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Today,
we humans overrun and overwhelm this planet at 7.1 billion of us.
America, at a bloviated 315 million could not exist without importing
7 out of 10 barrels of oil daily from other parts of the world.
That
oil will not last forever, but we will be left with a horrific
population overload.
In other words, we cannot sustain our
civilization in 2012 without raping some other countries around the
world.
Just imagine what we face by adding 138 million people by
2050—a scant 38 years from now.
"The
cheap oil age created an artificial bubble of plentitude for a period
not much longer than a human lifetime....so I hazard to assert that
as oil ceases to be cheap and the world reserves move toward
depletion, we will be left with an enormous population...that the
ecology of the earth will not support. The journey back toward
non-oil population homeostasis will not be pretty. We will
discover the hard way that population hyper growth was simply a
side-effect of the oil age. It was a condition, not a problem
with a solution. That is what happened and we are stuck with it."
James Howard Kunstler, The
Long Emergency
Not
only that, we overrun our water supplies to such an extent that
“water” will be our next sustainability predicament.
The greater
our numbers, the greater our dilemma for water, irrigation and food.
Susan
J. Marks' book, Aqua Shock: The Water Crisis
in America, will give you a sobering reality
check. The book presents facts, statistics, quotes, and data from
sources such as the National Weather Service, United Nations, U.S.
Geological Survey, and NOAA, among many other.
Marks makes a well
documented case for the acute water crisis facing the world.
From
Florida to Alaska, North to South Poles, South America to Africa,
Iceland to Australia, and not leaving out the oceans, the author
tells of the lost of drinking water and changes in precipitation
patterns. Shortage and source depletion is already a major cause of
border fights and legal disputes as countries, big cites, and
farmland spar over water rights.
Because
the USA expects to add 138 million people within 38 years, our water,
energy, resources and arable land cannot keep up with our exploding
numbers.
On top of our energy, water and resources depletion, Mother
Nature continues warning us that we arrogantly explode our numbers to
our own peril, i.e., Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, droughts, species
extinction, climate change and acidified oceans.
In
the end, Mother Nature speaks with a bigger stick than anyone can
imagine.
My Canadian friend Tim Murray speaks about the “Nature of
Mankind” and our inability to listen to the signs being given us in
2012.
Mother
Nature and Mankind: A Communication Breakdown
THE
RELATIONSHIP THAT COUNTS
Tim
Murray said, “Perhaps you forgot about me. No wonder. Your history
books seem to dwell on tyrants and dictators and megalomaniacs and
the terrible things they do.
“Yet
I can do terrible things too. Especially when I am taken for granted
or abused.
I
know. I never commanded an army or ruled a nation.
“I
never firebombed Hamburg, Dresden or Tokyo, nor dropped two atomic
bombs. I never raped Nanking or slaughtered a third of Cambodia’s
population. I never conducted a war of ethnic cleansing nor destroyed
a culture and enslaved the survivors. I never committed any of these
atrocities. Yet I am the most merciless and indifferent mass murderer
in history.”
I
am Mother Nature. And I really think we need to talk about our
relationship.
“Not
the relationship you have with other people,” said Mother Nature.
“Not about whether people treat each other with enough respect or
fairness or empathy. Not about whether they distribute the wealth
equitably. No, this is about our
relationship,
the relationship between you and me, nature and humankind.
“You
speak of coercion. Of “coercive” birth control measures, forced
abortions, punitive laws, of mass imprisonment and the violation of
reproductive freedom. Of force, compulsion, duress, oppression,
harassment, intimidation, threats, arm-twisting and pressure by
people against people.
“But
none of this matches my power of persuasion. I am talking about
environmental
coercion.
“You
can be constrained by many things in life.
You can be constrained by
arthritic pain, and prevented from training for a marathon. Or
constrained by your budget from doing a lot of travelling or eating
out.
Or constrained by your girth from fitting into the suit you
wore to the prom.”
Environmental
coercion: the most brutal of all
“But
environmental constraints brought on by overpopulation can be more
confining than anything else,” said Mother Nature. “They can
confine you to a small urban apartment because overpopulation has
driven up the cost of shelter. They can force you remain indoors
because of smog alerts. They can restrict your movement and your
options because overpopulation has created a labor glut and your
wages have been driven down by competition. . They can reduce your
per capita share of vital resources like clean water and affordable
food. Environmental coercion can make your life miserable. More
miserable than the most autocratic and unjust of governments.
“You
may think that “austerity” is a hoax. A conspiracy of bankers and
CEOs and neo-liberals to rob of us our rightful entitlements. But you
obviously haven’t heard the news. This is not the 1930s. This
austerity is not contrived. This austerity is for real. This
austerity is geologically,
not ideologically rooted. There is not enough real wealth to go
around.
“Go
ahead and change the tax code, reform the monetary system and let the
big banks fail. Make the rich pay their share. But do you think your
Occupy movement can persuade me to yield more how-hanging fruit? Do
you think that “justice”, “fairness”, and “equity” will
suffice to make up for our non-renewable resource short falls?
“In
just 13 years, Canadian governments will have to find $93 billion
just to fund their unfunded liabilities---the promises they have made
to Canadian citizens to pay out their pensions and satisfy their
health care needs. All of this in addition to running other
government programs and finding money to repair the infrastructure
that is crumbling all around us. Newsflash: the money can’t be
found by “taxing the rich”. Corporate taxes would need to double
and even then, even if there was no capital flight to kinder tax
climates, even if total tax revenue increased, it would be a
temporary fix. In the United States, for example, if the income of
every citizen making over $200,000 per year was confiscated, it would
provide only enough revenue to run the federal government for just
193 days.”
CONTINUING
ECONOMIC GROWTH---NECESSARY, BUT NOT POSSIBLE
“The
only way out is continued economic growth,” said Mother Nature.
“Growth at robust rates. It is only through continued economic
growth that your social safety net can be maintained and your cities
and bridges and physical assets can be replaced or repaired. One
problem. I haven’t got enough affordably accessible natural
non-renewable resources to fuel this growth. Especially when emerging
economies like China and India are demanding more and more from me.
Something must give. Commodity prices will skyrocket. Economic
recoveries will be killed in their tracks. Conflict will ensue.
Please don’t unleash a nuclear, chemical and/or biological war upon
me. I have taken enough abuse already.
“Surely
you can see this all coming. Surely you can see that the numbers
don’t add up. I can’t continue to meet your growing demands. More
efficient technology will not bail you out. Just ask Mr. Jevons. And
be honest--- renewable energy alternatives cannot be scaled up
anywhere near the level you require. All you need is a calculator and
an enema for your delusional optimism.
“But
you won’t do the math. And you think your agenda trumps mine.
Sorry, but didn’t you know, I own
you.
You are on a leash. You and your short-lived economic infidelities.
Do you think I didn’t know? Do you think I didn’t notice that
your mind was not on me and my
needs?
I
GAVE YOU SPACE AND NOW YOU NEED MORE?
“You
tell me you need “space”. But I gave you a world of space, and
what did you do with it? You filled it up with 7 billion people---- 5
billion of whom are determined to live like the other two billion do!
‘You
tell me that universal and free access to health care, a decent
pension and education is your right.
“But
as Isaac Asimov observed, if you have 20 people sharing an apartment
with two bathrooms, your “right” to guaranteed and timely access
to a bathroom is necessarily limited. You can make all the speeches
you want. You can run for the Democrats and make it a campaign
platform if you like, or make “Freedom of the Bathroom” a
Constitutional right, but without more bathrooms or fewer people in
the apartment, that right is meaningless. As meaningless as the
promise of sustainable Obamacare.
“I
suggest that you seek counseling. Since I won’t provide you with
the means to add more bathrooms, I suggest that you try reducing the
number of people who share the apartment. Things can’t go on like
this. I am calling a taxi and packing my bags. You just won’t
listen, and never have. I am tired of your roving eye, your
insatiable appetite and lust for more, and your lack of
attentiveness. I deserve better than this---and I know that I can go
it alone. You need me, but I don’t need you.
“I
think you fundamentally misunderstand our relationship. You have the
roles reversed. I am not your servant. I have only so much to give,
and you’ve already blown half the dowry. So don’t come crying to
me for more. And frankly dear, I really don’t give a damn about
your “rights”.
Sincerely,
Mother Nature
In a five
minute astoundingly simple yet brilliant video, “Immigration,
Poverty, and Gum Balls”, Roy Beck, director of www.numbersusa.ORG,
graphically illustrates the impact of endless immigration. Take five
minutes to see for yourself:
“Immigration by
the numbers—off the chart” by Roy Beck
This
10 minute demonstrationshows Americans the results of unending
mass immigration on the quality of life and sustainability for future
generations: in a few words “Mind boggling!” www.NumbersUSA.org
##
You
may contact Tim Murray: Tim
Murray, http://sinkinglifeboat.blogspot.com
or http://biodiversityfirst.googlepages.com,
said, “I came upon an orchestration, the environmental movement,
and all the musicians were playing violins to the tune of
“Overconsumption, overconsumption, overconsumption.” They refused
to play any other tune or use any other instrument to compliment that
narrow repertoire. Apparently some corporate donors were paying them
to be a one-trick pony.
##
Frosty Wooldridge
has bicycled across six continents – from the Arctic to the South
Pole – as well as eight times across the USA, coast to coast and
border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway
to Athens, Greece. In 2012, he bicycled coast to coast across
America. His latest book is: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art
of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, copies at 1 888 280
7715/ Motivational program: How to Live a
Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World by Frosty
Wooldridge, click:
www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com
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