[Raxozanne]

Is civilization sustainable?
source

Given current trends, we have cause to wonder about our future as a nation and civilization. Here are just a few:

Our environmental practices are not sustainable:
-unsustainable fishing practices
-unsustainable agricultural practices
-unsustainable growth of greenhouse gases
-unsustainable destruction of forests, wetlands, and other wild areas
-unsustainable toxic by-products of industry
-unsustainable dependence on genetically engineered organisms, which cross-breed with native organisms
-unsustainable concentration of mass media in giant corporations whose primary interest is profits, not balanced news reports or wholesome cultural fare

Our economy is not sustainable:
-unsustainable dependence on depleting supply of fossil fuels
-unsustainable pollution
-unsustainable balance of trade deficits, which lead to
-unsustainable foreign borrowings
-unsustainable government deficits – federal, state, and, in places, local
-unsustainable entitlements, especially Social Security and Medicare
-unsustainable numbers of homeless and long-term unemployed
-unsustainable low wages for bottom tier of workers
-unsustainable globalization, which destroys local economies in favor of multinational corporations

Our health care system is not sustainable:
-unsustainable increase in harmful side-effects of techno-medicine[1]
-unsustainable increase in medical costs
-unsustainable increase in degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes, arthritis, obesity, and certain types of cancers
-unsustainable increase in toxin-related diseases, such as autism
-unsustainable dependence on pharmaceutical drugs and drug companies

Our social-political system in U.S. is not sustainable:
-unsustainable influence of special interest groups and donors
-unsustainable growth in prison and law enforcement populations
-unsustainable erosion of privacy to both government and private snoopers
-unsustainable erosion of citizen rights
-unsustainable rates of alcohol and drug addiction
-unsustainable vulnerability to terrorist acts[2]
-Unsustainable U.S. foreign policy
-unsustainable military policy – one superpower tries to be police force and judge to rest of world
-unsustainable intervention by U.S. in foreign governments
-unsustainable imposition by U.S. of genetically engineered products in world trade

Other unsustainable world trends:
-unsustainable HIV epidemics in Africa and parts of Asia
-unsustainable overpopulation, pollution, traffic, and other scourges of industrialization in third world cities
-unsustainable polarization of political, religious and ethnic groups
-unsustainable growth in gap between rich and poor
-unsustainable abuses of workers’ rights in third-world countries
-unsustainable increases in traffic fatalities in India and China
-unsustainable erosion of the traditional cultures by global commercialism
-unsustainable local farm economies[3]


Hopeless? I don’t think so. I hope to elaborate on the positive developments soon.
Doug Grimes, 6/3/04
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[1] According to The Journal of the American Medical Society, there are over 250,000 deaths a year in U.S. due to medical mistakes and the side-effects of drugs.

[2] The National Security Strategy (Sept, 2002) made explicit the intention of the current administration to practice pre-emptive warfare as and when it deemed right. The most visible exercise of this strategy, the Iraq war, has fueled the recruiting efforts of anti-American terrorist organizations, radicalizing many previously moderate Arabs to take up arms against America and Israel.

[3] For example, an estimated 3 million Mexican farmers have been bankrupted by competition with subsidized U.S. corn.

[pea-jay]

Over the real long term no. LIfe may be a losing propositon. Entropy will win.

But in the near term, I think most forms of modern civilization is unsustainable for all of those reasons you listed. If a civilization were to grow, use, modify and recycle all of its imputs and sustain itself purely on energy gained from flows (sun, flowing water etc) and not stocks (fossil fuels) I think it will be sustainable pretty much indefinately. But only if another condition is met:

Population growth is banned. If the number of people remains constant and births are limited to replacement level, then an ecologically friendly arrangement could be kept up indefinately. Otherwise, you are back at the growth problem again. A humane civilization will try at arrive at equilibrium with birth control.

Nature will ensure equilbrium by ensuring death is a regular occurance.

[turmoil]

the only things that are sustainable are gravity, entropy, and chaos. infact...

gravity = entropy = chaos

Good theory?