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The Forum > Article Comments > Back to basics: averting global collapse > Comments

Back to basics: averting global collapse : Comments

By Peter McMahon, published 7/9/2007

We need to face the reality. There are material limits to growth, and we must think up a new set of ideas to run our global civilisation.

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Thanks Peter,

This article address the one critical issue that should be at the front of everyone's mind.

Visitors may be interested to see how I have expressed, in a different way, some of the same ideas raised by Dr Peter MacMahon at http://candobetter.org/about
Posted by daggett, Friday, 7 September 2007 12:55:05 PM
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APEC HAS FORGOTTEN VILLAGE FARMERS. South East Asia an Overlooked Success - Farmers who have given up a source of their livelihood, where governments had succeeded in slashing poppy cultivation are struggling to find subsistance - livilhood - an income.

STOP THE VIOLENCE - alternative economic strategics required

We ALL have the knowledge to help DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.

We MUST PROBLEM SOLVE!

The border zone between Burma, Thailand and Laos that was once the world's most prolific supplier of opium, is still on conflict on issues of liberty and livilhood.

Farmers have no income. More has to be done to find alternative crops and enterprises to help village farmers and their families.

Burma's "roadmap" is not working. Situation is still extremely fragile... Myanmar's 53 million people wish for support to restore civilian rule. Political roadmap needs to be as inclusive, participatory and transparent as possible.

Displaced People in Burma Call for International Action and Economic Support. HELP APEC FIND FOCUS for VILLAGE FARMERS

http://www.miacat.com/
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Posted by miacat, Friday, 7 September 2007 1:04:07 PM
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Relax, folks, these problems will be solved by the usual methods that have been tried and tested since the dawn of history.

The shortage of resources will be solved by having a little war to decide who gets the available resources, and who gets nothing.

The problem of world overpopulation will be solved by the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Posted by plerdsus, Friday, 7 September 2007 2:30:58 PM
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Mother nature kept her children in line by tossing plagues,wars, diseases at them but now her offspring have got pretty canny about such things and have created vaccines and insecticides. Wars are not fashionable and will go out. But the world's children are still land clearing at an enormous rate as the population grows , thus rainfall is less and less in some places and instead of natural bush we now have a sea of roofs. This is called progress.
Governments weep tears about the lack of drinkable water but still allow private swimming pools and garden feature fountains. They are far more concerned about the cost of water than the sustainable provision of it.
And why keep up a heavy immigration intake when there is not the utilities to go round?
Posted by mickijo, Friday, 7 September 2007 3:20:14 PM
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“these problems will be solved by the usual methods that have been tried and tested since the dawn of history.” (plerdsus).

History – written or oral – its dawn came long after those problems showed up. Wars to decide who gets the available resources have been taking place among the rodents ever since there were rodents. As they have among other species, across the spectrum to fungi.

It is fundamentalist arrogance to assume we, alone among all species, can go on proliferating and consuming to infinity.
Humans are animals, subject to biological limits the same as all other life forms.

The sooner we follow economic and social realities within those constraints, the better the chances of civilized advancement. There is a fat chance of that, while our PM rabbits on about growth, sans its downsides, and our treasurer advocates an increasing birth rate.

Fundamentalism currently reigns supreme – and yes, it has humanity’s direction firmly set. It has our wagon harnessed to the Four Horsemen; and gormless humanity will, without the necessary changes, get to an unattractive destination – needlessly. Much the same as rats and mice.
Posted by colinsett, Friday, 7 September 2007 3:21:46 PM
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For those who lie awake at night, worried about how civilisation is doomed to collapse as we run out of natural resources and hit Nature's limits (and I've been there myself), can I strongly recommend you at least read Julian Simons' "Ultimate Resource", the classic "cornucopian" text, available here: http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/
You may not (as I do not) agree with all of his views, and there are definitely shortcomings with some of his arguments, but he writes very well and accessibily, and gives very good reasons why much of the worry over resource limits is unjustified. Reading Simons certainly went a long way towards convincing me that the best possible chance we have of surviving is continued economic growth and technological development, although I dispute his conclusion that the best way to achieve this is to grow our population without limit.
Posted by wizofaus, Friday, 7 September 2007 3:47:42 PM
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