#2050 RESOURCE #DEPLETION SPELLS END OF INDUSTRIAL AGE

" We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"      - FDR

BLIP

Humanity's 300 year self-terminating experiment with industrialism

Since the inception of our industrial revolution, we increasingly ingenious Homo sapiens have been depleting - persistently and increasingly - the finite, non-replenishing, and increasingly scarce NNRs (nonrenewable natural resources) that enable our industrialized way of life, and our very existence.

Regrettably, because the NNR utilization behavior that enables our species' existence - and that is essential to perpetuating our existence - simultaneously undermines our existence, both our NNR utilization behavior and our resultant industrial lifestyle paradigm are unsustainable.

As a perverse consequence of our unparalleled ingenuity, we have become enmeshed in a self-inflicted, inescapable, and self-terminating "predicament" - we are doomed if we persist in our unsustainable NNR utilization behavior, and we are doomed if we do not - a predicament that will resolve itself catastrophically for humankind.

NATURE BATS LAST

The premise of "Blip" is that increasingly pervasive global NNR scarcity is causing faltering global human prosperity, which is causing increasing global political instability, economic fragility, and societal unrest.

This scenario will intensify during the coming decades and culminate in humanity's self-inflicted global societal (species) collapse, almost certainly by the year 2050.

"Blip" substantiates these seemingly inconceivable assertions by synthesizing the quantitative and qualitative evidence produced by hundreds of scientists, scholars, researchers, and analysts in the various physical sciences and behavioral sciences that address the origins and evolution of industrial humanity and human industrialism.

These experts produced the "dots", which are connected clearly and comprehensibly in "Blip".

We will soon discover that humanity's self-terminating experiment with industrialism represents a mere 300 year "blip" along the three million year timeline of human existence.

Dear Chris ;

Thanks so much for a copy of your recent book.  As always, excellent work.

Here are a few of my humble observations and thoughts, adding further despondency to the whole situation. 

Aggregating all NNRs from a planetary perspective, thereby creating a single theoretical planetary NNR unit to your lessons, should help clearly convey our grave circumstances, thusly causing even deeper concern among readers.

Following from the above, one could point out that it is our traditional economic theory that drove us into this abyss. And it still fails to acknowledge or understand the realities we now face in terms of certain economic collapse, particularly as NNRs diminishing returns will tie directly to the dilution and collapse of all currencies. Few will understand, it seems until it is much too late, that this is the true and primary cause of ALL Fiscal Cliffs - not our politicians, for sure.

The diminishing returns from the planetary NNR unit are also dramatically accelerated by population growth, climate change, and other related concerns. Throw into this mix, the demise of the supporting social, economic, and political frameworks, then the dark outcomes of diminishing returns get much deeper.

So, the only question to ponder now is: Where do we stand? And based on the projected extraction and consumption growth of the global NNR units, all other things being equal;   

HOW MUCH LONGER DO WE HAVE; EVEN ON A BEST CASE BASIS? 

Sincerely,

T. A. McNeil, B.Admin, CMA, CA

CEO - Founder

First Financial Insights Inc.

WATCH THE MOST IMPORTANT VIDEO EVER

#POTH - 30 YEARS NO #RESOURCES (NNRs) SEALS #HUMANITY'S FATE

Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge " - W Churchill  

First, I truly believe that there is almost no time left to create any long-term sustainable solution for the human predicament. In all likelihood, we have about 30 years left because we know civilization will collapse once we run out of key non-renewable resources (NNRs) and that would likely lead to wars, conflicts, and other horrors in the end-game process.  (See Blip Stanford Edu )

But we could also be wiped out before that time due to the consequences of either climate change or ecological destruction. Either one could spell the demise of homo sapiens in short order. Short of global genocide reducing the population by 90% or more - any other form of population or birth control would now be pointless given the terminal diseases noted.  We needed to be introducing population and growth control measures 200, or more years ago, before these diseases had a chance to become malignant.

Even if there was enough time, I would not, however, support and endorse violence nor race stratification policies of any form for moral, human, and historic reasons. We had already experienced that these tactics would lead to suppression, tyrannies, and criminal authoritarianism. Not healthy for the virtues of liberty, justice, equality, and democracy. Dangerous and ultimately deadly for all.

There is another approach one could consider that is less offensive and does not jeopardize human rights, social justice, and democracy to the same degree. It is still, however, a drastic measure with moral perils. That approach is the implementation of new taxation on individuals.

SO HOW MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE

Two new forms of tax could be leveled on both births and new-comers. If we view citizenship as being a right or benefit similar to a business entity's common shareholding, then it could be accorded an economic value that could be fairly and justifiably determined; then charged as a tax when it is acquired by birth or migration. For instance, the net present value of the benefits of a US birth maybe $250,00 for a  citizen's birth of their new-comer child, whereas other newcomers by way of foreigner childbirth in the country or an immigrating person would be taxed at a much higher level - say, $500,000.

Why the difference? Because current citizens and their forebears built the country and its inherent economic and social values- they are the invisible and unrecognized shareholders in the country or national enterprise whose past efforts are to be appreciated and monetized by the lower level of tax on their childbirths. The tax meanwhile also reflects the hypothetical future aggregate costs of climate, ecological, resource, and economic footprints over an expected lifespan of 80 years these people  - assuming highly optimistic current mortalities would still apply.

However, as mentioned above, such taxes or other plans would be redundant in application because again there is simply not enough time left to resolve the driving overpopulation and economic growth issue nor the climate, ecological, and resource problems they create. Measures probably needed to be taken at the commencement of the Industrial Age - 300 years ago -when the insanity of infinite growth in a finite context should have been mathematically realized -and thus future populations and growth accordingly limited. 

Adam Smith plus all subsequent Nobel Prize-winning and classical economists overlooked and ignored this reality and premised economic modeling on the concept of the laissez-faire capitalist's Invisible Hand that would magically guide individuals' and nations' activities to their best of infinite outcomes. They were wrong - and moreover, just like Santa Clause, it never existed. It was a HUGE mistake.

On reflection, Adam Smith's secular book,  The Wealth of Nations, has been even more devastating to current human behavior and conditions than the collective dogmatic assertions of all religious writings. It is ironic, however, how in most, either secular or religious, cases these imagined beliefs in supposedly good, invisible, and magical entities have come to cause us so much real universal harm and destruction - these entities somehow seem to represent one of the critical cognitive shortcomings of our species - resulting in poor actions and plans. Is there a lesson here?

And for any plan - it now appears that it is simply just too little, too late. 

Be wise, be kind, and think...

Cheers