doomed anyway, shouldn't we just live it up and not worry about all the cigarette butts on the street? Can't we have peace in knowing that some other species may evolve to a high intelligence and replace us? Can the apes turn human again?

Certainly, when you review all the conflicting values, it's certainly easier to just worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster and not worry about life past our lives. We raised our kids to be tough -- they can wallow in the sea of crap that we've left them, and they can work it out. Or can they?

The Goose has much to think about, but I'm starting to get a really exciting vision. Stay tuned.

Kitty Purr

I remember when my last cat, Sassy, was dying of feline leukemia. As I held her she was purring and that gave me a feeling that she was getting better. It gave HER a feeling that she was getting better too. I later learned that cats sometimes purr to comfort themselves when they are gravely ill.

Mother America
We are now faced with the global debt issue, global warming, water shortages, and the threat of nuclear terrorism. Oh, and did I mention peak oil?

I have to learn to accept that it's part of our evolution to only react to danger when it's directly in our face. Humans are not good at long-term planning, even though we put our offspring at great risk when we ignore looming threats.

What I'm seeing now in this country is cognitive dissonance, denial, delusions, and lots of religious escapism. I know that most Americans realize that there is something deeply wrong right now in our country, but most people would rather ignore it or rationalize it away.

We LIKE our way of life. We are comfortable. We don't want to think about or deal with the possibility of radical change.

The Scenario
No one intended to bankrupt America but years of deficit spending have caught up with us. When we get to the point where we can't pay our creditors I don't know what will happen, but I can guess that it will create a chilling effect throughout the world economy. Everything will just stop.

Social Security IS a Ponzi scheme. You are correct, Gov. Perry. Thanks for having the guts to say that. There are less and less workers supporting more and more retired people who are living longer. This system is unsustainable and will collapse with a giant thunder.

Medical Malfeasance
Everyone wants to stay alive as long as possible, and at the same time most people I see don't really take care of themselves. They don't even follow the two simple suggestions of eating right and exercising. Worse yet, the medical industry keeps coming out with more machines, drugs, and procedures to keep our ailing population alive longer. This results in a multi billion dollar industry devoted to eliminating physical discomfort and prolonging lifespans. It's a sector of the economy that must be carried on the shoulders of our taxes and commerce. It sucks the economy dry as desperate people deplete their savings and get a second mortgage on their homes so that they can stay alive longer. Medicaid, Medicare, and the prescription drug plan are all spiraling out of control and are UNSUSTAINABLE. My advice to all of you is - stay healthy!

Scenarios
Sooner or later terrorists will detonate a dirty bomb in the U.S. with the power of the Nagasaki atom bomb. The blast will instantly vaporize a square mile in a major city and could kill as many as a million people. The social, psychological, and economic impacts would be so devastating that the outcome is unthinkable.

Or, maybe severe water shortages and pollution will simply make us sick and frail, and we'll all move to places with abundant fresh water, until it's used up. We will suck dry Lake Superior, and we'll keep growing our population and we will desperately try to maintain "business as usual."

The End
Just bringing up these topics makes me "negative" and a "doomsayer." Even I hope that some unexpected development in technology or change in human behavior will save us at the last minute. I know the odds are against this, but I still cling to hope.

I must accept the limits of humankind and the evolutionary mechanisms that are built into us — the desire to extend life, the desire for comfort in the short term at the expense of the long term, and the inability to react to distant dangers. These are the attributes that will make us simply another casualty in the Sixth Great Extinction. The end of one of the most complex creatures to ever evolve in the Universe will actually be a good thing, for it will allow the millions of other species to thrive in a safer, cleaner environment.

I must say, the Goose is starting to get goosebumps.