A truly sustainable future?

Can we really create this, with our population growing so quickly and most of us completely reliant on others to farm/produce our food, heat our homes, provide us with the means to transport ourselves in cars, on buses, planes etc? Do you think it is possible?

After watching a programme on solar storms created by the sun, and then further researching the topic, I learnt that if electricity suddenly died out (possible, probably more so than expected) that it could take at least five years to repair the system and in that time we could lose between one third and one half of the human population! Electricity (not solar power or wind power) could be completely destroyed if there was a big enough solar storm. If the sun let off an X flare then it could completely fry the entire grid, leaving us with no electricity or communication. This would have devastating effects on the human race, there would be no heat, no light, no running water, no way to fill up your vehicle, no food in the shops, nothing, absolutely zilch. And it could happen at any moment, we would know because NASA tracks these things but we would have no way to stop it, afterall we are only human, we don't control everything. So, in this situation, what could you do?

Those who live on farms, or with land/crops, have solar power etc would be relatively alright. But for a city dweller like myself, who has no access to land to grow, no fresh water springs or wells, and no access or option to install solar power, I'd be fucked!

It's really gotten to me, just how normal electricity has become to us when really it could kill off at least a third of our spieces! And how much we rely on it without realizing, I mean, just driving to the supermarket and back for food shopping would be completely impossible... A wise dude once asked me 'how close can you live to earth?' and its taken until now for me to realise just what that meant.

Is there such a thing as a completely sustainable future for man kind? Or have we crossed the point of no return with our reliance on third parties and unsustainable resources like oil, and it seems, even electricity?

It seems whilst we are continuously relying on convenience products to make our lives easier and more comfortable, we are creating a darker and darker future for our children, grandchildren and all the more generations to come.

 

the urge to destroy is also a creative urge..

 

Nah, we're breeding out the genius strain big time. The only continent that's going to survive is Asia because they won't cross breed their race out. Their cultures might band together, but they aren't stupid enough to do what the western world does.

 

Our efforts at terraforming are clumsy. Adaptability is our strong suit.

 

global capitalism is not sustainable. convince those in power and wealth to share it equally, and for labour to be divided from each according to his or her ability to each according to his or her need, and then we're cooking with gas.

but then, of course, i won't be around to see it, cos i'll be rockin out with hendrix on the moon.

 

Wind power, solar power, geothermal power, wave power, abiotic oil, mercury based Anti-gravity, Tesla-coils.. their is almost an infinite amount of alternative technologies that could be used to eliminate all of our current and potential problems. When the private sector and the government have been overthrown, they will become widely available.

 

stash napt,i couldn't have said it better.I would worry more about governments than our sun

 

put something in the water to statistically lower human fertility in an unbiased manor. and yes, there's plenty of REAL environment friendly ways to produce all the energy and mobility we really need. at every level, not just the top, or just the bottom, it is a matter of not putting trying to impress each other ahead of the kind of world we ALL have to live in.

of course not everyone will do their homework, not everyone will care. its a statistical thing, and culture makes it, and the stories we tell and what we care about is what makes the culture.

two things can happen, culture can shift to where we won't be as destructive and as many; people get tired of worshiping aggressiveness and symbols of value instead of the real thing, or we will very nearly destroy ourselves, and only those who wise up survive. of course we could also completely destroy ourselves, but that is not inevitable, or even the most likely. but coming very close to it, not by war, though of course that is always an option too, but by how we impact nature by the combination of our numbers and HOW we do things.

comfort and convenience aren't themselves immediately and entirely deadly. not giving a shit about anything else, is though. and then calling that not giving a shit a tradition, and calling it conservative to keep people from imagining anything else is possible.

its not written in stone, the fine details of what will happen, or precisely how, but unsustainable does mean nothing we take for granted is immortal nor immune to being force by reality to change.

 

Aye, but the governments can (and will eventually) be stopped, the sun and other natural happenings can't be prevented. I already think we are stupid for building cities and lives in areas that are prone to natural destruction. It's all too common and then we have to spend millions on rebuilding, mourn lives that were lost and heal emotional scars.

I just can't see governments as a lasting threat, sooner or later more people will open their eyes to the craziness that they deal us.
The day that happens will be a good day indeed.

But, we are destroying our earth without really thinking, consumerism is through the roof, a lot of people act as if the earth is here for us only and will cater for our every desire, which really is not the case. I don't know whether it'll be man kind that destroys themselves or whether we will destroy our surroundings so much that we make it impossible to sustain any future.

 

MamaPeace......A society cannot fully take care of its environment without the help of everyone.The worst entities are governments,corporations,industries,banks,etc.Sure we can do our part but we are at their mercy until we get together and say that's enough.I don't think that will happen soon enough though,we just might have to go through some MAJOR catastrophies and suffering to get back to our senses, then maybe humans will see the light.And that might be the time we will actually help one another and live in peace with each other and in harmony with mother earth.Why did/do we kill each other to get control of this or that?We are one race,not 100 different ones. I can't wait to see the day when we can go to any continent without a passport...lol...just had to say it!

 

That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Mixing different healthy genes is definitely a good thing. People aren't cultivars of plants.

 

I am glad to hear that 1 in a million or more is asking this question....kudos to you.
From what ive learned over the years about people and the lack of electricity, it would be BAD!!!!!
everything in our culture runs off of grid power.
I am a aspiring back to the land homesteader, and i believe that when the power goes out i will probably be killed for my resources like food ,water, cash, livestock.
I believe the government will shutdown for there own interests.
Example : look at hurricane katrina!
The government will not warn us that were fucked, they'll tell us after the elections.lol
when it all goes down, ill help who i can but eventually neighbor will turn on neighbor.
The cities will empty into the rural areas and the strong will live and the farmer feeding them will die.
I know it sounds armageadonish..........but when your starving and dieing, and your debit card doesn't work you will do what you have to do.
And the media will tell you your doing fine.

 

Well... If the power goes down the media won't be telling us anything.

 

and then people will only have themselves and their immediate neighbors to be brainwashed by, and this will restore a healthy diversity, instead of everyone being brainwashed in the same small variety of ways, which created the disaster in the first place.

the small percentage who survive the decade and a half or so, without the tangible infrastructure we so take for grated now, will have to invent new mistakes to make, instead of continuing to make the ones we know now.

it is even possible the might make fewer of them. even if they wanted to repeat all of ours today, and remembered them to do so, they will no longer for a very long time, have the means of doing so.

whatever the misery of that decade, the decades that come after, for the children and their children's children, will be a time of wonders and discovery, some rediscovery, of course, but much also, that would be new, even to us.

 

I have many of the same fears and concerns. I try to do my part (never owned a car, don't buy something unless it is necessary to my survival, recycle everything I can, walk instead of using public transportation, etc.), but this is not nearly enough. I live in a high rise, and I see my neighbors using the elevator just to go up or down one floor. This seems insane to me. But it's just one example of how many folks take modern conveniences for granted big time. I've lived in the same building for more than ten years, and I only used the elevator when I first moved in: Sort of difficult carrying a desk, couch and bed up 10 flights of stairs.

QP

 

My thoughts exactly! Every single one of us has to do the best we can! That doesn't mean talk about it, that means - use less power, recycle, use public transport, buy less prepackaged goods etc. And most importantly encourage, coerce or whatever everyone you know to do the same!

 

In the short space of time the Internet has been around and how we have come to rely on it, i suspect most of the Human race will die out if the Internet suddenly got deleted, the sheer frustration of a hung web browser would cause spontaneous combustion, the resulting fires would sweep through our cities and towns.

 

a lot more then that is going to go down for a while, although it may be a while yet before that happens. it might even still be possible to avoid.

but at any rate, the much reduced human population which will then result, will then be sustainable.

 

The Unsustainable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQqDS9wGsxQ&feature=share&list=PLCA0D057399CACE5B"]Who Killed Economic Growth? - YouTube