"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
"George.com" wrote in message
...

sorry, I am going to get you started as I am going to enlarge the issue
a
little.

no. bad man. shoo!

The way I see it, there is a very real potential the human race (as
we currently enjoy ourselves) is phuqed. What makes me think that?
Arguably
the current methods and patterns of production and consumption we
'enjoy'
are unsustainable from an environmental perspective.

why do you think that wouldn't change, though? (admittedly, never as fast
as
one would like.)

because, as you say, change may never be as fast as one would like, or more
so IS NECESSARY. I am cynical about peoples preparedness to change anything
markedly until the shtf. By then it may be a little late.

This writer Diamond list 12 major (global) environmental problems: loss
of
natural habitat; loss of wild food sources including seafood; loss of
bio-diversity; loss of soil and soil nutrition; limits on major energy
sources; limits on freshwater availability (as well as water
degredation);
finite amounts of usuable sunlight; toxic chemicals; introduced pest
species; human produced gases deterimental to the atmosphere; polulation
growth; rising standards of living amongst the burgeoning population and
the
strains placed on the earths resources.
(snippage
A simple way of course would be for developed nations to ensure the 3rd
world remains 3rd world and therefore never develops our lifestyle
habits.

a far simpler (and, obviously, fairer, and obviously, smarter) way would
be
for the first world to downgrade, and for landholders of all kinds
(including those with only a balcony) to work together on just doing the
right thing. i mean, that sounds simplistic, but it's about that easy :-)

as the greens commonly say, we know we (the first world) are going to
_have_
to change, so why not do it in a timely manner, and it won't be at all
painful. :-)

ahuh, see my comment above.

i feel that being a first-world person certainly does NOT have to mean
consuming (anything) beyond one's allocation. it just doesn't. i know that
we (my family) have a pretty modest lifestyle compared to some people, but
modest doesn't mean miserable, sparse, joyless or desperate. it's merely
the
tiniest of mental adjustments & doing things a little differently.

I agree, something I am starting to practise in degrees. Just worries me a
little sometimes that maybe time will catch me out, there won't be enough
time left for me or mine to adapt sufficiently.

If you want an example of some of this go and visit Cuba. Look at their
economy/society in the 1980s, the 1990s and today.

Cuba didn't see the special period coming, though they had started to adapt
to some change. The guts ripped from their economy/society with the soviet
demise was a huge shock, something they responded to within a matter of
years but a massive shock to the system nevertheless.

rob