OUR SYSTEM

The subtitle to ' Inheritors of the Earth ', by Chris D Thomas (2018), is 'How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction'. This is a really interesting piece of work. One of the essential points is that biological diversity is increasing regionally even while it is declining globally. This is due to the massively increased migration of species between regions as a result of human migration and trade. And in the longer term - if we preserve a mix of habitats, and assist species endangered in their current habitat to migrate to places where they can thrive - the outlook is for global biodiversity to increase markedly due to greatly increased evolutionary activity, activity that has already started as a result of our far more interconnected, and warmer, world. Here are some salient quotes: "There is no correct state of nature." p19 "Huge numbers of species are thriving in the human-altered world, and we may even be stimulating a mass diversification of new ...

The 2011 Zeitgeist movie 'Moving Forward' proffers a 'systems theory' for a totally monitored and controlled society (1:34:38). It's not how I interpret a systems approach to our society and our planet. To me, a systems approach means understanding the fundamentals of our system (our human purpose and principle) and making changes to our judicial, economic, organisational and social structures to reflect these, while letting people in the system grow and choose freely, not monitoring and controlling every aspect. Such a complete level of scientific monitoring and control, as suggested in the film, is crazy and scary, and frankly a communist-like* project that will likely not work. Or if it did succeed in its inhuman control, it would be a system for robots, not humans. The film's participants deny the communist label and try and give it another name: the "Resource-Based Economy", which is (from the website), "an economic structure based exclusivel...

When income is poorly distributed most people cannot afford to make the choices they would wish to buy environmentally friendly products. While income distribution is unfair demand for environmental products will be constrained, and the cost reducing factors of mass production will not come into effect to drive prices down. We need to enable people to make their choices directly. That is our greatest democracy. Government imposed legislation is not democracy, it does not allow freedom of choice. A shared base income does.

Take two empty bottles. Put the lid on one – that is our atmosphere. Add carbon dioxide (CO2) to the other and put the lid on – that is our atmosphere with more carbon dioxide. Shine lamps of equal power on each bottle. Measure the heat of each bottle. The bottle with the CO2 will be warmer. That is the science. CO2 retains more heat in the atmosphere of a bottle and in the atmosphere of our planet. … More heat, means more energy. Heat is energy, but energy is not always expressed in heat. It is also expressed in activity. The Earth’s atmosphere and surface are affected by Earth’s own gravitational forces and the gravitational forces of the Moon and Sun. The Sun’s heating of the Earth and its atmosphere varies as the Earth rotates and orbits the Sun. These forces and the surface of the Earth make for a much more complex system than the inside of a bottle. Extra energy retained in the atmosphere of the Earth is not just expressed in heat but in activity, in weather activity. So more ene...

38 years ago President Kennedy launched a pledge to land a man on the moon – and 30 years ago it was achieved. But this was no race against time. It was a race against the Soviet Republic. The competition needs to happen again. This time we need a pledge to create emission free energy for all our needs by 2020. This can come from the US, it can come from China. It can come from any country that wishes to prove itself the most technologically advanced - and the saviour of the human race. Surely this is something to do. … I have seen online comments from many Americans deploring the lack of sovereignty demonstrated by the US recently. Well this is a matter they can demonstrate sovereignty on, and supremacy in, by rising to the challenge of developing emission free energy that can supply the world. Get to it. …

The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the hotter the planet. The hotter the planet, the higher the oceans. More heat, means more energy, means more extreme weather conditions. “…our carbon dioxide levels have gone up so quickly, in just over a hundred years we’ve gone up from 270 to 389 parts per million – remember that in the last 3 million years it’s never been more than 270 before, never been more than 270, we’re already at 389. It’ll take the planet about 30 years to catch up with that change, so the next 30 years of climate change is in the pipeline whatever we do now. Then, after that, it all depends on our behaviour now. If our carbon dioxide levels keep going up then by the end of the century we are going to see a very significant change.” Professor Sir David King (UK’s Chief Scientific Advisor 2000-7), BBC Newsnight, 20 Dec 2009. “There’s no reason why the European Union cannot unilaterally go for 30% [cut in emissions] instead of saying if China did this they would do th...