Thought provoking article on from the wilderness.
We quote the ending comment:
THE FAILURE OF COMPETITION
In the competition for declining oil reserves, ultimately everyone will lose. In the process of struggling for world domination and energy domination, both militarily and economically, we will drain the world’s remaining energy supplies without preparing for the coming transition. The net result will be a tremendous increase in suffering throughout the world, the further impoverishment of the world’s population, and a semi-secure, semi-comfortable position of limited power for the elite few who manage to stay on top. Yet it does not have to be this way.
If the United States would cut its energy consumption back to sane levels, there would be enough to build a better world for everyone. Instead of maximizing profits and trying to corner the market, we need to undertake a program to restructure our society. We need to increase energy efficiency and conservation. We need a massive program to provide more energy-efficient housing, transportation and industry. And we need to move from energy-intensive, export-oriented, and hydrocarbon-based agriculture to more sustainable, locally oriented, organic agriculture. Along the way, we can build a more socially responsible, and more democratic society, where everyone will benefit — or at least not as many will perish.
First we have to deal with our own greed and indifference. And we need to realize that competition will only result in misery. To get anywhere, we must act from a foundation of cooperation and mutual aid. There is very little time left to avoid a catastrophic future.
Unfortunately civilisation is a system that has allowed the greediest of us to flourish and take control of our society. The people in charge are the ones who have the smallest consciences, and we find it unlikely that they will start to co-operate, when their whole lives have been based on competition and heirarchy.
We are seeing tent cities in the US as its economy unravels, and the powers that be don’t seem to give a damn. USA forces are based in almost every country, while the IMF and WorldBank have spent 50 years forcing an economic system that benefits a handful of people at the expense of many, on the rest of the world. Democracy has been pushed too, but a democracy that is actually the opposite of what we mean by democracy. A top down system, where the most aggressive competitors win, has been adopted by oppressive governments everywhere, and used to suppress their own people, with the help of the CIA and MI6.
Yes, people of the world need to start talking about how we can fairly sort out the problems, and reduce CO2 levels. But the political and economic system is hardly fair. Perhaps we should stop even thinking about things on a global and government scale, start ignoring these power-crazed psychopaths, and concentrate on our own local neighbourhoods. Have you started talking to your neighbours about peak oil and climate change?
