Here’s a thought-provoking documentary from 2004 called “The End of Suburbia.” It’s basically about how much energy suburban lifestyles consume, and how that lifestyle will be threatened by peak oil. In light of the challenges peak oil presents, a return to good urban design (traditional town planning, New Urbanism, whatever you want to call it) will be a way that we can consume less energy.
Here’s the thing: I don’t see why we should have to wait for some apocalyptic scenario to scare us or force us into efficient use of our natural resources. We should be doing that anyway as good stewards of the earth. But I guess I’m being a bit too idealistic.
This video is about 52 minutes long:
Peak oil only exists if the ultra-liberals continue to refuse additional drilling and to refuse additional refineries….
Yes, CJ, you are too idealistic. And mdd needs to face the fact that additional drilling and more refineries are needed to maintain current levels of consumption, with higher costs of production.
thevenusproject.com
There is technology available… it isn’t in burning fossil fuels. How lazy we have become in allowing the oil and internal combustion engine industry to keep us in 19th century technology when we haven’t even begun to tap 20th century technology for automobiles… and here we are in the 21st century!
“lazy” kcdad? I’m surprised at you. You know it’s not that, it’s about money.
kcdad – thevenusproject is PURE SOCIALISM with a hint of COMMUNISM built-in and sounds like it came from the Star Trek series! No monetary system or capitalism? Do you realize what happened to the former USSR? I really hope that you don’t believe all of that website’s nonsense?
mdd,
It’s kcdad…of course he believes it 🙂
… and your point is what? Capitalism is working so well with the big financial interests controlling government and everything else? (You like being a serf to The Federal Reserve? You’ll love being a slave to the World Bank) You want to try and argue the success of supply side economics and free market Capitalism… which doesn’t exist anywhere?
Socialism will not work unless everyone participates… Communism works best in small communities. Remove the monetary system and everyone will have to participate. The globalization of economies is ruining every political and economic system in the world.
Capitalism doesn’t work at all in the long run… look, only 150 years of it and look at it fall apart all around even with the government propping up most of the economy. Marx was absolutely correct, the inevitable end to Capitalism is Socialism and the Communism. (Neither of which has occurred in any large scale yet. The former Soviet Union and China were not and are not true Socialist economies.)
I am not worried. I can wait.
Socialism is for the lazy people. Capitalism provides the incentives for any person to work harder to get ahead; to earn more, achieve more, etc. Europe – which has been heading towards Socialism for many years is getting ahead? No.
Communism works best in small communities? Is that so there are fewer people to kill when they decide not to two the Marxist line?
This is nothing more than a market adjustment, 8% unemployment does not make for nationwide economic disaster. If you’re ranting about the end of capitalism because of the current economy, I’d hate to see how bad you freak out when you get a hang nail.
Just out of curiosity kcdad, how would you propose the world begin a transition into a communist form of government? And keep in mind that a large, vocal, potentially violent opposition will fight any such change.
11 Bravo: We started heading for socialism at least at the time of or before the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Socialism creeps in small increments like an inchworm or like a frog being boiled alive by turning the temperature up ever so slowly. Socialism does not have all the messy violence of the Communists (usually.)
All the governmental agencies which were created to monitor banks and S&Ls, insurance for this and that which became backed with ‘our word’, funny accounting standards, the Fabian Society, the various Asst. Secretaries of the Treasury with Communist and Socialist ties, the Bretton Woods Conference, doing away with the gold standard and so on. The fox is always guarding the henhouse. We are already a socialist country with the outward trappings of a democratic republic. The Fed just papered the world with greenbacks — who is going to buy our next round of T-Notes at interest rates? Need I continue?
Look around Peoria, the educated elite tell us what project is good for us and will be the next silver bullet to solve all our problems. The solution is only just one more tax and spend project away. Just a mirage.
Just another way for citizens to pay taxes to fund private developments done under the guise of providing government services.
If your project doesn’t fit within the text of the current statute, not a problem. Just send a representative to Springfield (or to Washington) to get the law changed — delete a few words here and add a few words there. Ooops, your project needs more cash or whatever, let’s just get an amendment to that legislation to amend and amend and amend…… Need I write more?
You pass the legislation which the people will tolerate at a given moment and then the horse changes to a different color.
11Bravo… smaller communities work best because the hoarders can’t hide and are embarrassed by their selfishness. 8% percent of the people are filing unemployment claims… that number has never included those who have given up or whose unemployment has run out.. it also doesn’t count those who are not eligible for unemployment. (Who is not eligible? Anyone they say is not eligible.)
Get rid of money. It is useless and worthless.
End the primitive practice of ownership of property and resources.
Begin caring for the planet and each other… for mutual survival reasons.
Start working for things that we care about it… progress, health, food, and peace… instead of working for money.
There is a reason why 1 Timothy 6:10 states “The root of all evils is the love of money”.
kcdad: “The root of all evils is the love of money.” The money itself is not evil. It is the ‘love’ of money which is the root of all evil. Money can be used for good or evil. Go back to the gold standard which had definite rules and value for money.
Paper money is inherently elitist and unequal… it has no value except as set by the Bankers.
Granted, gold or silver or pukkha shells… anything that has real value and is used as a medium of exchange CAN be used for good… unfortunately, in our society NOTHING has value EXCEPT money. Everything is evaluated in terms of dollars… how does that make any sense (pardon the pun) at all?
I agree with you on the gold standard… the main
problem is of course, there is no US gold any more on which to base the currency. The Federal Reserve owns it all. The other problem is is of course new discoveries of gold change the value of the currency. The entire concept of currency is based on possessions… possessions are inherently elitist. I have what I have am powerful enough to keep you from having it. I pass laws to protect my possessions, I create weapons to protect my possessions, and I disempower you (through controlling culture, education and the production of goods and services)from being able to acquire your own possessions so that you are dependent upon me for the means (wages) to acquire your own basic necessities.
Gold and silver only have the same “type” of value as is placed upon money. And money has NO value, the true value is in what money allows you to exchange it for.
As to whether or not possessions are elitist… I feel like I am stating the obvious here but it all boils down to scarce resources. With limited resources comes limited ownership. And until we have completely unlimited resources there will be the need for some kind of heirarchical form of government whether it be a democracy, republic, or communism. ALL will lead to elitism. The ignorance in communism is that fools believe they can eliminate what they believe to be the elitism and unfairness of capitalism with limited control(or in reality a mixed economy) with the elitism and unfairness of a restrictive hierarchical form of government with complete control of all resources.
Neither idea is perfect but last I checked we aren’t killing millions of Americans who are unwilling to participate in capitalism. Unlike the USSR, China, and other shining examples of communism at work where those who oppose the government have been murdered and jailed by the millions. Oh wait, let me guess YOU can do it better or THEY didn’t subscribe to the right marxist philosophy… Those are pretty much the same excuses for every communist failure in history.
I also just want to point out the hilarity of visiting the Venus Project website and reading about how we need to abolish the monetary system and then glancing at the stop of the page to see a “Make a Donation” link… Only socialist/communists can overlook the irony in that.
11Bravo: I definitely agree with your views on the subject. I will just add a very simplistic comment. Until we can eliminate greed (for money or power) as a prevalent characteristic of human nature (no matter what the nationality or economic system), no economic or political system will be a complete success. I’m sure Kcdad will argue my point–but I believe capitalism “allows” more people to satisfy their “greed” than does any other system. And it might even offer some, though not enough, safeguards against extreme greed. I’ll hold off on that one until we found out what effect our present economic woes have on the exorbitant CEO salaries. I think we have to agree that–so far–even the poorest in our country under capitalism are not as destitute as those in many countries. And I do realize that capitalism (and a middle class) is in its infancy, so we can’t be sure how it will all turn out.
“Neither idea is perfect but last I checked we aren’t killing millions of Americans who are unwilling to participate in capitalism.”
No, you are correct. We are killing millions of “them” that are unwilling to participate in our economy. We dumb down and economically enslave Americans.
Please share examples of how capitalism forces people to dumb down and how they become economically enslaved. And then once you’ve done that please reconcile those beliefs with how it is a communist system DOESNT enslave people to a particular economic condition.
The difference is choice in one system you have it, in the other you don’t (unless you want to be hauled off in the dark of the night).
Communism is an impossibility without robbing humanity of all individuality and spirit. And only those who believe they cannot succeed on their own would ever be crazy enough to subscribe to it. But that really goes without saying since history has proven that many times over.
Look at our education system PRIOR to public education. Look at our curriculum in public schools. Look at The media; we have 4 conglomerates controlling nearly all of the entertainment outlets and news services.
Look at our economy… how many people do what they want to do, instead of doing what earns them enough MONEY to survive?
Look at our political system… what is the chance of a poor person being elected to any office?
You have no idea what Communism is, so any attempt on your part to discuss it is fruitless. The early Christian church were Communists. Israel was a Communist nation.
kcdad: What methods should be used to develop critical thinkers?
Kcdad: I don’t think the early church was communist. It’s too late tonight to give you chapter and verse, but one early commnity tried a communistic economy (voluntarily) but it didn’t last long. I’m not sure about Israel–was that in the early stages when they were just trying to build the nation? Certainly, that isn’t true today, right?
Easy exit from an argument, conclude the other side has no expertise thus you are the only valid point of view. Nice try, my undergraduate degree is in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy so I have a little knowledge in this topic.
Let’s assume that we don’t live in a capitalist society. Everyone can be whatever they want to be. Exactly how many of those people are going to be garbage men, clean public bathrooms, and other less than desirable jobs. Hmm, I guess you’d have to force them to do it oh and because we’re communist now you get paid what you need to get by as opposed to enough to entice you to do the job. And of course if you don’t do it…we haul you off in the middle of the night.
What is the chance of a poor person being elected to office? Well depends on what you mean by poor. If you mean people who come from meager means, quite likely actually you could even point to the president-elect as an example. Or Clinton, or Regan, or Carter the list is quite long… If you mean a homeless person living on the street currently, not likely. Then again, why would you choose to elect someone who doesn’t have the current capability to handle their own situation at that point in time.
I am not sure what your point is regarding media and education. If you are complaining that media conglomerates dumb down the public to operate in a capitalist society, how much better do you think it will be under one government controlled system. Essentially all the flow of information controlled by but a handful of people, sounds much more enlightening to me…not.
And for all of the organizations you cite that USED to be communist… It begs the obvious question “why aren’t they anymore?” Hmm… probably because as I pointed out before IT DOESN’T work. NO COUNTRY has ever made a successful go at communism. It has failed everytime.
But then again I have no idea what I am talking about.
Speaking of communism-has anyone read “The Long Walk-The True Story of a Trek to Freedom” written by Slavomir Rawicz?
Slavomir wrote the book in 1956 with help from a British journalist, Ronald Downing. Rawicz later wrote in 1993 as he neared the end of his life “…I hope The Long Walk will remain as a memorial to all those who live and die for freedom, and for all those who for many reasons could not speak for themselves. I had to tell my story as a warning to the living, and as a moral judgment for the greater good”
This was a great book- perhaps the quintessential example of the thirst for freedom. In 1941 Rawicz and six other fellow prisoners escaped a Soviet labor camp in Yakutsk. They walked across an entire continent- the Siberian arctic, the Gobi desert, and then the Himalayas with nothing but an ax, a knife, and a week’s worth of food.
Rawicz’s story is truly amazing-I highly recommend this book.
Karrie, it isn’t about methods.. that is the problem with schools today; They are concerned with methods and programs. (That is what you do in mass production factories when you don’t trust your workers)
People want to learn, maybe more importantly they NEED to learn. It is as much our nature as breathing. We are ALWAYS learning something. What causes people to lose that “instinct” are methods and programs that punish them for their curiosity…
The way to nurture critical thinking skills is to allow it to occur… instead of teaching children answers, teach them to ask questions, and then help learn how to find answers FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW…. meaning many answers to the same questions.
Instead of teaching skills like geometry and chemistry where memorization occurs, teach understanding so that they understand WHY and HOW Pi is what it is, or why the Pythagorean Theory is universal… why the periodic table of elements is structured the way it is and how each chemical is related to the next one etc…
Right now the pedagogy is “learn it now, understand it later”… that is useless and pointless… unless you are a media news outlet and you want sheep for readers and listeners. Unless you are selling something like used cars or variable rate term/universal life insurance.
We need to STOP trying to produce a product in schools and instead, educate and enlighten.
Sharon: Yes, Israel is little America, now. You have heard of the Kibbutz, right? They were mutually dependent Communist communities: “Communes” if you prefer the acceptable American term.
The early church was Communal. (Are you familiar with the word “COMMUNION”?) Do you understand the meaning behind that word? It is not about eating dinner. It is about gemeinschaft… mechanical solidarity… community.
Think about it: what use did the early church have for property? They were expecting the world for them to end any time… they were trusting in the God that provided for the sparrow and the lilies of the fields… they were sharing their extra shirt, walking the extra mile, turning the other cheek… just as they were taught. As Paul admonished them, everyone work together for the betterment of all and if someone refuses to work then don’t let them eat… doesn’t that sound rather “familial” or “communal”?
BETH: as for Rawicz’s story, it is the thirst to be out from under the oppression of others (elites who hold power over the masses) not about Capitalism or Communism. Read Dickens or Upton Sinclair for the same type of stories of people escaping capitalist oppressors.
See Spielberg’s Amistad, or Capra’s Mr Smith Goes to Washington.
Did you not watch: Its a Wonderful Life this Christmas???
What is the difference between Mr Potter’s Bank and The Savings and Loan? Why does EVERYONE love Jimmy Stewart’s character and hate Potter? Which is the model of Capitalism and which is the model of Communism?
11 Bravo… thank you for proving my point…
Clinton, Reagan and Carter… all of them were homeless and unemployed when elected.
People will become “garbage men” when the garbage needs to be removed. (Perhaps in a less production-for-obsolescence driven economy there will not be so much garbage) People will not be (like they are now) known by their source of income.. “I am a Doctor, I am a Teacher, I am a plumber, I am a garbage collector, I am a paper shuffler and filer, I am jobless…” Wouldn’t that be a nice change? Today you might be picking up garbage and tomorrow you might be mowing lawns or extracting teeth or painting a building… when everything is shared equally, everyone cares equally. Don’t you take care of things you own and care about? Do you go next door and change your neighbors oil or check his furnace filter?
Wouldn’t it be nice to do what you want to do, rather than settle for what someone else is willing to pay you for?
To each according to his needs, from each according to their abilities.
Every problem you cited in your post to Karrie would simply be amplified by communism. And the evidence is proven by what has happened in communist countries. Everyone who wants to be a doctor doesn’t get to be a doctor and you are outright fabricating the idea that you can change occupations like you change your underwear unless everyone is willing to undertake a HUGE reversal in societal and technological evolution.
I guess your idea of what makes a good elected official and mine (or anyone else for that matter) is quite different. If you would like to have a homeless man just for the sake of having a homeless person than by all means write one in. I would reather vote for someone who has proven they have the ability to raise themselves up.
I also still have not heard a reply to how you address the COMPLETE FAILURE of EVERY communist government that has ever existed.
Kcdad: Just another “food for thought” comment. This one is just from my own limited experience and observations. You have talked about the enslavement of our young people that you believe has been brought on by capitalism. I watched as a whole segment of Peoria’s society became enslaved, not by capitalism, but by the drug trade and culture. I believe that I witnessed the beginning of the big business of drugs–maybe that can be interpreted as capitalism (but the drug trade exists in almost all countries regardless of economic system). Unfortunately, many young people (both black and white) are caught up in this culture as either the sellers or the buyers. The buyers (especially if they are not addicts) probably come out ahead in that their livelihood is not dependent on the drug trade. I often wonder how Peoria’s southside and its young people would have been different if this “opportunity” for quick money and lots of it without the need for an education had not presented itself. If I have a “dream,” it would be for the eradication of the drug trade–I think society would be much better off. I have even considered the most controversial solution of legalizing drugs as a way of eliminating the profit angle, etc. Don’t misunderstand; I have only considered it–not advocated it.
Name a recent Communist country…. WRONG, guess again.
Legalization is the wrong “spin” of the issue. Decriminalization is what needs to be done. Only the exploitation of the drugs should be criminalized, not the use. (Just like alcohol and prescription drugs) After all we believe in liberty, right?
And you are correct in your appraisal of the situation, it is because of Capitalism. The drug dealers and growers are producing and delivering a demanded product. The “drug war” (ha! what a joke.) drive up the prices and demand while theoretically reducing supplies.
(Look at the opium industry in Afghanistan since we invaded)
kcdad,
Here’s why “de-criminalization” is a bad idea – demand for drugs come from people’s addictions. Since addicts won’t be able to get enough legally to “satisfy” their addictions, they’ll turn to a black market, which will be huge. Then you’re back where you started.
Well I could point out the obvious the USSR, China, etc… But your next point would be that they aren’t pure communist countries as Marx envisioned them. So let me skip all of that and get back to my main point which is that everytime it has been employed or i suppose it would be better to say attempted (since I am sure you would argue it has never been successfully employed) than what exactly do you propose be done differently to make it successful where so many have failed?
Jordan: I certainly agree that decriminalization would just lead to the black market. I am going out on a limb to agree with Kcdad on one point. I do believe the war on drugs isn’t working. I am afraid that the drug lords (those whom we would least suspect) are so politically powerful that the drug trade is allowed to run rampant. However, I am not going to blame it on capitalism–just on greed and power which will continue to exist no matter what economic system is in place.
New but related topic: I just watched the McLaughlin Group and heard a new term (new to me)–managed capitalism, a term that acknowledges the more socialistic activities involved in the recent bailouts, etc. Some will be critical; I think I like the idea of managed capitalism. And now I’m going to quit before I get in too deep because the field of economics is not my strong suit.
The black market exists BECAUSE something is illegal.
Is there a black market for alcohol, tobacco, bread or milk? Ok, let’s go to an extreme… is there a black market for pornography? The answer is: only for ILLEGAL pornography… like child porn or snuff porn.