The High Tech danger you know little-to-nothing about, & Trump is a pawn in the whole scenario

https://steadystate.org/is-the-election-a-civilizational-turning-point-why-musk-is-really-backing-trump/?blm_aid=122634

How much do you know about Transhumanism?  The concept has been in existence for years and years.  With recent advances in A.I., it has started to advance in leaps and bounds.  Backed by a few physicists, several billionaires and others, Transhumanism is now on the brink of starting to change civilization forever.  For the most part, those changes will be horrendous for Main Street and Heaven-on-Earth for the Elites.

Politicians such as Trump and Vance are pawns in this existential game, and I doubt they even know it.  I imagine their supporters on Main Street are even less aware of what's going on.  By the way, this is NOT a "conspiracy theory".  It has been right out in the open for years.  YouTube has lots of pieces about it.  I think it has been ignored by most of us because it's so bizarre...seemingly impossible in our minds.  Guess what?  It's no longer impossible.

SUGGESTION:  read the article at the link above.  Then read it again.  Then do whatever you can (as long as it's legal) to wake up your political representatives to the need for A.I. legislation ASAP.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"Climate Engineering: Doubling Down on Bad Habits"

https://steadystate.org/climate-engineering-doubling-down-on-bad-habits/

In general, it seems Technocrats are not aware of and are ruining human alignment with the continuity of the ecosphere.  Also, I suspect they are more or less innocently unaware of the elements of the ecosphere - the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere (aka, geosphere) - and how those elements are deeply and intricately interrelated.  They make up the Earth System, which is one giant ecosystem (with many sub-ecosystems).

It appears to me that their geoengineering plans (related to climate) are nothing more than efforts to avoid the reduction of carbon emissions.  The reasoning seems to be:  let's alter the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth and/or suck carbon out of the air, so we can keep burning fossil fuels into infinity.  Those scenarios are not well thought out.  See the spot-on article at the link above.

If these climate engineering plans ever get up to the required scale, negative unintended consequences are a distinct probability.  Efforts to control Nature are a Techno-fantasy.  While short-term success often is achieved, in almost all cases disaster or near-disaster eventually is the unintended result.  The Agricultural Green Revolution(s) of a bit over fifty years ago is a prime example.  [For details, see Chapter 2 in my second book, Choices & Change on the Path to a Sustainable Existence...", OR read the excerpt here - https://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com/2024/02/excerpt-from-choices-change-on-path-to.html .

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"Unseen Costs of Net Zero", Simon Michaux

To be clear:  YES, we do need to GO GREEN.  The Establishment and much of Main Street, however, apparently are not aware of exactly what it will take to do so.  They also seem to be unaware of the scale needed for such a transformation, and of the entire mining-minerals-metals situation.

The current thinking of most people who support a transition to Green energy appears to be as follows.  Here's what we'll do:

a)  get off petroleum and all its products;

b)  build a large number of Green energy gizmos;

c)  electrify all transport vehicles (personal and commercial);

d)  scale up nuclear energy, if necessary;

e)  recycle and reuse materials;

f)   increase energy efficiency;

g)  use carbon offsets and cap & trade to balance things out; and

h)  with all the above in place, we can continue the pursuit of infinite economic and population growth on our finite planet.

Sounds great, eh?!

But there's a massive problem (which The Establishment doesn't want to acknowledge), and here it is---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGvTbB38bwA&list=WL&index=68

Infinite growth is not necessary for humans to thrive, and for the sake of all life on Earth, it must cease.  Do a Search for "CASSE top 10 policies for a steady state economy".  Read anything by Herman Daly.  Neoliberal/neoclassical economics is not sacrosanct.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"The System" is a Superorganism, & it craves GROWTH at any cost

  "The System" is a Superorganism which started about 10,000 yrs ago with the advent of the raising of annual grains which could be stored.  Ag surplus made division of labor possible, and that yielded hierarchy and inequality.  No conspiracy, just social evolution.  The System kept growing and expanding until eventually it was a runaway machine...with no one at the helm.  Exactly what we have today.  And it just keeps expanding.  It ignores biophysical limits, which means it's bound to collapse.  The only thing in question is "when".

Constant "Growth" requires ever more fossil ENERGY.  The problem is:  "easy energy" (cheap in cost and easily extractable from the ecosphere) - for all practical purposes - is gone.  Never mind (not really) the environmental damage caused by fossil energy; soon the "Energy Return on Investment" (EROI) will discourage investors.  Plus, compounding the problem, manufacturing renewable energy at the required scale requires:  (1) massive amounts of new mining and refining of dozens of metals and other minerals, many of which also are no longer "easy"; and (2) a huge expansion of power transmission lines, the "energy grid".  Both (1) & (2) require significant amounts of time and investment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=undp6sgCIX4

Growth requires more energy, and more of that enables our society to become more complex, and then more complexity requires even more energy.  Establishment thinkers believe such a situation can continue without restraint.  Infinite Growth.  They appear to think Technology and increasing efficiency will allow such to continue.  The Laws of Nature (especially in Physics and Ecology) say otherwise.  We must convert from high-energy use to low-energy use if we are to survive and thrive.

BOTTOM LINE---  Growth of "The System" needs to be not only reduced, but also eventually eliminated.  We humans have used more energy in the last thirty years than in the prior 150 years, and demand for energy still is increasing.  Such a scenario simply is not sustainable.

RELATED NOTE---  Growth also can be one of several causes of war:  https://steadystate.org/the-crisis-in-the-middle-east-is-a-crisis-of-growth/?blm_aid=122634 

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Suggestions for helping to mitigate the socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis of the Ages

 In the spheres of---

1.  Regenerative Agriculture...

Support and work with The Land Institute.  Here's a letter/email being sent by supporters to legislators in the USA  (modified for something similar to perennial grain, the letter campaign could be done in other countries as well)---

As you consider the appropriations bill to fund the USDA for fiscal year 2024, I want to request that you: appropriate 7 million dollars to the USDA for Kernza research.

The cultivation of Kernza® perennial grain for human-edible grain, livestock forage, and conservation plantings offers the potential to create new income streams for American farmers, diversify cropping systems, sequester carbon, and support healthy ecosystems in rural communities. Kernza is the first commercially viable perennial grain crop in the world. American researchers, millers, bakers, brewers, food companies, and farmers are paving the path for this ecologically-friendly cropping system to become a major food and forage crop. There is a strong and urgent need to support ongoing work now to foster this growing community of stakeholders.

With an appropriation of 7 million dollars to the USDA in fiscal year 2024 for Kernza research, you will directly support government, academic, industry, farmer, business, and non-profit partners who are invested in seeing increases in yield and acres planted for this perennial grain, growth in our nutritional information for producers, and a holistic understanding of the ecosystem service benefits that Kernza can provide.

2.  Fashion...

Boycott so-called "Fast Fashion".  Here's an excerpt from my still-in-progress second book (on sustainability)---

Examples of Activities/Practices/Institutions Lacking Sustainability

The So-Called “Fast Fashion” Industry

This worker and ecology unfriendly industry makes poor quality clothes, produces them at an extremely rapid pace, and sells them at super cheap prices. It appeals primarily to young people (usually between ages 18 and 24), and marketing takes place to a large degree on social media. Buyers don’t expect the clothes to last much longer than about a month or two, or being worn perhaps ten times. Then they wind up in a landfill...tons of them. Buyers don’t mind the short lifespan because they’re pressured on social media to constantly wear something new with a different design.

In general, workers at Fast Fashion factories are treated much like cattle, and are expected to work long hours, sometimes twelve hours per day. This happens in China, where the industry first took root, and in several other Asian countries. Reports by documentary film makers indicate that finished products from these places sometimes are contaminated with lead-based pigments. On social media, buyers are told to wash the clothes before wearing them. Apparently they believe such action totally eliminates the risk from toxic lead. It does not. In addition to long hours, workers also endure low wages, unsafe conditions, and sometimes physical assaults and sexual abuse. The industry is an egregious disaster.

A company by the name of Shein (pronounced she-in), which was founded in China in 2008 under the name ZZKKO by a U.S.-born Chinese American, is now the top dog in the industry. It’s a $100 billion company. All from junk clothes.

The entire Fast Fashion industry should be boycotted/shunned. It’s an insult to civilized society, its factory workers, and Mother Earth. I hope everyone chooses to boycott it.

3.  Other junk products:  get on board with this movement...

https://steadystate.org/ending-planned-obsolescence-a-nonpartisan-movement-for-steady-staters-to-support/

"Comfort junk" is much like "comfort food".  Junk often looks good and seems satisfying, but such does not necessarily mean that it's good for you.  For one thing, it doesn't last.  You have to replace it about five to ten times more often than you normally would if it were durable.  And yet, we keep buying it.  Thus, too much waste keeps being dumped into the ecosphere.  We're already way over the amount Nature can assimilate, and it just keeps getting worse.

Here are two more things everyone can do to help our journey to sustainability. Whenever possible, BOYCOTT ALL junk.  If that involves a change in lifestyle, so be it. Our biophysical, natural support system cannot take ever-increasing amounts of waste without serious consequences to us and all life. SUPPORT laws and regulations (which are starting to spring forth) that combat planned obsolescence.  See the online article at the link above.  This is a nonpartisan issue through and through, so personal Party politics should not restrain you.

We are in the Crisis of the Ages. I propose the following hypothesis: the Crisis (in general) is manifesting itself as a philosophical battle between Modern-Day Naturalists and Mega Corporate Technocrats. It’s monumental, and it affects every single one of us. The needed solutions to our problems are known. We must choose to implement them, but the ongoing battle seems to be preventing implementation at the required scale.

4.  Economics, ecology, & in general:  join (or at least follow) one or more of these organizations...

Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

MAHB - Stanford University

 [ Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere]

https://www.icanw.org/ [International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner]

The Land Institute: Natural Systems Agriculture

https://www.arborday.org/

They all are doing significant work for the implementation of sustainability on planet Earth.

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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

I don't know anything about this man, but...

 he's about 99% on the mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgXda61MtWE

This short clip gives you a condensed view of the last 50 years of the U.S. Government's economic philosophy.  One of the best lines in the piece is:  "We've basically had the same President since 1982, & yes, that includes the Black one.".  [Relative to economics]  Amen.  

This is why for 50 years we've been experiencing the greatest transfer of wealth to the Upper Crust in all of human history.  The clip explains it to a "T".  It's the best 12-minute lesson in economics you'll ever experience.  It also clearly demonstrates why I keep saying:  except for a few social hot-button issues, it doesn't matter one whit whether Dems or Repubs are the majority in the Fed Gov't.

The remedy for all this is fairly simple in concept.  Vote the neoliberal politicians out of office.  Unfortunately, rampant propaganda in the USA (and elsewhere) kills any desire/will to do so.  A change is required, and it seems to me education is the key to launching such change.  [Perhaps better stated: "...the key to continuing such change."] So, whenever appropriate, start educating people.  Or, if you like the current system, then don't start.  Naturally, it's your choice.

If you really don't have (and can't make) the time to counter the neolib propaganda, then support outfits which do; or, at least suggest to people - when appropriate - that they might find such groups interesting.

Here are only a few of those outfits (in no particular order):

https://earthjustice.org/

https://woods.stanford.edu/

https://mahb.stanford.edu/what-is-the-mahb/

https://steadystate.org/

https://www.gp.org/

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

This is more or less further confirmation of the hypothesis which states:

 the public and private Powers-That-Be have no intention whatsoever of transitioning fully from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgOEGKDVvsg&list=WL&index=83&t=2182s  [Mining alone will make it unworkable in the needed time frame.]

Title:  "The energy transition delusion:  inescapable mineral realities"

Mark Mills is with the Manhattan Institute and on the faculty at Northwestern U.

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/expert/mark-p-mills

He's a physicist, author, & entrepreneur.

The alternative (not in the video clip above) is to transition away from the paradigm of perpetual, ever-expanding, infinite economic growth on a finite Earth.  https://steadystate.org/  and

https://steadystate.org/discover/definition-of-steady-state-economy/

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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

GREAT, innovative article on Gold, Money, & Banking

 The info in the article at the link below is NOT the standard fare found regarding the title above.  I would venture to guess you haven't heard or seen three-fourths of it anywhere.  It's truly ground-breaking.

 https://steadystate.org/money-and-the-steady-state-economy/

The author, Herman E. Daly, died just recently at 84.  He was a giant in Ecological Economics, & pretty much ignored/suppressed by the Establishment.  One of the reasons for that:  he believed "money" is a public utility, & should not be created out of thin air by private banks (which it is, via fractional reserve banking).

R.I.P., Prof. Daly.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"A Perfect Storm for Inflation...", and What to do About It

 https://steadystate.org/a-perfect-storm-for-inflation-covid-loose-money-and-putin/

and

https://steadystate.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/CASSE_Brief_TrophicStructureOfTheEconomy.pdf

Failure to recognize the importance of the "trophic structure of the economy" is a shortcoming of many policy makers, and it must be overcome if we are to survive & thrive both individually and as a species.  Without healthy, fertile soil, healthy plants, adequate access to fresh water, and clean air, we will be facing more & more economic, ecological, and societal disasters.

Severe inflation is a symptom, and it's not even the most damaging one.  The underlying cause is the disease (or, one could say, dis-ease) of ignorance of thermodynamic, biophysical, and trophic principles.  In plain language, it's the disease of the pursuit of unlimited growth in a finite habitat and overconsumption of energy & goods.  Negative/destructive results of such a pursuit are multi-faceted.  The damage caused by this disease is multi-pronged, and persistent.  Evidence of that can be seen by examining the current state of the world, a state which is the direct result of "growthism".

The way off our destructive path is to begin a gradual transition to a steady state economy.  Open your mind, and find out all you can about that option.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well