I often have it put to me that this planet can not sustain human life much beyond the current "capacity" that we have just now and as such the best thing that could happen to the human race would be for half of us to disappear in some fashion. I’m not sure if the people that champion this idea actually want to be part of the half that goes, or not.
Either way the argument is totally ludicrous if you step out with the current paradigm and the current system, capitalism. Right now we know, for a fact, that all of our resources, such as they are, are geared up to playing the game that is "profit creation". From the keyboard I type this email on to the remote servers that it finally sits on. From your carpet to your car. From your kitchen to your bedroom. From your garden furniture to your latest computer gadgets. All of the resources we have available to us, as human, are currently focused on the profit motive. That is the commodity based system under capitalism. That is the definition.
If we were to focus on the needs of humans first and not the needs of "bankers", as such, then the resources could be applied in different ways. And not only could the current resources by re-assigned, new resources could be sucked into the system. Just look at all of the human labour that is currently left unused by capitalism; if this current system could use it, it would be using it. We know that. ( markets work ( as if ) )
"But wait Duncan, the resources just about go around as it is, what if we were to bring all of those hungry mouths in to the system too, instead of letting them starve as we are just now. We’d all suffer!"
Total nonsense. Even on the food issue, that is total nonsense. We let humans live and grow in high tower blocks, why can’t we grow food in the same way? If people are too scared that fields are not working for us any more, then let us put plants in tower blocks. We know about mirrors, for light, pumps and pipes for water and we even know how to build tower blocks. Nothing is stopping us turning one square patch of land, the space for one field, into the space for 60 fields, if we like.
It’ll never happen under this system, of course, as this system is focused on creating profit, as discussed, and not on creating the conditions that are favourable to human life.
All right Duncan so say we are to get everyone in African involved and we go down that route, where are we getting the water; Africa is a dust bowl.
Well, maybe it is just now, but we know about desalination and we know about pumps and we know about pipes so we are able to irrigate every inch of any land, and that would include any of our Food Towers™. If you just look at the wide open spaces that have been left alone by our species so far, they are vast. And I’m not talking about concreting them all over here; I’m talking about managing resources for the betterment of the human species and not for profit.
So folks, drop the idea that there are not "enough resources" to satiate the demand of the current population let alone any future growth. That way of thinking just shows narrow minded stuck cognitive behaviour.
By being on this site, and spreading the idea of human focused living and production I truly hope and believe that we are making a difference.
Think beyond.
Thank you for your efforts.
Peace,