There is certainly an issue here. We have examples of societies that died out. The people of Easter Island decided to build statues and fight rather than improve cropland and improve crop yeald. The Norse in Greenland died out while the Thule thrived on Greenland. We now have tools that did not exist before the 1940's capable of killing every human on the planet.
My solution includes two sections. First is what to do for the population of Earth. Second to prevent extinction (not as a solution for the problem of those on Earth) is colonies off Earth.
The colonies need to be no less than 2000 people each, and need to be independant of Earth for all basic needs. Commerce with Earth should be for luxuries and exchange of knowlage. Locations could be Luna, Asteroids, or Mars, or any combination of these. This does not solve any problem for Earth. It just keeps total war or biological genocide from taking the whole species.
The solutions for those on Earth....
1. Population. Each person gets one birthright, and each child born uses up the birthright of one of the parents. Bearing any child by a couple that has used their birthrights would result in the forced sterilization of both adults. A nation could opt to lottry off birthrights sufficient to keep a stable population.
2. Resources. Nations required to live within their means. Any nation useing more resources than is produces to be automatically trade sactioned by all other nations till back within their means. Famine and wars caused by such sanction should be viewed as normal untill that nation is back to producing all basic needs for every person residing there. Each state in the US should face the same rules beteen the several states. California needs to decreasse population till it can procure water in state for all the citizens there. The US needs to produce an energy surpluss, we can not afford to be importing engergy/oil. The world populaton needs to come down till the market demand is well below the natural production of lumber, fish, and other resources.
3.Education. Continue to raise the level of eduction across the globe. Make finding efficient solutions to problems easy to find. This requires easy access to the internet and network neutrality. Education is what will make it possible to raise the standard of living for more people while learning to live within their contry's resources. Education also makes tolerace possible. It reduces the evils of organized religion. And makes trade more efficient.
4. Tolerance. If we do not teach tolerance, and celebrate diversity, we fuel those views that would resort to nuklear and biological disaster. One does not need to be African, European, Native American, or the like to celebrate the cultures and accomplishments of each, or of the rest of the cultures and peoples of Earth. Failure to choose to support our fellow man, is to choose to support those that push hate and values that lead to global disaster for all.
Failure to control population, resource depletion, increase education, or increase tolerance, will result in the very real need for off world colonies.
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/history_of_the_ phoenix_vtol_ssto_and_recent_developments_in_singl e_stage_launch_systems.shtml
All about the powered, precission landing, and quick turn around, reusable craft.
There is certainly an issue here. We have examples of societies that died out. The people of Easter Island decided to build statues and fight rather than improve cropland and improve crop yeald. The Norse in Greenland died out while the Thule thrived on Greenland. We now have tools that did not exist before the 1940's capable of killing every human on the planet. My solution includes two sections. First is what to do for the population of Earth. Second to prevent extinction (not as a solution for the problem of those on Earth) is colonies off Earth. The colonies need to be no less than 2000 people each, and need to be independant of Earth for all basic needs. Commerce with Earth should be for luxuries and exchange of knowlage. Locations could be Luna, Asteroids, or Mars, or any combination of these. This does not solve any problem for Earth. It just keeps total war or biological genocide from taking the whole species. The solutions for those on Earth.... 1. Population. Each person gets one birthright, and each child born uses up the birthright of one of the parents. Bearing any child by a couple that has used their birthrights would result in the forced sterilization of both adults. A nation could opt to lottry off birthrights sufficient to keep a stable population. 2. Resources. Nations required to live within their means. Any nation useing more resources than is produces to be automatically trade sactioned by all other nations till back within their means. Famine and wars caused by such sanction should be viewed as normal untill that nation is back to producing all basic needs for every person residing there. Each state in the US should face the same rules beteen the several states. California needs to decreasse population till it can procure water in state for all the citizens there. The US needs to produce an energy surpluss, we can not afford to be importing engergy/oil. The world populaton needs to come down till the market demand is well below the natural production of lumber, fish, and other resources. 3.Education. Continue to raise the level of eduction across the globe. Make finding efficient solutions to problems easy to find. This requires easy access to the internet and network neutrality. Education is what will make it possible to raise the standard of living for more people while learning to live within their contry's resources. Education also makes tolerace possible. It reduces the evils of organized religion. And makes trade more efficient. 4. Tolerance. If we do not teach tolerance, and celebrate diversity, we fuel those views that would resort to nuklear and biological disaster. One does not need to be African, European, Native American, or the like to celebrate the cultures and accomplishments of each, or of the rest of the cultures and peoples of Earth. Failure to choose to support our fellow man, is to choose to support those that push hate and values that lead to global disaster for all. Failure to control population, resource depletion, increase education, or increase tolerance, will result in the very real need for off world colonies.