For decades many on the left have warned that current economic and environmental practices and policies are unsustainable and have urged corporate and governmental policy makers to develop sustainable alternatives. In response, governmental and corporate policy makers have done the exact opposite. Even more disturbing, instead of slowing down the use of unsustainable methods and practices, these entities have actually accelerated our plunge into an unsustainable abyss.
Moreover the lifestyles of Western nations that rely on over-consumption, natural resource exploitation and other environmentally and economically unsound practices have long been the envy of the developing world. As developing nations have increased their outputs and per capita income they have mimicked the mistakes of Western nations adding to an already dire situation and drastically hastening the end of our very tenuous existence on planet Earth.
Today in 2011 we are now able to see the beginning of the end of unsustainable practices. This is as it should be. Unsustainable means something that cannot be sustained. Apologies for stating the obvious but in today's world of one-liner sound bites, even wise statements, when repeated long enough, lose their meaning. Those who talk about sustainable policies risk being branded terrorists and having their homes visited in the wee hours of the morning by men in black fatigues bearing automatic weapons who take them away, never to be seen again. Unfortunately the end to unsustainable practices is coming, not because we are adopting viable alternatives, but because the very ability of our planet to sustain life is coming to an end as a result of failing to develop alternatives. Sustainability advocates who have warned us are being proved correct. Average Americans need to constantly recall the many decades of warnings by those who have dedicated their lives to attempting to prevent the apocalypse.
The question begs, however, "Do those in positions of power in our government and largest corporations actually believe our society can continue along its current path in perpetuity"? This is a very important question. Based on the propaganda belching from all the usual suspects (Fox, CNBC, CNN and their many subsidiaries) there is nothing about which we have to worry. The fact that hundreds of thousands are dying each year from environmental degradation is the result of their own poor economic policies or laziness. The dead zones in the oceans are nothing to be concerned about because the oceans of the world are so big they can "absorb" pollution for the next trillion years. The collapse of the US and other Western economies has nothing to do with poor economic policies and everything to do with a bunch of minorities who took out home loans they could not afford and failed to read the fine print. Climate change is nothing but a gimmick played by scientists who are trying to make money and achieve notoriety. After all, those pesky scientists are known to be seekers of fame and fortune. That explains why they chose careers that pay so little and often relegate them to decades of cold research in remote parts of the world where their life's work goes mostly unnoticed by the masses and media.
It difficult to believe that politicians and corporate oligarchs, who have access to an incredible amount of information at their fingertips, who employ huge numbers of market researchers - engineers, economists and others to predict future trends and conditions - would actually be unaware of the impending doom that is now lowering itself upon our weary heads. It is more than hard to believe; it is preposterous to imagine that the most powerful and possibly most informed people on Earth are not fully cognizant of the path along which we head. Take for example the 2004 annual report prepared by the Pentagon for the President. This report is supposed to inform the President of the gravest dangers threatening the security of the US. The Pentagon spends about a million bucks each year to prepare this analysis and submits it to the President. Our tax dollars are put to such use so that the President is in a position to take whatever action is necessary, both in terms of a proactive legislative agenda as well as executive actions, to protect our nation and our future. In February of 2004 the Pentagon released its annual report to the President describing the "greatest threat to American security". One might imagine, against the backdrop of 911 and the wars that followed, that this report would be replete with references to terrorism, Al Quaeda and similar anti-American sentiment around the world, especially because of the history of military obsession with external threats that require military spending and intervention in order to resolve. Interestingly, this is not at all what was contained in the report. Instead, the report was all about climate change. (See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2004/feb/22/usnews.theobserver).
The report correctly stated that within twenty years or less, the greatest threat to the security of the US and its citizens will come from climate change. Odd that an entity considered ultra conservative would make such bold and enlightened statements.
Of course this report was instantly suppressed. Not one US media "outlet" mentioned the report. It was a classical news black-out proving yet again the power of selective choice of news stories. The oligarch owned "news" propaganda machine is effective not only by what it prints but by what is omits.
The report makes it abundantly clear to all but the mentally vegetative that those in power are fully aware of the results of unsustainable environmental policies. Similar to the foreknowledge of the bankers before the plunge of the US economy, our politicians and corporate leaders know exactly what is coming down. No amount of greed and profit could explain their ignorance of these facts. Rich people may be greedy but they have proven themselves to be extremely bright and clever. The notion that the wealthy and powerful are just too interested in profit to pay attention to the looming destruction of our society is untenable. They are both aware and knowledgeable. As with the banking crisis they will cry, "Who knew?" But like the banking crisis there was plenty of forewarning about which the bankers were extremely well informed. So well-informed, in fact, that they invested in short sales to take advantage of the economic collapse and made billions from the crash.
Do not be fooled. The same thing is happening now with respect to the impending environmental and economic collapse that will have far graver results than the economic collapse we have suffered over the last several years.
So exactly what are the rich and powerful planning and why would they allow our society to rush towards such a terrible fate? Of all the theories proffered to explain this conundrum none is more worrisome than the theory that the extremely wealthy and powerful want to de-populate the planet. According to the New World Order website (See: http://newworldorderreport.com/News/tabid/266/ID/28/Club-of-Romes-world-government-climate-change-and-depopulation-agenda-exposed.aspx) the idea of depopulating the planet is nothing new. The discourse has been going on for decades. However, there are two sides to this discussion. First, the rational approach is to recognize that Earth is a closed system with limitations that must be taken into account and the number of people, as well as the resource utilization should be altered to allow sustainable use of the planet's resources in a manner that allows the human race to continue. Population control in the form of proper family planning, use of contraceptives and the like is a reasonable solution in combination with altered consumption practices, renewable energy sources and similar intelligent solutions that are both viable and possible with today's technologies. The other option is frightening; "do nothing" and the problem will solve itself. Wars, starvation, pollution, climate change and similar apocalyptic events will do the work for us. People will die by the millions.
This latter school of thought harkens us to the writings of Thomas Malthus who observed that people will procreate to the point where they will use up all the available food and then starve to death. This reality is a self-regulating method of population control. Malthusian economics was quickly and quietly muzzled because it was too stark and brutal. However, there is no question that today, over two hundred years later, many of the ruling elite still adhere to its basic tenets.
So it appears that the "plan" envisioned by those capable of delivering it, i.e. the world's most powerful politicians, dictators, corporations, militaries and so forth, could be the do nothing scenario. After all, many elitists believe ".... it is the burden of the wealthy to manage the lives of the bewildered herds..." This may sound ominous but it's probably not far from the truth.
If this is true, what does it mean for us average people who make up this disposable population? It means we need to stop thinking that our leaders have any intention of developing viable options. It means that we or our children will be faced with history's greatest human calamity. It means that more will starve, more wars will break out, more people will become homeless, more disease and famine, more poverty, more misery than one can possibly imagine. It has already started. Is that what we want for ourselves and our children? Face facts and recognize that governments have never done anything to improve the world through positive change; they will not lift a finger to prevent the arrival of the end of unsustainable practices regardless of how much we point out the impending disaster and plead for solutions.
For us ordinary people we must fend for ourselves. No amount of street protests, voting at the polls or other activism will change the path upon which we find ourselves. Instead we must accept the inevitable, recognize the trends and prepare ourselves. As noted in the opening paragraph, in the face of dire warning backed by solid proof, our elected officials (or rather appointed shills) and our corporate leaders (rather oligarch dictators) have accelerated the unsustainable policies and practices that are making them wealthy while destroying our planet. With that wealth they will be insulated from the results of their actions. Behind fortified walls protected by armies of brainwashed young men they will ride out the hurricane of economic and environmental disasters. You will never see the children of wealthy families on the front battle lines. You will never see rich oligarchs starving for food or dying from lack of proper medical care. Those challenges are reserved for us ordinary people, the bewildered masses. And by the looks on the faces of the newly unemployed and homeless in America left adrift after the recent economic collapse, bewilderment will be a plentiful commodity when they finally realize that the American dream was nothing more than swallowing the blue pill and going to sleep while the storm brewed until it was too late to do anything more than suffer the consequences.
Now is the time when we ordinary people must prepare for the inevitable and stop wasting our time on trying to change our governments. We must develop ideas, communities, and solutions for ourselves and our families. We must batten down the hatches and develop viable alternatives, shelters form the coming storm, so that we can survive. This does not mean to become a member of the plethora of so-called ecologically sound communities where minor environmental adjustments are made that do not really have much effect on the overall situation but instead cost and arm and a leg to join and where a few "enlightened" people are really just raking in profits off the fears of others and desire to make token changes in the misguided belief their actions will stave off the destruction of the planet's environment. No, preparing for the coming apocalypse means buying land in as many places as possible and building sustainable communities that do not rely on the technologies of modern cities and society. It means becoming truly self-sufficient in a manner not heretofore seen. It means becoming independent of the oligarchs. It must be undertaken on a massive scale and spread all over the globe. It is not a come-one-come-all enterprise. It will be reserved for those who make the painstaking efforts and sacrifices necessary to create a truly viable and sustainable place where people and families can survive. And time is running out. We are already witnessing the beginning of the end of so-called modern society. The New World Order is arriving and we can hear the cries of suffering that accompany it. The time has come to act feverishly to protect oneself and as many like-minded friends and associates as possible. There is no time left to slow the plunge into the end of unsustainable environmental and economic policies and practices.
