A short while ago, I posted the following as a small part of a new book description---
"the complex feedback loop involving constant economic growth, which requires more energy, which then creates more complexity in society, which then requires more energy, which then creates even more complexity, etc. is ruining our habitat;".
This essay is an expanded view of that concept.
In our past (and ongoing) pursuit of infinite economic growth, we've created a System, a "Superorganism" according to the ecologist, Nate Hagens. This System is so large, so filled with complexity, and so out-of-control that a) it can't be fully described, and b) it can't be reined-in, and c) it's ruining the ecosphere. It's the ultimate Rat-Race. It's a primary cause of our ecological overshoot. It's a runaway machine with no one at the helm. It's literally killing us, not only with pollutants, but also with food insecurity, the stress of job insecurity, inadequate health care facilities, wars, inequality and inequity, declining democracy, and the like. About twenty percent (maybe less) of Earth's human population are managing to stay afloat in the ongoing energy binge; the rest of us are in a slow descent to subsistence living.
[The twenty-six richest people on Earth own as much wealth as HALF the entire world's population combined. In a civil society, that's an obscenity. It's most likely also why the Rich and Powerful (perhaps with a few exceptions) want the runaway System to continue. They appear to not be long-term, comprehensive, holistic thinkers.]
The ever-increasing complexity is causing significant problems in the arenas of: global supply chains, manufacturing, transportation, consumption, extraction of natural resources, generation and distribution of electricity, health care equity, income inequality, institutional functioning, and more. As society becomes more complex, the need for more and more energy increases.
Even a High School biology student could tell you with a high degree of certainty that such a scenario is unsustainable on a planet with finite resources. Unfortunately, it appears most (not all) of the Powers-That-Be are relying on ideology, not science, to navigate through this current Crisis. They appear to believe the benefits of our 150-year energy binge are the norm, but fail to see the Mother of All Feedback Loops, and the negative externalities of fossil fuel use. They also don't seem to grasp the looming minerals problem relative to our necessary transition to Green Energy. Never mind the soil crisis and the impending food supply shortage.
According to the mining engineer and geologist, Simon Michaux, in about only five years there will be serious problems regarding necessary minerals for Green energy. In about ten years, agriculture also will be having significant problems. It all revolves around energy.
If we don't voluntarily reduce our energy use, we'll be forced to by lack of cheap, easily available, and abundant fossil fuels AND lack of cheap, easily available and necessary minerals (about 70 of them) for renewables. Less energy use will lessen eco-overshoot by leaps and bounds. It also will slow down the Rat-Race by lessening societal complexity. This all can happen if we phase out of infinite economic GROWTH, and phase into economic development in a steady state economy. [See https://steadystate.org/ ]
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Not only my opinion. Be Well, and Be Aware
