Petey's
Pipeline E-zine
Issue #20
December 5, 2005
Contents
Business
First Editorial Prognostications
Random Ramblings and Miscellaneous Musings
By the Numbers
Write Thinking Using Quotation
Marks
Business
First (Editorial)
Prognostications
Assuming
that there's a future in our future, what kinds of businesses
are likely to prosper in the years immediately ahead? What career
opportunities are available to entrepreneurs who prefer
long-term stability and financial security to outrageous short-term
profits (or losses) and the uncertainty of unpredictable markets?
Because
mankind's long-term survival as a species depends heavily on
a particular set of balanced conditions, ecology, environment
and "economy" (in the true sense of the word) will
rise to the forefront of human consciousness and conscience
and play increasingly vital roles in local, regional, national
and global economies.
Ecological
and environmental imperatives will spur demands for a cleaner,
healthier environment, so anything that helps to achieve that
goal has a better-than-average chance of prospering. Solar energy
and biofuels should be big gainers; likewise waste management
and recovery, sustainable agriculture, and eco-friendly products
of all kinds (manufacturing and sales). Look for a rise in popularity
for human-powered or wind-driven sports/transportation vehicles.
The
service sector of the economy will continue to do well. Businesses
that cater to senior citizens seem like good bets; the first
of the baby-boom generation are poised for retirement in just
a few short years.
Of
course, if there's a massive human die-off anytime soon, all
bets are off.
Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
By the Numbers
by Phil Hanson
There's
no question that global human population has risen above sustainable
levels. Now, the only questions still in need of answers pertain
to how to go about reducing population numbers, restricting
future population growth, and cleaning up the mess already caused
by overpopulation.
Unfortunately,
there are no easy answers. Whether we take an active approach
to population control, or a passive approach, the end results
will be the same. Only the methods of achieving those results
will vary. We can choose to do something, or we can choose to
do nothing. Either way, we've made a choice.
Business
as usual—that is to say, doing exactly what we've been
doing for the past century or two—will be the preferred
choice for many people. It doesn't require us to learn anything
new, to change our minds or do anything differently than we've
been doing. It doesn't require us to change our behavior in
any way. All we need do is keep on keepin' on, and whatever
will be will be. Que sera, sera!
The
problem with a "do nothing" approach to population
control is that humans lose control of the situation. When Gaia—planet
Earth—unleashes natural forces to rid herself of a pernicious
parasite, you can bet your next quarter's profits that the outcome
won't be pretty. Recent hurricanes, protracted heat waves, prolonged
droughts, unseasonable rains, melting polar ice caps and receding
mountain glaciers are but previews of the chaos and catastrophes
yet to come. Nature is merciless and unrelenting.
Global
climate changes brought on by global warming affect air and
ocean currents, which in turn affect rainfall, bird and fish
migration patterns, the proliferation and transmission of disease
organisms, and a host of related problems that in turn disrupt
the life cycles of countless species, including humans. Habitats,
fresh water and food supplies are at greatest risk.
Wars
are the inevitable result of rampant population growth amid
a finite supply of natural resources. When food supplies are
scarce, when potable water runs short, when energy resources
are out of reach, people will fight to the last drop of blood
for the last scrap of food, the last drop of water, or the last
drop of oil. If hunger, thirst and inclement weather don't kill
them, bullets, bombs and other weapons of war will.
So
much for the passive approach to population control. Sure, it's
ugly, even painful, but it gets the job done. If only the survivors
didn't have to deal with the aftermath.
What
are the alternatives to doing nothing? Obviously, there's only
one; doing something. But, doing something presents a couple
of options of its own. Let's not even entertain the idea of
exercising the least desirable of these; it's morally reprehensible
and ethically indefensible. No rational person of good conscience
can (or would) endorse genocide.
Where
does that leave us, then? What can we do to minimize the impact
a large population has on the planet? What can we do to reduce
the number of people without resorting to mass murder and violence?
How can we build a sustainable global community without doing
things we'll later regret?
As
it turns out, there's much we can do. We can consciously choose
to have fewer children, or to have no children at all. We can
voluntarily choose to consume less, and to waste less of the
things we do consume. We can resolve to rethink our lifestyles,
reform our political systems, remake our economies and reevaluate
our system of values, but until we actually do these things
we'll continue, steadfast and unwavering, on a course to self-destruction.
Copyright
© 2005 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Write
Thinking
Using
Quotation Marks (" ") & ('
')
Use
quotation marks to:
(1)
Enclose direct quotations.
