Editorial: Frightening Future?

Editor

1996

Published in:

Technocracy Digest, 3rd quarter 1996, No. 321

Frightening Future? It certainly is. We have been warned about all these hazards for years and years -- over 60 years' warning from Technocracy alone -- plus all the warnings, in later years, by the media, who finally tumbled to the fact that maybe we do have something to worry about. Mind you, they still reject any solution to the problem.

And there is a solution!

It's a very simple one. Get rid of the system that is causing all our problems, like poverty, environmental damage, mass unemployment, stress, over-population.

Some of the most respected men and women in science, over 60 years ago, did fourteen years of research to find out why technology was being misused and was not in synchronization with the social field. They discovered an abominable interference by politics and money, and they explained that, in order to provide the citizens of this Continent with what they must have, in order for them to live in comfort, that both politics and money must be abolished. This has never been done! The problem and the solution were promulgated by Technocracy's scientists, but the financial interests saw to it that the social system they inspired, remained intact.

So, today, what do we have? We have millions of people living in poverty, fearful of the future. And well they may, because if the system keeps on the way it is going, it is doubtful if there will be a future for much longer, maybe for this planet, but we may not be included.

Even though we have been made aware of the problems in nearly every sphere you can mention, nothing has ever been done to correct them. Do you see any less traffic on the roads to lessen the pollution? Do you see any waters cleaned up? Do you see any solutions to unemployment, poverty, and sickness?

Look at this list, and see if you can remember any solution offered for any of them.

Professor David Suzuki recently reviewed a book, ``Our Stolen Future'' about the toxins still being used and the damage they have already done to the soil, plants, insects, birds, animals, including us, where he points out that: ... ``Even when a problem is identified, there are tremendous obstacles to obtaining the funding...'' Right there is the obstacle -- that need not be there -- to correct the mistakes being made with the incorrect use of technology. Suzuki points out that a researcher investigating toxic effects of chemicals on bird eggs, for example, may be unaware of studies on fish tumors or behavioral anomalies in children. With adequate funding, these studies could encompass the whole complexity of toxicology, and the effects of technology on it.

And also on the list are these other examples of problems that need never be, if we had made the necessary change to our social system, away from politics and money, to one using energy accounting. (Explained in the booklet, Technocracy, Technological Social Design.

``Natural Born Killers'' -- a United Nations report that humankind is extinguishing life on Earth faster than even the alarmists had foretold.

``Stage is set for major upheaval in the U.S.'' -- ``Unless the private sector finds a way to both make money and re-establish trust in the workplace, look for social unrest unrivaled in this century.'' This was a column written in the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times in March 1996, by Warren Bennis, a professor of business administration at the University of Southern California. But, compassionate though he appears to be, he offers no solution -- ``I have no pat answers to solve the problems and assuage the anguish I see all around.''

``Outcasts Up Close -- At least 400 people are believed to be living on the streets of Victoria. Up to two-thirds of them suffer from serious mental disorders. Yet demand for housing far outstrips supply.'' This is in a small city -- the capital city of British Columbia -- but the numbers are magnified in larger cities all over Canada and the United States.

``A Matter of Money'' -- At the end of her rope, one woman wonders what the future holds.'' -- A story from a Vancouver district, about a woman who has only the prospect of sleeping on the street. She is a hairdresser by trade, with jobs coming and going, so she had to take welfare. In order to get off welfare she received a student loan for $4,000 but discovered that the money quickly disappeared. To complicate matters, she has numerous medical complications...Now, she is about to be cut off welfare, lost in the reams of red tape, and she has nowhere else to go. And the newspaper stated that this story could likely be retold in numerous versions by numerous people with similar circumstances in a society that tries to help, but falls short.

``Canadians uneasy over jobs.'' ``One in three Canadians surveyed in a recent poll expected to lose their current jobs within five years. And one-quarter of working Canadians polled said they were ``underemployed'' -- working in less-skilled jobs for lower pay than they're qualified for.'' And that's a story that is echoed all over the Continent. Included in this, of course, is the anguish suffered by the families trying to make ends meet, the losses of their savings and homes in many cases, and their hopes and dreams perhaps for education, travel, a comfortable, happy lifestyle.

``Rapid Growth Puts Squeeze On Health'' -- A consultant calling for radical changes to ``cut costs'' at local hospitals predicts that rapid population growth (40 per cent) will pose a major challenge -- another little problem that has never been addressed: the Population Explosion. Too many people on a too-small land-area impinging on too few resources. This particular study was for the Fraser Valley area in British Columbia, but is indicative of over-population problems foisted upon any Continental area by monetary practices not taking into account the results of their political actions.

And for any of you mowing your small expanse of a lawn, where nary a buttercup dares show its head, how would you like to be confined to just that little piece of land? Scariest of all are the facts about population growth. And here they are -- they tell you just how much earth you will have left to stand on, unless something is done to curb population growth. (Better hang on to those buttercups, you may have to eat them.) Excluding the 5.1 million square miles of Antarctica, the world has a total land area of 52,512,087 sq. mi. Of this total, only 11 percent -- 6,727,574 sq. mi. -- is arable soil for the human race to grow the farm products needed to support life. The total world population at mid-1995 was 5.7 billion people. (The increase for 1995 was 100 million.) When you do your math., you find that the acreage per capita is 0.8 acres of arable soil per capita. This amount, with an average quality of soil, is barely enough to maintain a human at a sustenance level. Which means: the world's present population is already greater than can be supported at adequate levels. Any additional population can be supported only by a declining standard for those presently here.

This is a new condition for humanity, and is not well understood.

Everyone surely realizes by now that they themselves must take action to make sure we continue to survive on this beautiful planet of ours. It certainly is worth making the supreme effort to do so; but, really, all it takes is to investigate exactly what can be done. So far, no one has ever offered a logical solution, except for Technocracy. If you thoroughly inspect any alternative mentioned you will conclude that it could not possibly work under a political nor a Price System. Technocracy proposes its Technological Social Design, as it is the only one compatible with modern times.

We ask that you join us in demanding a change of social system so that, instead of being fearful of our future, we can enjoy a safe and plentiful one.