[Firestorm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'Y')ou are *WAY* more optimistic than me, that's for sure. Slavery, racism, and all those other horrible things are alive and well in modern humans.

[SeaGypsy]

There are many kinds of Muslim, probably the only thing all have in common is lack of desire to be controlled by the west. Your suggestion re. letting them cook their own soup... well Saudi alone could do that to the rest of us right now. There are many places where various religions get along ok, even if they didn't not so ong ago. Some of the strongest contrasts are in India for example, where many millions have died in sectarian violence and many still do/ yet there are many places where Sikh, Hindu and Muslim have created harmony in diversity/ in this same land.

In the long run, it will be one world, but doubtfully by political manipulation/ more by the lack of national resources with which to defend national borders. Without the ability to patrol vast areas by sea land and air, quickly and repeatedly and affordably/ forget about borders. The border will be along the highways and entrances to cities and towns, ability to control massive areas beyond this will not exist. This will create many problems with modern cities dependent on pipeline and cable infrastructure, remote sourcing etc.

Meanwhile we have the conflicting imperatives of globalism creating interdependence and resource wars at the same time, in an atmosphere of rebuilding sectarianism/ religious extremism, likely brought on by the faltering secular states having all wrapped themselves in the blanket of the global ponzi scheme called capitalism.

The likelihood of some kind of global Manhattan project is so remote it barely rates. Maybe a more effective way of counting sheep. Whatever fantasy rocks your boat I guess.

[Firestorm]

Actually, I was surprised to learn that Koran/Islam actually calls for environmental protection. Koran says something along the lines of "god gave your the Earth and you need to take a good care of it". I remember seeing a National Geographic documentary about Muslim people preserving the sea. Those poor people living in very poor fishing villages choose to use environmentally friendly nets for fishing. This makes them work ten times harded for much less fish. Yet, they still do that because Koran/Islam calls for it. So we might just be surprised. Obviously, there are bad people in every religion (and I am personally against the very concept of a religion, ANY religion), but the majority of Muslims might just stand up to the plate. You just never know; a few poverful Islamic leaders speaking for protecting the environment just might make all the differece about the issue.

[Firestorm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'l')etting them cook their own soup... well Saudi alone could do that to the rest of us right now.

[SeaGypsy]

They could choose to do business with whoever has what they need and that's it. Australia feeds about 4 times Saudis population. Zimbabwe offers potential. They don't have to supply 'the world' with anything.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Firestorm', 'A')ctually, I was surprised to learn that Koran/Islam actually calls for environmental protection. Koran says something along the lines of "god gave your the Earth and you need to take a good care of it".

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Firestorm', 'A')ctually, I was surprised to learn that Koran/Islam actually calls for environmental protection. Koran says something along the lines of "god gave your the Earth and you need to take a good care of it".

[Firestorm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Firestorm', 'A')ctually, I was surprised to learn that Koran/Islam actually calls for environmental protection. Koran says something along the lines of "god gave your the Earth and you need to take a good care of it".

[Firestorm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'T')he gun doesn't kill, people do!

[Firestorm]

We are faced with an impending calamity that threatens to bankrupt the planetary ecosystem and with it much of the man-made world. Daniel Rirdan offers for your consideration a plan that truly goes the distance: a highly detailed, planetary-wide blueprint that lays out a new course for our technological and industrial engines.

The plan is grounded in over five hundred peer-reviewed articles, communication with scores of other top experts, advanced computations, and simulations. I enclose a few links to Daniel Rirdan's videos that present it. Award-winning scientist and environmentalist author David Suzuki wrote of the newly-released book, on which the video is based, “Rirdan’s book must be read so we can follow his recommendations. We have no choice and time is terrifyingly short.”

Among its myriad elements, the proposed plan includes renewables that in tandem can provide 24/7 power for the entire electrical grid; a radically altered economy, based on regenerative management of existing resources; and the use of rotational, intensive grazing of livestock as part of the effort to rewild nature. Furthermore, the plan illustrates why a carbon neutral economy is inadequate at this late stage and introduces a practical plan to capture hundreds of billions of tons of carbon from the air over the span of a few decades.

Rirdan's blog http://blog.danielrirdan.com/

Videos based on book "The Blueprint: Averting Global Collapse":

3 min long trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8cn5s40xXk

10 min long trailer http://vimeo.com/43855769

The Blueprint: Averting Global Collapse, I out of V (intro in HD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1AEoQBbL30

The Blueprint: Averting Global Collapse, II out of V (stressors in HD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPRCIjDoBE

The Blueprint: Averting Global Collapse, III out of V (techno solutions in HD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFuOYcNKU8I

The Blueprint: Averting Global Collapse, IV out of V (social solutions in HD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKAu-X5CJd8

The Blueprint: Averting Global Collapse, V out of V (getting started in HD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLNbxT0r7M

[Daniel Rirdan]

Hello all,

I am the author of The Blueprint: Averting Global Collapse.
I have read some of the comments in this chain...
I hear you, people. I know my history as much as anyone. And I am jaded with the civilization we have put together as much as anyone. Looking back at the past 45,000 years--there is precious little to be proud of.

There is a possible array of sweeping measures that holds the potential--but not the promise--to steer us away from the brink of ecological collapse. However, there is nothing simple or easy about any of them. It requires the transformation of our economic and political setup. It requires a total re-organization of our industries. It requires giving up some of our lifestyle choices. It requires us to act as the adults that we are. And there is also a way to get from our present social reality to where we need to go.

Most of my family was murdered by the Nazis, yet I still believe. I undertook the two-year writing journey of this book because when it is all said and done I still believe in the human spirit--in the face of a crisis when shown a possibility, a half chance for success, people will rise, people will choose the morally-courageous course of action. No, not everyone. But there is no need for everyone; an inspired, determined minority can affect the needed change.

Daniel Rirdan

[SeaGypsy]

Hi Daniel and welcome!

I don't think anyone doubts your sincerity.

How would you address the power anomaly pointed to, particularly by Agent? Isn't he correct that those in power are the primary decision makers and they are not about to do anything which involves relinquishment? Is it not true that most of our abysmal lives are absorbed into a meaningless status drive/ therefore the aspirational (the real drivers of economic activity) must in fact be led into 'doing the right thing'? Too much carrot and you engender a welfare mentality, too much stick creates crime and ultimately terrorism. The driver is, in other words, not driving. The thing is on autopilot. The pilots are knocking themselves out in first class. They aren't going to read your book before the plane runs out of fuel. By which time it's way too late. Government is for corporations and over time becoming by corporations. Corporations operate for shareholder profits, not the betterment of humanity or the planet, at least not for long. It's a nasty, heartless and consumerist little vortex, which is having it's way with us.

(please don't take those of us poking at your ideas too personally. Likely we would be in consensus here that it is a good thing to write such material and to take the subjects seriously, that you have our respect for such an endeavor. We have dissective intellectual tendencies here (welcome to your post-mortem), but if you can share with us, we can all learn more than not.)

[Daniel Rirdan]

thank you SeaGypsy for your gracious response.
No, I take none of it personally...I do appreciate you inquiring about it, though.
You are right, of course--about first class passengers and all.
The money mechanism as is currently set up is the nastiest arrangement in history. This setup offers the fastest way to suck dry the natural environment. And then there are the governments.
Our governments are incapable of handling the planetary crisis. Bailouts and running a national vaccination program are about their speed. They are too pedestrian or otherwise acting as water carriers for various powerful interest groups. At the end of the day, the heads of state are glorified public relations people. None of them possesses the breadth of vision to see what needs to be done—or the balls to back it up.
Our world is made up of about two hundred squabbling, gun-toting administrative regions, each looking out for and holding fast onto its respective territories. In turn, each of these turfs is mired by the pull and tug of myriad interest groups. The political arena of our world is more of a Middle Eastern bazaar with armed militia patrolling the alleyways than a Zion Council of elders in the movie The Matrix.
There is no solution from within the existing political and first-class-passengers setup. None. We all sense that to one degree or another; yet, we still lingering about, hoping, voting for the next president, and the shows goes on--to the bitter end, it seems.
I am unsure how to address your most legitimate concerns—short of going on for pages after pages, laying it all out. Stating in brief the bottom line will evoke more questions and concerns than it would resolve. Forgive me then if I will only say that much:
Irrespective of how difficult the road may be, the only way I see of anything getting done is largely bypassing the existing power structure and instituting a new economic and political setup. I know all too well that most of us perceive only one continuum—socialism and capitalism. Thus everything I say is surely falls within this continuum. The catch is that everyone knows that capitalism stinks except that socialism has proven to stink even more. I ask you to allow the possibility of a setup that is outside this continuum.

Daniel Rirdan

[SeaGypsy]

Which is pretty much the same conclusion most of us here reach sooner or later, except that the scale is micro non macro.
If I were to write such a treatise, it would be my 'Dear John' letter to 'this continuum'. (We write Dear John letters, knowing they will be ignored or shelved for another era in John's life. If he was capable of changing his ways, we wouldn't need a counselor. We write them out of compassion for John and self justification. So we can walk away with a clear conscience. A mature response to leaving a relationship which has past it's usefulness.)

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Daniel Rirdan', 'I') know all too well that most of us perceive only one continuum—socialism and capitalism. Thus everything I say is surely falls within this continuum. The catch is that everyone knows that capitalism stinks except that socialism has proven to stink even more. I ask you to allow the possibility of a setup that is outside this continuum.

[Daniel Rirdan]

ok.
see for yourself--I have produced a video presenting an abridged version of the social array of measures I propose in my book. https://vimeo.com/43872588. The discussion about a new economic and later political setup begins at 17:31 in that part of the video (in all there are 5 parts; this one deals with social issues-political-economic issues)).

Daniel Rirdan

[Daniel Rirdan]

p.s.
I just realized that I can reduce the economy I propose to a sound bite. So for all it's worth here it is: I advocate a system that I term an open-source economy.

Just don't read too much into this catchphrase; there is a lot more to it than a Wikipedia-type setup.

Daniel Rirdan

[SeaGypsy]

Open source economy meaning?/ phase out of Intellectual Property rights? (aka China style).
You are aware of both sides of this debate? That IP drives innovation, that getting rid of it would remove the profit motive and result in a death of innovation. Whilst to some extent debatable, there has to be some serious truth to this concept.

[Firestorm]

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