Introduction
From Sustain
Together, we can forge a glorious human society; a society that secures the maximum quality of life for all its citizens, for all generations.
I believe we will eventually achieve the balance necessary for such a utopia. I fear this will only follow much (imminent) turmoil, and the decimation of much of our natural wealth. A powerful new movement is critically needed to reverse our destructive momentum, and speed the delivery of an optimal recurrent harvest as the platform for a community of holistic quality.
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Our current trajectory
If judged by the average quality of life, our present mode of global society may have passed its peak. On our present trajectory, the meteoric rise of our species will falter during the coming century. Even without global warming, the 9 billion or so expected by 2050 will almost certainly be scrapping over a dwindling recurrent harvest. Anyone who has bothered to assess the available evidence would struggle to avoid similarly bleak conclusions, without first engaging our innate ability for denial and / or blind faith in technological advance.
Steps
Without taking myself too seriously, I came up with a four-step plan to deliver us from our impending catastrophe. Over time, I became more convinced that I had the essence of an idea, something valid enough to write down and share.
The broad steps I believe are necessary to navigate a way out of our pickle are:
• Abolish intellectual property;
• Establish a meritocratic form of global governance;
• Achieve a complete switch to a sustainable global society; and
• Design a new secular faith to see these steps delivered.
A common reaction to this list is surprise at the priority given to undermining our intellectual property regime. The steps are not in order of importance, but in the order I deemed sensible to explain my outlook. Intellectual property is one manifestation of the congenital flaw in our selfish system; its removal, and associated possibilities, central to the solution.
This project aims to share some thoughts on the world's key problems and how they might be addressed. Such intent is a tad ambitious and can only be attempted with a heady mix of arrogance and ignorance. In the words of Tolstoy “everyone thinks about changing the world but too few about changing themselves.” We need a movement of people motivated to do both in parallel. This is central to the message of this project. I invite you to read on and challenge.
Navigation
This project can be read on two levels:
• The short synopsis (of which this forms part)
• The full unedited behemoth (of which this forms part)
I advise skipping through the highlights first then dipping into the detail where you are interested or need convincing. If you don't agree, I hope that my thoughts at least provoke thoughts of your own.
I have written a detailed introduction that outlines my personal back story, approach and several caveats / disclaimers I wanted to get off my chest before I started. If reading for the first time, I advise carrying on through the short version prior to working through this - I don't want to bore before getting the themes across. The full preamble can be found here.
The next section, Woes, analyses the current state of play.
