The Mother of All Feedback Loops re Human Society

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

Quote: "...whether God-given, biologically endowed, or just taken for granted."

This masterfully written essay clearly shows aggregate humanity is on a most destructive path re nonhuman animals.  [ https://greattransition.org/gti-forum/solidarity-animals-crist ]  Despite that bad news, the author inspires to the Nth degree.  At least read the first three paragraphs.  Judith Crist is a wordsmith of the highest order.  Reading her article is well worth the time.

Crist goes on to unravel/unpack the paradox of our love of animals existing simultaneously with the structural violence we impose upon them.  Then, too, she brilliantly recounts the history and heritage of John Rodman's "Differential

Imperative" - how we, in order to soothe our conscience, assign inordinate value to the difference between us and other animals.  [I say "other animals" because we're part of the biological Animal Kingdom; obviously, we aren't plants or microorganisms:]

Next, Crist relays how indigenous societies have (in general) treated nonhuman animals with respect, compassion, and the dignity they deserve while using them for human purposes.  A much needed lesson for us all.

Finally, she explains how mistreatment and misuse of animals has spilled over to include human-to-human interaction, and our degradation of the ecosphere.  Someday we'll all learn:  "everything is connected to everything else" ~ Barry Commoner, 1971 (another masterful wordsmith).

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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

MAGA should become MAMA: $50 TRILLION has been taken from Main Street

 https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/make-america-mad-again-tax-the-rich

Mad about what?...trickle-down economics, that's what.

For a bit over forty years, the USA has encouraged/supported "trickle-down" economics.  It has been a resounding success...for the Super-Rich.  They mined the gold; and Main Street got the shaft.  There's nothing "Great" about such economics; but Trump thinks there is.

At the link above, a Time magazine article which explains all this is discussed/analyzed by Paul Buchheit, an economic justice author.  He does a great job in this opinion piece of showing how MAGA ignores the reality of the last forty years.

To put $50 trillion into perspective, let's compare the number one million to the number one billion in the framework of "time".  One million seconds (of time) = about twelve days, and one billion seconds = about thirty-one years.  As you know, the number one trillion = 1,000 times one billion.

Often the Upper 1% of income earners like to imply (or state outright) that they pulled themselves up the ladder of wealth by their own bootstraps (so to speak).  Taking the vast High Tech Industry as an example, let's look at what really happened.

In the beginning (the 1950's), High Tech development was funded almost entirely by taxpayer dollars via the Defense Department.  If it hadn't been for public money, which was massive for that industry, development would have been held back for who knows how long.  [Even today, significant government contracts are awarded to High Tech companies and other mega businesses.]  So, whose bootstraps?

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

More on: "Choices & Change on the Path to a Sustainable Existence..."

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSSVWB3N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

If you would like a free pdf copy, email me with the title, "Choices & Change".

Below is a list of major topics in the book---

• why we're blind to the Big Picture regarding the "carbon pulse" (fossil energy), and what it will take to transition away from it;
• why the pursuit of infinite economic growth must be abandoned ASAP;
• our blindness regarding mineral requirements for a Green economy;
• while "Going Green" is necessary, unfortunately the present approach by the Powers-That-Be is insufficient;
• why we are not superior to and separate from Nature;
• why our society must convert from high-energy use to low-energy use;
• 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;
• ecological overshoot is THE problem, but Powers-That-Be mostly are trying to address only the symptoms of that;
• why there's a soil crisis, and the best choices for resolving it;
• ditto for the fresh water crisis;
• ditto for the food crisis;
• why healthy ecosystems and biodiversity are the bedrock of our existence;
• how factory farming is ruining agriculture, and the best choice forward;
• what many people don't seem to understand about science;
• what is "sustainability", and numerous examples of it;
• the shift in our ethics which is necessary for humans to survive and thrive;
• the propaganda coming from the Corporatocracy;
• why the petrochemical industry must be reined-in;
• why "The Market" can't solve the ill effects of Climate Change; and
• what's needed for a bright future for us and our descendants.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Ecological Ignorance of U.S. Presidents REDUX

I posted the essay below a year ago; it's even more relevant now..........................

 https://www.democracynow.org/2023/1/25/frida_berrigan_doomsday_clock

It borders on insanity that common folks in the relatively free countries (out of 9 total***) which produce & own nuke weapons aren't persistently calling for a ban on such weapons.  Even a number of high-ranking military folks, such as retired Colonel Andrew Bacevich, have stated nukes are unnecessary for the defense of any nation.

[***Many more than 9 "host" (or endorse) U.S. nukes]

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists now have their "Doomsday Clock" set at 90 seconds to midnight.

All our recent Presidents are in favor of so-called "lower yield, tactical" nukes.  Obama launched a 10-yr program (continued by Trump & Biden) to expand and upgrade our nuke arsenal.  Such action demonstrates an ecological ignorance beyond comprehension.

On top of all that, more production of nukes means more nuke waste (which produces ionizing radiation for thousands of years).  The waste we have already is temporarily being stored at whatever site generates it.  That's been going on since the mid-1940's.  There have been big problems, and they continue.

Ike's "military-industrial complex" rolls on, and very few people seem to care, or maybe they feel there's nothing they can do about it.  Here's something you can do about it:

https://www.icanw.org/join  And here's part of why you should,

https://www.icanw.org/nuclear_arsenals

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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

"Choices & Change on the Path to a Sustainable Existence..."

 My second book is now available at the link below.  Please read the Description, in which I discuss who probably would enjoy the read and who would not.    

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSSVWB3N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

If interested at all in sustainability, you may also want to read a sample of the Introduction.  Click on "Read Sample" in the upper left quadrant of the page.  From time to time, I'll post other excerpts on this venue.  A hardback version will out soon.  I doubt that an eBook will be because (as I learned with the first book) getting it up and out is somewhat of a nightmare for a High Tech Dummy like me - even if I hire someone to do the eBook formatting.  😵

In any case, Thanks to All for your consideration, and 

Happy Trails,

Scott

Wars around the world currently are being run by thugs

 Civil society is being egregiously damaged, essentially torn apart.  Putin (in his defense) was backed into a corner by expansion of NATO to the East; then he reacted like a thug.  With October 7, the Leadership of Hamas became criminal thugs.  [Yes, Gaza and the West Bank have been strangled by Israel's politicians for decades; but that's no justifiable excuse to brutally murder civilians, including children.]  Netanyahu and crew certainly were entitled to a response; but for weeks their over-reaction has become criminal thuggery.  No time to summarize the various thugs in parts of Africa and even in South America.

While Biden is not a thug, he 's supporting the thuggery of Israeli Leadership by supplying weapons, ammo, and military intelligence against Gaza.  So, in essence, he gives aid to:

a)  the bombing of medical facilities, ambulances, civilian residences, schools, UN shelters, refugee camps, and whole areas where Palestinians were sent because they supposedly were "safe" areas; and,

b)  the killing of CHILDREN; and,

c)  the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians; and,

d)  the intentional starving of them as well.

While all that may not make him a thug, arguably it does place him on the border of being not only unlawful and heartless, but insane as well.  [No, I'm not trained in clinical psychology.  But a wise man once told me:  "You don't have to be a master carpenter to recognize a shack.":]

This is all so Orwellian that it's truly mind-boggling.  Why people keep electing Establishment thugs (for example, Netanyahu and the micro-thug, Trump), to office is beyond my comprehension.  If not thugs, we elect dogmatic, stuck-in-the-Past, corporatist-supporting people with no vision and zero capability of thinking comprehensively (e. g., Biden, Bush, and again, Trump).

In this country, Elizabeth Warren should be elected President, or someone along the lines (back when) of the Republican Senator, Mark Hatfield, a truly honorable politician; or, someone like George McGovern, another honorable Senator.  Instead, we get either wannabe Fascists or slumbering, corporatist drones.  C'est la vie

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

p.s.  War is mostly for the benefit of Big Biz, and a distraction from the shrinking of the Middle Class.