Future thrills

The message about the industrialised future is crystal clear: there will be fewer and fewer jobs.

Industrialised production including industrialised agriculture is taking over everywhere – the growth, the yields are going ever higher, profits are doing well. We will not need more workers – the answer is less. Go home or to a city as we do not need you.

Much focus has been on jobs in agriculture, retail, the media, but it is the same everywhere – people are becoming a drag. Now the banks are cutting – relieving 10% of their employees.

Are we really thinking about what is going on here: large scale industrialised production being the norm everywhere? The consequences? What is more important – output or people? Who is going to buy the superoutput? Why do we make it? Can we fix the lack of jobs by being more entrepreneurial and more innovative – increase the speed of development? Do we need more output? Move capital from weakening economies – p.t. the West – to areas of higher growth – p.t. Asia, after that move on again?

We must rethink society and our economic system: People being left out in a world of ever growing production capacity is not the way forward.

There is also crisis after crisis, system breakdowns, and at the same time there is great technical progress everywhere.

The costs of this system are becoming increasingly visible: Large scale industrial and agricultural activity is not sustainable, it leads to enormous efficiencies of the wrong kind, huge concentrations of power and reduction of humans to mere operators with a grim future.

So we must change our ways: our methods are wrong, our calculations are wrong, the resulting concentrations and degradations are not what we want.

The farming must change, industry must change, what we use technology for must change, decentralisation must come, ecological principles must become the norm, ownership must be broadened and become common, production must primarily be suited to local communities –  i.e. small scale -, global transportation must be reduced to a minimum, the financial and banking systems should be totally changed.

The focus of what we do should be changed from ever increasing materialism to balanced deep ecology: The aim is small scale, local, human, fair, for all to take part – we are not the servants of some large scale operation – we have values, we are creative, we will not serve others, equality is the norm.

Economics is the sum of what we all do, it is not an abstraction for the politicians filled with incomprehensible numbers and unsure relationships. The economics should make sure that all people have a proper living standard, that nobody is left out. Every local society should be independent, organic, decentralised, empowered to solve it own matters. The degree of self-governance should be increased substantially.

The industrialized society must be built down, the huge inhuman large scale systems of finance, industry, agriculture, distribution must be done away with. Globalisation where big companies can rule the world must be ended. Globalisation should be known as the common heritage of principles of ecology and our common knowledge in all areas that is made available for all.

The world must be made manageable, megasystems are not.

The future is a renaissance of organics, small scale industry, conscious urbanisation, new small scale investments to support diverse small scale production, decentralised control, new small scale technology, individual creativity and production, humanising and democratising society.

Humans have a future after all – we are part of a grand system that will serve us well if we are sensible.

Humans see only a small part of the electro-optical spectrum, what our senses are made to give us. We know there is more, but we can not become aware of this via our senses. Microwaves can hurt you and damage your body, but you can not see these waves. Our ears can hear sounds of certain frequencies. It is hard to be completely at rest as there are  impressions reaching you, making you feel and think.

So our senses tell us only a partial story – there is more – the impression our senses give us is incomplete. Or saying it in another way is that we have not opened up our senses – there is potential of more. We have not started on our possible development. There are known techniques that can bring us closer – yoga, meditation – by letting us be aware of states of the mind that is not there in our ordinary activity. But surely that is just the start?

Meditation is to tune in with the larger cosmos, and we must try to be part of the larger cosmos – the oneness, and that can only be done via our senses. The oneness is felt as stillness in the middle of movement, and you find this stillness via your senses by being in the now – by being fully here.

We must learn to to be able to focus and see what is coming at us so that we can be attentive in the now, to find stillness.

You must start processes in your body and mind and let these processes grow and change you. Your senses must become active, you merge with the stillness and then you are fully aware, attentive and respectful. Now you can serve the cosmic purpose you are here for. You now can cooperate with the cosmos, with all beings, you can really be the servant of the cosmos.

The greater aim of it all is to ensure that the cosmic processes can grow and develop, to show love for the world and the processes we all are part of. By giving your attention to the cosmos you become part of the mystery of existence and find reality. If we withdraw we lose ourselves.

So learn to use your senses fully (we don’t really know the full meaning of that yet) – start the process and it will do you good – and the rest of us too.

(Reflections on reading Peter Kingsley)

Theories around environmental energy abound, and all sorts of new technologies are being tested. Often this is done via development grants, state funding, price support, research programs financed by many – the total costs are often very high. To gain future acceptance in the market the cost picture has to become clearer and lower. The practice of the environmental technologies has been lacking – many details must be found out to make a viable system.

And insight and experience are growing.

Electric cars are appearing in many places and charging points are installed in many cities. Special parking spaces are built. Batteries must be able to tackle winter conditions, and tests are proceeding. Pricing, taxes, emission controls and measurement, relations to petrol driven cars, the bureaucracy of electric cars is developing.

Solar photovoltaic installations have great promise, and costs of panels have been going down. New products like thin films are entering the market. But most installations are like prototypes. Plug in possibilities are not there yet, but progress is being made. Risk factors are being found out – e.g. wind, rain etc. Standards, higher volumes, integration, building permits facilitation – all are falling into place so that increasing use is on the way.

In other areas – wind power at sea or on land, geothermals, bioenergy – things are moving ahead.

Testing and finding new ways is what we have done so far – the just-plug-them-in society with reasonable prices are on its way. The process is long and tough, but in the end the viable systems will stand.