The most important ontological issue ever faced by humans,

 and how we deal with it will determine the degree to which we create a sustainable existence for ourselves and our descendants.

The link below will take you to an open access book.  It's free, no cost to you at all, and published by Springer Nature, Switzerland.  You can download it either as a pdf or epub file.  In both cases, the Table of Contents has active links to each topic.

There's also the option to buy a hardcover copy.  It's pricey.  You may want to see if a used copy is available at Thriftbooks.com

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-99031-2

Based on my half-century-long study of ecology and human impact 

on the environment, I contend that this book is one of the most 

important ever written.  Some people steeped in formal religion, or 

science, or both, might find it outrageous.  Hopefully, they also will be 

open-minded enough to at least consider the concepts presented.

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Be Well

Desertification of almost ALL of the USA...

 is accelerating.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJABxjcvUc&list=WL&index=90

The geologist, John Wesley Powell, predicted it well over 100 years ago, and tried to get Congress to mitigate it.  Too bad they didn't listen; worse, they (in general) still aren't listening.  This short clip is about geography, ecology, population dynamics, food, politics, and FRESH WATER availability.

It should be a much needed wake-up call for a paradigm shift in USA politics.  Spread this video far & wide, and maybe there's a chance for that.  

We are in dire need of a whole new bunch of politicians in DC.  Most Repubs and Dems should be shunned.  They are stuck in the past and have a myopic view of the mother of all existential crises - ecological overshoot.  Not only that, but they also support and promulgate a destructive type of capitalism which is almost nothing like the capitalism of Adam Smith.

If we don't take all this seriously, then our kids and grandkids will be facing a fairly miserable existence in the relatively near future.  Unfortunately, we currently (in general) are too distracted by bread, circuses, political dogma, and propaganda to fully appreciate what's needed for a brighter future.  Most of us "can't see the forest for the trees".  We're looking at only some parts of the whole, not thinking comprehensively or holistically.  Those who believe it's all being (or will be) handled, or don't believe any of it is a significant problem, apparently are mired in ignorance.  That must change if our progeny and their progeny are to have any degree of security and comfort in the near future.

Much can be done fairly immediately on the micro-scale:

stop drinking the divisive propaganda koolaid put out by Repubs & Dems;

kick out of office the stale, stuck-in-the-past, dogmatic DC politicians;

learn all you can about ecological overshoot;

[Note---  "I don't have any spare time for this" is something I hear regularly.  Okay, but be aware:  if you don't find or make the time, then your inaction contributes to a miserable existence for your progeny, most likely starting within ten years.]

forget about political Parties...vote for those who are ecologically literate;

as much as possible, stop buying junk products;

support laws which are ecologically sound (identifying same is not always easy); 

believe almost nothing put out by the petrochemical industry and/or the politicians who are in the back pocket of that industry;

learn all you can about genuine sustainability.

"lobby" (so to speak) whenever you can for sustainability;

and there's much more, but I'm out of time.  

p.s.  Think hard about the significance of the following to your family & friends: according to numerous legitimate sources, by or before 2040 large pockets of N. America no longer will have year-round access to fresh water.  That is, such will be the case unless we make changes ASAP.  The same applies to the world in general.  If that doesn't motivate you to "make the time", I don't know what will.  Most politicians are not dealing with this in any significant way; instead, they're greenwashing the water crisis.  Additionally, my best guess:  they aren't even aware of the soil crisis and how that will exacerbate the USA's soon-to-be food crisis.  Finally, I doubt they're aware of the extent of the desertification of this country, how much it's advancing, and how such will affect us in the not too distant future.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Mountains of Rubbish...and They're Called "Products"

 Too many manufacturers continue to churn out mountains of rubbish.  They refer to such rubbish as their products.  The clothing, toy, and high-tech industries are especially egregious in this regard. Most household goods (including appliances) are not far behind.  To make things worse, too many consumers continue to buy the junk.  I suppose that's partly due to the fact that quality, durable goods are more & more difficult to find these days.  However, I suspect the main reason is the cheap price of junk.  Consumers seem to believe they're getting a genuine bargain.  Advertising half-truths and outright lies also are to blame.

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

"Comfort junk" is much like "comfort food".  It 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.

BOYCOTT 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 & regulations (which are starting to spring forth) that combat planned obsolescence.  See the article at the link above.  This is a nonpartisan issue through & through.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

How most billionaires damage the economy

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Mx1koLOGc

Unfortunately, too many people believe the myth that billionaires help the economy.  This short clip (7.5 minutes) from Wired magazine explains why a "wealth tax" is necessary.  [As I stated in the previous post, the first permanent Income Tax in the USA was such a tax.  It applied to only 2% of the population.  Not long after that, legislators were lobbied over & over by the Rich, and we wound up with the current set-up.]

There's nothing wrong with being rich if one acts responsibly and helps society by paying their fair share.  To get where they are, billionaires stood on the shoulders of society via education, infrastructure, networks, communication, civility in our habitat & relations, etc.  In addition, perhaps they had a bit of luck:  maybe born on third base, maybe smarter than the average person, or taken under the wing of someone with wealth/influence/power.  In any case, there's no such thing as a "self-made" billionaire.  That's another myth.  

Any super-rich person should be willing & happy to help out society by means of a wealth tax.  Humans are a social species, and that includes those in the Upper Crust. 

Watch the clip at the link above; see if it makes sense to you.

From Inequality.org---

67%.  Now, someone please tell me how anyone still believes our elected politicians in DC represent the Will of the People.  It doesn't appear they do in this instance.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Here's a glaring example of wealth inequality

 [If an asset's price has increased and you haven't yet sold it, you have an "unrealized capital gain".] See below---

When the first permanent Income Tax legislative bill was passed into Law (there was a temporary one during our Civil War), wages were not taxed, only capital gains were. The tax applied to only about 2% of the adult population.

During the Golden Age of American Capitalism (right after WW II to the "Nixon Shock" in 1971), the Upper Crust was taxed at a rate of up to 90%...and they remained wealthy. Now they whine if they have to pay at a rate of 30%.

Be Well

COP 27 more or less confirms my hypothesis

On this blog and before COP 27, I hypothesized the following:  the world's public and private Powers-That-Be have no intention whatsoever of transitioning away from fossil fuels.  COP 27, like all its predecessors, failed to endorse the phasing out of all fossil fuels.  They did call for phasing out coal, but not oil and natural gas.  Why?

The answer is simple:  oil and gas almost are the perfect energy sources to enable the pursuit of infinite, ever-expanding, economic growth.  Compared to renewables, they are - or more accurately, once were - more convenient, cheaper to obtain, packed with more punch, and the infrastructure for extraction & distribution already is pretty much developed.  As to any problems created by fossil fuel use, no worries, new technology will solve them.  At least, that's most likely how the linear thinking, neoliberal petroleum supporters view the situation.

Many other people see things through the lens of comprehensive thinking, nonlinearity, and complexity theory.  Or, they simply apply common sense to the whole thing.  Their conclusions are quite different, and they've been warning us about our current state for decades.  Plus, the freight train which will hit us relatively soon involves much more than climate disruption.

Either we will significantly address the impending catastrophes of appalling air-water-soil pollution, soil loss, natural ecosystem destruction, overharvesting of forests and fish, the toxic forever-chemicals, the ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemicals now found in our food & water, nuclear wastes, polluting-destructive-perpetual war, biodiversity loss, the spread of disease, and more, or Mother Nature will.  She already has started.

With some exceptions around the world (the USA is not one of them), it's beginning to appear that positive action by individual countries on the scale required is not going to happen.  Therefore, it's up to smaller political entities - states/provinces, counties, local cities & towns - to adopt and implement sustainable policies ASAP.  At least then, some areas will have a somewhat better chance of weathering the coming disasters.  Which disasters?  Things like severe food shortages, a lack of fresh, clean water, a lack of jobs, a sense of insecurity & perhaps despair, the feeling of living in an atomized society, a lack of Nature, etc.  Much is being done in some areas, and much more can be done everywhere.  Search out solutions; they're all over the internet.  Tons of them.  We're in ecological overshoot already, and whether everyone sees it or not, the human race is in dire straits.  Even if only on a local or regional level, we can mitigate the Crisis to one degree or another.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Climate Change & other eco-disasters are SYMPTOMS of ""THE meta-problem of humanity - ecological overshoot"

Prof. William E. Rees is one of the best comprehensive thinkers now on our planet.  In the short talk at the link below, he explains why the Establishment generally is on the wrong path regarding solutions to the ongoing Eco-Crisis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3nCFwhV-9E&list=WL&index=91

For the most part, our public and private policy makers are dealing with symptoms of the Crisis, while more or less ignoring the meta-problem of eco-overshoot.  We humans are gobbling up resources faster than Earth can regenerate them.  In addition, we're filling up waste sinks (bodies of water, the atmosphere, etc.) with pollutants faster than Earth can assimilate & neutralize them.  Finally, our "solutions" to the Crisis are almost all in the framework of perpetual growth with more & more consumption.  This won't work; Rees brilliantly explains why not in the concise clip above.  [The first person you see merely is introducing the good Professor.]

If you truly wish to understand the path we need to be on, this video is a must-see.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well