I agree that there is an "extraordinarily powerful information infrastructure, made up of TV, computers, the Internet, mobile phones and so on", but a lot of this infrastructure is controlled by organisations whose exist for self interest, rather than public good. Therefore it's hard to see how they can be made to help in achieving the change and sarcifice Peter says are needed, particularly if they perceive this as being counter to their interests.

Perhaps the most powerful tool in the hands of the ordinary person at present is the internet. We need more public opinion forums such as this one, that can reach out to larger proportions of the population.

Good to see someone putting up an alternative to the status quo. The more discussion there is about alternatives, the greater the chance of people thinking about the way they cuurently live their lives.

I'm not convinced that information is the way, in itself. A problem at the moment is that we are snowed under with information, much of it rubbish. Do a Google search and much of what you get will be commercial sites and porn.

Politicians are able to get away with murder, because people don't have the time or the interest to analyse the information, and separate the objective from the spin. The AWB fiasco is a good example - people's eyes have glazed over, spin and obfuscation have defused it.

Wonderful to read. Thanks Peter.

“….professional politicians who wield power in the interests of the dominant economic powers, mostly huge transnational corporations and global finance markets.”

Absolutely. Government has so profoundly lost its way, and basically become a tool of big business.

“….we need to re-engage people in a concern for the big picture.”

Bloody oath we do. And the progressively closer alliance between government at all levels and the dominant economic forces has taken us in precisely the opposite direction.

“……mostly just distracting us while our civilisation teeters on the edge.”

Just about everything is a distraction to what really matters. And what really matters – peak oil and sustainability, are barely even expressed by governments.

One of the greatest disappointments has been the Democrats and the Greens, which I thought were the forces that were trying to steer us towards sustainability. Not in a fit. So how do we effect the necessary change?

Good question Ludwig. It seems that the powers that be have got it wrapped up.

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I agree with Peterl. Forums such as this one are a really good way of gauging public opinion, offering suggestions and debating ideas between commoners and high-faluting experts and pollies in an unbiased format, unlike the old letters page of newspapers, that I used to partake in for many years.

Peter,

What about resources changing character. What about technology advances in response to market pressures. I don't doubt that the increasing price of oil is a difficult economic issue, but it is by no means the only source of energy.

What has been very interesting recently is that oil price rises have not caused oil shocks.

I tend to think that government and oil company planning is well under way for the next 50-100 years of transition to different methods/combinations of fuels for transportation. I don't have the sense it is a 10 year big bang task.

Why do you think it is so imminent?

Why do think Australia is ill equiped - we have the potential to produce more bio-fuel, uranium, coal, solar, hydro-electric power/resources than any other country in Asia.

I tend to think Australia could be driving bio-fuel cars in 30 or 40 years.

Why are you so pessimistic. Is this another socialist view point?

As for climate change - this is tough - Kyoto would only hault global warming by approximately 10 years in the next century and will not in any way stop it proceeding. It would take a far more radical and economically unpleasant approach to stop or reduce global warming - an approach that would keep poor countries in a backward stage of development as well.

Cheers,
Corin

Peter I agree with you, remember greedy people are blind people, so how do we make them see, to ban the collecting of rent and interest should be a step in the right direction, collectors are the sole cause of our problems,they take 95% of everything ,now before anyone writes back to say I am wrong , tell me how much they do take, I have spent more than a decade investigating their activities, 95% alway pops up,We must not forget those people who are only interested in the next life, we need challenge the God Clubs, make them ask their God to come down from Heaven this way we will get to the truth, they pray for their armys to be successfull[ kill kill kill] they ask God to curse their imaginary enemies, Have you ever seen firemen kneeling down asking God to put a fire out, religion is part of the problem, I would need 400pages to tell you what I know, what is the root cause of all our Problems, the story of Moses on the Mount, who in fact recieved Ten Promises from God, Solomon changed them to Commandments, because many of his slaves were commiting suicide, burning in hell for eternity closed that escape route, How many human beings have died because they did not do as commanded, when two people love each other they make promises they dont command each other, if you break a promise you can make it good later, if you break a command you can be legally executed, so maybe we should blame Solomon for Billions of human deaths , so who is this God that is being worshipped , those on their knees will tell you it is the God who created the Universe, if so why do they say he is helping them to destroy Gods creations, maybe the reason is they worship a antichrist disguised as God, if we rid this world of the collectors and antichrist we will all learn to walk on water because that is what we have to do to fix planet earth,

Bravo Peter.

Information for all and with it the ability to understand and to change the way we do things will help us solve the problems.

I have no idea what the solutions will be but I am sure they are out there and they will be found. There are ways for us to cooperate and solve the big problems to everyone's mutual advantage. They involve the use and dissemination of information which in turn becomes understanding then knowledge and finally action.

It is exciting living and participating in a revolution - and we can all be part of it:) I like to think of it as the ultimate reality entertainment.

I've heard some comments on ABC National News radio regarding the Port Arthur massacre 10 years ago. Pity is, this reporter still believes, that Martin Bryant - who is supposed to have the IQ of an 11 year old - committed the crime. As an ex-soldier I can guarantee anyone, that this is a physical impossibility. To kill that many people in the timespan it was done requires a very highly trained and dedicated assassin.
Is it possible, that our so-called reporters are incapable of putting two and two together? Or are they simply being prevented from reporting the truth?
Anyone interested in the facts may want to check out the website on the Great Australian Gun Law Con - things you are not supposed to know!.
Why have eyewitnesses been banned from testifying at the court-case? Why is this cover-up still going on? What has our Government to hide, to let an innocent rot in prison? Why were the new gun laws written weeks BEFORE the massacre and yet cite it for the reason for the new gun laws? Has anyone out there got an opinion on this?

Thank-you Peter, for a warning and wake-up call. We sometimes become too complacent about environmental sustainability and hope that nature will take care of itself, and adjust. The increased number of cyclones, like that of Cyclone Larry in Northern Queensland are part of this adjustment and the results have been devastating. We need to get to the route of the problem to reduce these sorts of weather patterns. What action do we need to take ?

You speak about Peak Oil as being imminent. A case in point would be Zimbabwe where Peak Oil has almost been reached ! They have almost run out of oil. They don’t have the natural resources and due to the drain on the government coffers, they have run out of money to import oil. This has negatively impacted on local industry. The lesson to be learned from Zimbabwe is that the government needs to be proactive in ensuring environmental sustainability. Think of the Zimbabweans, do you want to ride a bike to work every day or at worst have to walk that 10 km each way in all weather conditions ?

(see http://www.fcnp.com/529/peakoil.htm for more details about Zimbabwe)

Thank you Peter for the informative article.
I believe that the people get the government they deserve.
If we are content to elect politicians and then let them do as they like until the next election then we will continue to destroy the environment.
I hope that with an increase in the number of retired people that, we will move towards a system of government where the politicians are responsible to their electorates and less so to their party.

Peace, I think your comment that " people get the government they deserve" is very unfair and unsympathetic. I can list a number of countries where fair and just elections are a joke and voting is purely for show. Even if elections do take place, to vote for a party, is to vote for a lesser evil. Furthermore, when voting for a party, you take the good with the bad.
Getting back to Peter's article, it's ironic that world politics is focussed on "economic growth and terrorism," when both are so intrinsically entwined with the environment. We rely heavily on natural resources for our day-to-day activities. Without natural resources, there is no economic growth and in some instances, terrorism would no longer be a threat. As we replete our natural resources and they become more valuable with their scarcity, control of natural resources is a means to political control.
By people like us, the electorate, discussing the real issues, hopefully we will make an impact on what happens in government chambers and future laws that will be made.

Cay. You are right, I was referring to the countries in which people are free to vote for the person of their choice. There are of course many countries where the people have little or no choice in who governs them.