On Individual Sovereignty

My latest post is found here:   http://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com/ .  I started that blog in 2007, and left it in May of 2020 to launch Ecological Liberalism.  After well over one year here, I'm returning to "Sovereignty".  While I fully appreciate the fact that numbers of people here have been rock-solid steady for the past year-plus, those numbers are too small relative to the time it takes to research & post items... and they're not growing.

During my time on this blog, "Sovereignty" had over three times the monthly hits registered here... with no new posts there.  I hope you readers who have followed my essays on Ecological Liberalism will continue to do so on the link in the  paragraph above.  If you do, thanks in advance.

Happy Trails

"HOT MONEY"...

 with General Wesley Clark & his son, Wes, Jr., & directed by Susan Kucera ("Living in the Future's Past", narrated by Jeff Bridges).  Too bad Clark Sr. wasn't elected President when he ran awhile ago.  It's on Amazon Prime, not the best production for a doc, but the content is on the mark.  It shows precisely why:

1.  the global financial world is so fragile, & why mega banks should be broken up ASAP;

2.  there's so much economic inequality;

3.  most national gov'ts (including ours) are not seriously addressing Climate Change [only some cities & States in the USA are, & that's insufficient];

4.  mostly, the transformation to clean energy is going at a snail's pace;

5.  Climate Change already has started the destruction of the worldwide financial & economic systems;

6.  the new normal will involve mass human migrations never seen before;

7.  too many people apparently fail to recognize the paradigm shift in values which must occur if we are to survive & thrive in the future; and

8.  too many people are wrong when they believe that Tech will save us in time, therefore to them, there's no urgency about any of this, no need to drastically alter politics, the economy, or the financial system...much less our values.

..........

I imagine this documentary is found not only on Prime, but elsewhere online as well.  Look for it if you really want to understand what's going on currently, and what's required to avoid complete catastrophe.  Off & on, I've been studying this for 50 years (started in 1972 at Arizona State U.), so please believe this:  humans are facing the greatest Crisis in our history, and climate disruption is only a part of it.  The "experts" think we have until 2050 to mitigate the problem & thus avoid total societal breakdown.  In all probability, I believe that benchmark should be moved to the year 2035.  Why?  Because much more than climate is involved.  

It's time for all of us to take this seriously.  Much can be done on the micro scale, & much "lobbying" (of sorts) needs to be done on the macro scale.  Politicians will engage in window dressing efforts unless there's an outcry from the ground up.  History has proven such.

Best of Due Diligence to Everyone

p.s.  STEP 1:  stop believing the Edward Bernays style propaganda put out by most of the Powers-That-Be.  For example, it will take much more than Tech to avoid catastrophe.  Don't believe anyone who says otherwise.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Human Extinction?

Below is my latest email (slightly edited) to a few friends and family.

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If anyone has the time or interest, & it takes very little time, read the Conclusion (starting on pg 86) of this 2016 scholarly Thesis.  https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/54848306.pdf

It provides evidence of how neoliberalism essentially has (over decades) squashed the environmental movement relative to protection of our habitat.  

That has been accomplished via 3 avenues:  legislation (interpreted to include Free Trade Agreements enforced by private "courts" via the WTO), assimilation (corporations partnering with NGOs & gov'ts, corps determining policy, etc.), and financial coercion (through debt via mega banks, the IMF, & the World Bank).   It has been an assault on not only the enviro movement, but also on any social movement which opposes neoliberal policies.  Those policies include worldwide privatization, deregulation, liberalization of Finance (without adequate oversight), austerity for commoners, and mega corporate hegemony in general.

This is one of several scholarly papers which tend to support my contention that neoliberals now rule society with the aid of their political puppets... regardless of Party.

Most of the "Green" talk by the Establishment in DC today is all in the framework of neoliberal philosophy & neoliberal economics.  It's an oxymoron. It's window dressing.  It's tinkering around the edges of the Crisis.

When the political Establishment talks about "following the science", they mean the medical science.  They don't pay much attention at all to the science of ecology.  That lack on their part might be the 1st step on the path to eventual human extinction.  That's entirely within the realm of possibility.  To avoid it, we need a paradigm shift in ethics & our worldview.

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Not only my opinion.

Be Well

Reframing the Crisis

 https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/the-nature-and-overshoot-crisis-reframing-the-discussion-of-climate-change-and-biodiversity-loss/

While anthropogenic climate disruption is a massive problem requiring immediate attention, let's not marginalize other assaults on the ecosphere.  The article at the link above demonstrates that loss of biodiversity and other related disasters are interconnected to climate change, and every bit as important.

At the root, the ongoing crisis we're facing is as much a question of ethics as anything else.  The hubris of humans in relation to other species and the environment is (in general) beyond the pale.  We have to correct that if we expect to survive and thrive in the future.

We do have a model or two with which to work.  Indigenous societies around the world and certain Eastern religions have understood for thousands of years the importance of treating Nature as sacred.  It turns out they are on the mark.

As Barry Commoner said in 1971, "Nature knows best.".  Our technology has accomplished amazing things, but sorry to say, it also has egregiously damaged our global habitat.  As a species and overall, our attempts to improve human well-being have brought us to the beginning of our own extinction.  Unfortunately, that's true not only in the ecological sphere, but also in the social sphere.

It will take a paradigm shift in ethics if we are to survive and thrive.

Two books which point the way:  The Sacred Balance -Rediscovering Our Place in Nature, by David Suzuki; and The Web of Meaning - Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, by Jeremy Lent.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

A Pioneer in Systems Theory and Sustainability for Spaceship Earth

Boulding's work goes all the way back to the 1960's.

 https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/3917-kenneth-e-boulding

A sample of his thoughts---

“Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.”

-- Kenneth E. Boulding

“As long as man was small in numbers and limited in technology, he could realistically regard the earth as an infinite reservoir, an infinite source of inputs and an infinite cesspool for outputs. Today we can no longer make this assumption. Earth has become a space ship, not only in our imagination but also in the hard realities of the social, biological, and physical system in which man is enmeshed.”
-- Kenneth E. Boulding

“Physicists only talk to physicists, economists to economists-worse still, nuclear physicists only talk to nuclear physicists and econometricians to econometricians. One wonders sometimes if science will not grind to a stop in an assemblage of walled-in hermits, each mumbling to himself words in a private language that only he can understand.”
-- Kenneth E. Boulding

“Economics has been incurably growth-oriented and addicted to everybody growing richer, even at the cost of exhaustion of resources and pollution of the environment.”
-- Kenneth E. Boulding

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

MULTIPLE APPROACHES and TOOLS are required to attain sustainability

The articles below propose that it may not be wise to focus on only a single approach when tackling the implementation of sustainability.  The complexity of a paradigm shift in this arena requires multiple approaches and tools.  Specifics are given.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921002019

[Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422416300843?dgcid=raven_sd_recommender_email

Exploring the governance and politics of transformations towards sustainability

From watching/reading the Corporate Media, one would rarely ever be aware of the tremendous comprehensive work being done in the field of sustainability...for at least the last twenty years.  Some of it goes back forty years plus.  More writers and activists should spread the word.  Once in awhile, I get the feeling that some people think "Going Green" is simply a matter of passing laws.  Passing laws may not be easy, but it's a picnic compared to the research and implementation of sustainability for Spaceship Earth. 

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Terrestrial Vertebrate Populations and the Ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction on Earth

If you would like a good grasp of Earth's sixth mass extinction, the link below explicitly explains the urgency of it in graphic terms.  The scholarly article is relatively short, well illustrated, and right on the mark.  Are you pressed for time?  At least scroll down a bit at the link to Figures 2 & 3, (especially Fig. 2) and don't just glance at them.  Study the "key" at the bottom of each one, and then the three different columns of each Figure.

http://www.ceres.ens.fr/IMG/pdf/ceballos-etal-2017-pnas.pdf

Some people (even some who should know better) don't believe there is an ongoing sixth mass extinction.  Furthermore, they don't see biodiversity loss as being of any major importance to humans.  Most likely, that's because they don't yet see any large numbers of individual species going extinct, and they aren't considering the decline of populations as important or significant.  Finally, they apparently don't understand the role of biodiversity in natural ecosystems, or how human survival is related to those ecosystems.

In biology, a population is a group of similar organisms (e.g., mammals, birds, amphibians, etc.) or often, a specific species (e.g., Canis lupus).  Population studies of any group of organisms are done in a particular geographic area.  Populations exist in specific areas.  So, for example, the arctic fox is not found in the tropics.  :) 

Prior to any species going forever extinct, there's a significant decline in their population numbers.  The decline happens in different areas, and rates of decline may vary from place to place.  If the decline continues, ultimately the inevitable result is extinction.

The point being:  simply because species are not yet totally disappearing in massive numbers in no way means a mass extinction is not underway.  Why does it not mean that?  Because declines in populations precede final extinction, and currently, population declines are significant.  For example, since 1970 the worldwide populations of wildlife vertebrates on land have declined by 68%.  It's even worse in aquatic habitats.  [Source:  Living Planet Report 2020, by the World Wildlife Fund.]

That's a wake-up call.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Land Use RE: Energy and Mining Resource Extraction Footprints

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921001646?dgcid=raven_sd_via_email

In case the link doesn't work---

From the journal, Ecological Economics, Volume 187 -

"Energy matters: Mitigating the impacts of future land expansion will require managing energy and extractive footprints".

High Tech (& Tech in general) gobbles up such a large amount of natural minerals, and all of us gobble up such a large amount of fossil fuel energy, that those two categories have an ecological footprint almost as large as agriculture when it comes to the disruption of natural habitats.  This is one of the main reasons that biodiversity is rapidly plunging.

The authors of the above article propose mitigation actions for the future.

The human land use dilemma is growing, and overconsumption plays a major role.  Here's only one example:  no one really needs a new cell phone every year or two.  The production of just ONE phone uses up about 500 pounds of natural resources, and that requires more & more extraction from the land.

As to energy, nearly all of us in highly developed countries use too much of that.  The situation must undergo a paradigm shift if the world is to achieve sustainability.

The entire downhill slide we're on as a species is driven by the rat race of unlimited growth and too much consumption.  From what I've seen, too many people seem to believe we can continue on with both of those if we just convert to a Green Economy.  That's erroneous thinking.  Many studies have shown it to be so.  Links to some of them have been posted on this venue for the past year-plus.  "Going Green" and continuing on with the growth & consumption of the past decades simply are not compatible.

Ecological economics and the concept of a Steady State Economy have been around for years and years.  They've been marginalized and denigrated by the "growth" Establishment, particularly by the Plutocrats (both private and public).

If we are to survive and thrive, it's time for a major change.  To overcome the Establishment propaganda, education - formal & informal - and activism are key.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

DENIAL

The elephant in the room.  No one in power wants to talk about it.  Denial is the order of the day.

https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/the-psychology-of-denying-overpopulation/

Sustainability will be elusive until we recognize and deal with the problem of overpopulation.  It could be addressed with education and incentives, but politicians are loathe to even broach the subject.

The brief article at the link above delves into important aspects of this situation.  Highly recommended.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

A Most Interesting Question

Title of a journal article in Ecological Economics, Volume 185, to be published in July, 2021:

"Beyond ecosystem services and nature's contributions: Is it time to leave utilitarian environmentalism behind?".

From the "Highlights" of the article (preceding the Abstract)---

"We plead for a paradigm shift, away from utilitarian, anthropocentric and dualistic conceptions of human-nature relations."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921000963

As Homo sapiens attempts to move toward sustainability and all things "Green", it seems to me that we're still missing an important underpinning to the success of those efforts.  It's known as ecocentrism.

In the dozens of articles on the circular economy, the doughnut/donut economy, etc. which I've read, the ideology of anthropocentrism appears to prevail.  Is that, as Lynn White proposed decades ago, due to the Judeo-Christian worldview of the Nature-Human relationship (which sees humanity both superior to and separate from Nature)?  Perhaps, but I really don't know.

In any case and in general, humans do seem to be filled with hubris... especially regarding nonhuman life.  That's a problem when we profess to be "going Green".  In my view, there will be no successful sustainability without the adoption of ecoethics on a massive scale.  Ecoethics will not be the prevailing philosophical standard without a paradigm shift in our view of the natural world.  In the meantime, our efforts toward sustainability - though laudable and a good first step - still amount to tinkering around the edges of the socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis.

Nonhuman life has intrinsic value, not just utilitarian value.  The Earth is not here for us to "subdue" (from the Book of Genesis in the Bible).  The spark of life in all beings is the spirit of Universal Consciousness.  

As Barry Commoner stated in 1971 (in his book, The Closing Circle):  "Everything is connected to everything else".  We humans are not separate from Nature; we are Nature.  We don't "come into the world" when we're born.  We come from it.  All beings are Universal Consciousness expressing Itself.

Without the above worldview, I don't see how we can live in harmony with Nature, or have any significant degree of sustainability.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well 

One of our carbon "sinks" has been overestimated...

according to research at Stanford University, et.al.

 https://earth.stanford.edu/news/one-earths-biggest-carbon-sinks-has-been-overestimated#gs.xl3lt0

If these findings remain solid vis-a-vis other studies, the management of grassland and forest ecosystems may be significantly altered/impacted.  Furthermore, how we manage soil might be changed.

Soil is a highly complex, crucial system that too often is ignored or marginalized by politicians, planners, policy makers, and the petrochemical industry.  Hopefully, that will change for the better, and soon.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Solutions to Our Socio-Eco-Econ-Ethical CRISIS

 These all speak for themselves.  You may be familiar with some of them.  I'll bet my Stetson you won't be familiar with all of them.  😊

file:///C:/Users/abstr/Downloads/sustainability-13-01263.pdf

If the above link doesn't work, this one should - 

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1263/htm

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5548/htm

https://inequality.org/great-divide/the-pre-existing-condition-that-doomed-the-u-s-covid-response/

https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0921800921000161?token=C6EB71D48606824B54E300D3D1CE7EFFEEABBC1397DEE469E7B9A17DCA4B40C417BDED2500C266EA7C44146B3E68EF38

https://researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk/files/20387227/Accepted_How_the_Rich_are_Destroying_the_Earth.pdf

Here's a full-length book for your personal library on sustainability.

http://feineigle.com/static/books/2014/beyond_growth/Beyond%20Growth_The%20Economics%20of%20Sustainable%20Development-Herman%20E.%20Daly-(1997).pdf

https://steadystate.org/population-and-a-dose-of-common-sense/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378014001368

https://media.rff.org/archive/files/document/file/RFF-DP-16-24.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919312273

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344917303701

https://www.int-res.com/articles/esep/2002/E21.pdf

The above are but a few of the considerations we must take seriously if we are to have a sustainable future.

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Not only my opinion.  Happy Trails

Transformations and Rethinking Development - Thanks to the Pandemic

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X20303600?dgcid=raven_sd_recommender_email

From the journal, World Development Volume 138, February 2021, 105233 -

Article title: " Post-pandemic transformations: How and why COVID-19 requires us to rethink development".

SSDD simply won't do anymore.  Neoliberal economics, the Oligarchy & Plutocracy Era, and the days of Crony-Casino-Disaster-Surveillance Capitalism are all at the beginning of their end.  Most likely, the combination of democratic socialism plus Adam Smith capitalism*** (a Mixed Economy) - which most free countries now have to varying degrees - will become stronger.  That, coupled with a genuinely eco-ethical approach to Nature & its resources, will be the new paradigm.

[*** As I've pointed out before, Adam Smith was in favor of small business, not mega business.  He denigrated the concept of monopolies, and rather than support them, he decried the so-called "Masters of the Universe" - the Big Biz men who thought they ruled the world.  His idea was for small business to benefit common people.]

Perhaps then, more people will understand that when we damage ecosystems because of genuine necessity, we should take care to keep the damage as small as possible.  Why?  Because one of the many key services provided by the ecosystems of Nature is:  they are natural barriers to the spread of disease.

The article at the link above addresses the following topics re post-pandemic development:

1.  science and policy;

2.  resilient economies;

3.  the nexus between the citizenry and the State; and

4.  new ways of thinking & acting in relation to all the above and sustainability.

While the article is about world development, especially re the North-South (in general) global inequality, I believe its concepts can be applied more regionally and locally, and to more equitable "development" in "developed" countries.  These ideas, I think, should start at the grassroots level (county, city).  Then State or Province and National politicians will be more amenable to instituting needed support at their levels.  From the bottom up is usually (not always) better than from the top down.  Those at the top sometimes seem to be out of touch with the practical reality of the everyday/common people.

It's highly probable that many researchers and some politicians, policy makers, and a few private companies (& others) have been working on sustainability & equity (in the ethical sense) since at least the 2008 Crash.  Now we need to kick that into high gear.  A massive shift is on the horizon, and there's no time to waste in getting to it.

Tick-tock.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Five pillars for post-neoliberal development

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030485X

Like Germany, Austria, Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, and several other countries outside North America, the Netherlands [with the journal article at the link above] demonstrates that it is light-years ahead of the USA when it comes to the concept of sustainability.  Kudos.

The article is right on the mark.  The full title is:

"Planning for a world beyond COVID-19: Five pillars for post-neoliberal development".

This is the type of thinking we need if organized human existence is to survive and thrive in the Anthropocene.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Ten Essentials

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629617304413#sec0080

The article, found in the Journal Energy Research & Social Science Volume 40, is titled "Ten essentials for action-oriented and second order energy transitions, transformations and climate change research".  According to its multiple authors, if we as a species are to transition to a low-carbon and sustainable world, then there must be a paradigm shift in research approaches, entrenched disciplines, institutions, and political systems.  Researchers thus far have been great at grasping the problem and proposing solutions, but not so great at identifying HOW to make the transition happen.

The article at the link above is about three years old.  I'm curious as to whether or not any of the "ten essentials" have been implemented anywhere.  Some of you may know the answer to that.

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Not only my opinion.  Stay Well

Too many appear to be unaware of the severity of these problems -

ONE MORE TIME: 

 https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/thresholds-cascades-and-wicked-problems/

Not only my opinion. Be Well

The King of the Ecological Wake-Up Calls

 Frontiers | Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future | Conservation Science (frontiersin.org)

This speaks for itself.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Keynes, the Neoliberals, & Today's Crisis - Plus - the Power & Importance of a Narrative in Macroeconomics

 The new political story that could change everything | George Monbiot - YouTube

After relaying some crucial history, Monbiot presents his idea for a new "restoration story".  He may be on to something important here.  One thing's for certain:  presently re macroeconomics, the Powers-That-Be are engaged with pretty much same-ol', same-ol' stuff, or SSDD.  Given the worldwide socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis upon us, that will never do.

We are in dire need of a new politics, and a new restoration story to promote it.  That doesn't mean we necessarily have to throw out capitalism; however, it does mean we must recognize that capitalism has become so distorted as to be unrecognizable.  Adam Smith certainly wouldn't recognize it, especially with all the mega businesses, the essentially monopolistic enterprises, the shrinking Middle Class, the gross inequality, the excessive damaging and/or utter destruction of ecosystems, the crony relations with government, and the perpetual wars waged in order to access or control natural resources.  That's not capitalism; it's plutocratic fascism pretending to be economics.

In addition to Monbiot's view, another possibility for a new narrative is found in Ecological Economics.  The two aren't that far apart.  Eco-Econ has been around about 30 years, but very few on Main Street seem to know anything about it.  The main reason for that is the past and present dominance of neoliberal economists in high places, both public and private.  Neoliberal economics has failed, but still rules the world.  Why?  Many reasons, but I suspect the primary ones are as follows.

1.  Money buys influence and power.

2.  Plain old propaganda continues.

3.  Main street people are distracted to a point beyond the pale.

4.  Every so often, those in high places throw a bone to the rest of us.

It's an old, old story.

The good news is that things are beginning to change all around the world.  People are waking up, which means the plutocrats are doubling down.  Be aware.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Water Crisis, Plus PFAS Pollution, Plus Water Quality & the Pandemic

 In the not too distant future, this will affect every one of us.  Not enough is being done to mitigate the situation.

Explained | World's Water Crisis | FULL EPISODE | Netflix - YouTube

If you can't spare the time to watch all of the short video above, at least watch the first 5 minutes.  The stats/metrics starting at 2:35 will amaze you.  One of the problems is that people see water all over the place and tend to think there's no shortage of potable water.  That view has to change.

PFAS pollution is a public health emergency in the USA, and probably several other countries as well.  You would never know it by the coverage it receives from the corporate, mainstream media and politicians.

Forever Chemicals Are Widespread in U.S. Drinking Water - Scientific American

Finally---

What the pandemic shows us about water quality---

Pandemic spotlight on urban water quality (springeropen.com)

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Crucial Issues for Spaceship Earth

 Growth, economic resilience, recovery, & inequity:

doughnut-shaped-recovery-executive-summary.pdf (leeds.ac.uk)  (With a link to the full article)

Social rights & planetary boundaries:

Securing the social foundation: A rights-based approach to planetary boundaries - ScienceDirect

Water scarcity & Wall Street vultures:

Wall Street Vultures Are Ready to Get Rich From Water Scarcity | The New Republic

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If the world returns to our pre-covid economic paradigm, then the Boom-Bust Cycle, economic fragility, eco-disasters (including pandemics), and social injustice/inequity again will be our lot.  It should be clear by now that we must bring about a massive paradigm shift to a new economics, an ecocentric relationship to the natural environment, and social justice.  It's not only that those things would be "nice", it's also that they are necessary if organized human existence is to survive and thrive on Spaceship Earth.

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Not only my opinion.  Stay Well