Truth and certainty

Many commentators on the global economic and ecological scene wishfully call for truth and certainty. Is it a bull market or is it a bear market? Will the bail out of Greece (or Spain or Italy or California) work? Is the Chinese economy peaking? Will India be able to manage the common power failures? Will the current US drought do irreparable damage to world food production? Is there any way to stop global warming?

Many pundits address the pros and cons of all these issues. Confusion reigns! Complexity grows and resilience declines. The bewildered masses strive to make do despite the apparent uncertainty engendered by all the blather. They are at a loss because they have not been told the truth.
This is not surprising because the natural forces that control what happens do not have a voice. They have just acted for eons, despite that actions of human technological tools irreversibly drawing down on the limited natural material capital. As a consequence, the truth is the certainty this century of demise of industrialized civilization. No rhetoric, no decisions, of humanity can change that destiny.

Denis Frith

Divestment of natural capital

George Monbiot published a piece, The Great Imposters, in the Guardian of 7th August 2012 in which he describes the trend to commodify natural capital so market forces will determine their usage.The argument in favour of this approach is coherent and plausible. Business currently treats the natural world as if it is worth nothing. Pricing nature and incorporating that price into the cost of goods and services creates an economic incentive for its protection. However, it does not take into account the fact that many components of natural capital, such as oil, soil fertility, phosphorus, the marine ecosystem and the climate are being irreversibly degraded by the operations of the systems of civilization. Incorporating the ecological cost into business plans is a logical improvement on what has been done in the past but it still does not take into account the divestment of the natural capital. It is an unsustainable process so future generations will learn the hard way how unwise their forebears were.

Denis Frith
 

Science and technology myth

We have been entranced over the years with myths.They tend to add spice to our lives as we spread the around amongst our friends. They can be quite entertaining. But they can also cause a lot of problems.

The biggest myth has been around for centuries  It is the myth that science and technology (S&T) can create things and systems useful to society. You may say that is not a myth as you think of the numerous items that science and technology has produced. That is right. S&T has produced a bewildering array of systems, devices and services - by employing natural forces to irreversibly use some of the limited natural material resources. S&T has not created any material thing The only thing it has created is the anthropocentric illusion that humans can control the erection, operation and maintenance of the temporary edifice of civilization and the provision of natural services.

Ironically, as structural problems emerge, the powerful in society vainly urge the use of S&T to solve the problems that S&T has produced. They want S&T to chase its tail!

Reality 101

Gaia has accumulated an amazing range of biodiversity, geodiversity and stored natural resources over eons with the help of input of energy from the Sun and the operation of natural forces. The hydrological (water) and other cycles has aided the slowly increasing order in the eco systems.

That was the reality for ages. Then Homo sapiens learned how to use some natural forces to consume a proportion of Gaia's bounty to create the gigantic temporary organism, Tityas, that produces the services on which society has become dependent. That is the new reality. But this consumption process is not sustainable. The Anthropocene era will inevitably end this century. Gaia will continue to slowly evolve after recovering from Tityas' damaging operations while surviving Homo sapiens relearn how to cope with what remains of Gaia's bounty.

Spurious wealth

Many people around the globe delight in the apparent wealth  that has been generated by the systems of civilization, particularly in recent times. Eastern countries are now emulating the West. The population enjoying a high material standard of living is growing exponentially. Cites are springing up in many regions. Car, airliner and container vessel production is reaching plague proportions.

This wealth is spurious. It comes at the cost of devastation of the long-established natural wealth. Society does not take the irreversible consequence of this devastation into account in considering future prospects. Concerned people note the decline of numerous natural resources, including oil. Others note what has happened to biodiversity and the deleterious impact. The extinction of many species has occasioned a little remedial action. The pollution of land, sea, air and its effect on human health is causing some concern and a little action. This includes vain attempts to slow down irreversible, rapid climate change. Few, however, connect the dots to provide understanding of what the operations of civilization is doing to the natural wealth.

This delusion cannot continue as natural forces continue to degrade the structures of civilization. That is the output side of the equation, the consequences of operations. The other side of the equation is the unsustainable input of natural resources.

The demise of the spurious tangible, materialistic wealth of civilization is certain. The nebulous, intangible financial wealth will dissipate. The current nebulous comments on the volatility of finances of EU countries is but a prelude to the chaos to come. And the masses will bewildered as their hard won savings lose worth.

Denis Frith

The two worlds - Myopia and Real

It is fascinating that what is happening in the operation of civilization depends very much upon perceptions. These differ so much that it would appear to a detached observer, such as Laprin, that there are two worlds. Myopia is the world as perceived by humans and their perceptions govern the decisions they make. Real is the world in which natural forces have always determined what happens - and always will - even when the residents of Myopia make unwise decisions.

Myopia has invented tools to use Gaia's natural bounty to construct, operate and maintain the temporary tangible edifice that is Tityas of the Real world. The bits and pieces of Tityas provide the goods and services enjoyed by Myopia for now. They will have to learn the hard way that the divestment of Gaia's bounty is the reality and that monetary investment is an unsustainable delusion.

Denis Frith

Gaia is not upset

Gaia is not upset by the behavior of  her adolescent off spring, Tityas. She knows from experience over eons that organisms can get carried away by their delusions of what can be done with what she provides. She finds it amusing that the species, Homo sapiens, are so taken with their powers that they feed Tityas with her resources without taking into account that many of them are exhaustible. It seems that Homo sapiens believe that growth on intangible money is a possible good. They relate the interest rate on money as being synonymous with the price of the passing of time.They do not take into account that it is also synonymous with the divestment of natural resources. Consequently, Tityas has grown into a vast organism with an unsustainable appetite and an unwise populace.

Gaia understands that Tityas' demise is in the nature of evolution but wonders how the surviving Homo sapiens will cope without what Tityas has provided, at her expense.