Today's industrial economy is based upon explointing labor, natural resources, and the environment as a whole.  Today's farming is based upon degrading the land and water for high yields.  Neither industry nor farming have much regard for whether their methods can be sustained long-term.  The future is at stake.\n\nClearly, we must re-focus our efforts toward a more-responsible economy and lifestyle, but this re-focusing will cost plenty.  Volunteering to give up the wasteful methods that produce cheap goods and cheap food won't be an easy pill to swallow for the American populace, where bigger has always been considered better.  It's counter to our sense of "progress."\n\nHow do we convince our populace that this must be done or risk our long-term survival as a nation and people of this smaller-and-smaller earth?\n\nHow do we convince others to make the same sacrifices, especially those such as India and China just on the cusp of traditional economic wealth?
201801
I don't know if you can convince someone... it takes longer (and more money) to do something the right way... more money equals higher taxes... it seems like most people don't care about the "right way" to do things.. only the cheap way...\n\nI just hope the earth is more resilient than we think...
385070
I think there's a screw loose in all humans that acts as a form of population control. This, of course, is aggression. For all the sickness and famine and natural disasters, we're still spreading across the globe in a hurry and the failsafe to keep our numbers down is war. Nasty, but it seems to be the case. I could suggest alternatives (Olympic-style competitions to attain land or what have you) but I doubt anyone would adhere to them. Perchance the best hope we have is space travel, whereby the human race can spread as it needs to and will have less need to club each other to death for the sake of a patch of dirt.
196113
I believe this is an exellent question. But more than that, I think you've already answered it even better. I mean, you are totally right about people not willing to take risks and live fully. I personally live up with this idea and I have ended up in a lot of luck by just listening to my instinct, heart, and mind. This question can keep me going on and on, but what good will it make? \n\nIt is said that if all the wealth in the world were to be divided equally among all the people, in 20 years the poor will be poor and the rich will be rich back again. Unfortunately, There are those who were born to scrub public restrooms and those who take chances and end up in somewhat better job (If not the best job there is). And YES, College does NOT guarantee success but how you apply yourself! Everyone who looses and turns the failure into an experience is a winner. \n\nAnd yes, I walk the talk. I am independent, 21 year old Mexican, quatri-lingual, living in China and running my own import export buisness. If I were home sick, or was too afraid to go into a country where I did not know the language, I would have done nothing. \n\nIn life, there are those who succeed, and those who will just watch. Which one are you??
549348
nope\nbecause common sense to a farmer is not commom sense to a city slicker\nthe problem is, everyone should agree with me and they dont\nits so sad\n:-)\n\npeace
139345
I've spent an entire semester in university listening to and researching over this issue ... and yes the "peak" has passed ... if you look at the bell curve, we're heading towards (or already are) on the decline side of the curve ... and soon it's going to be all over.  \n\nbasically we need to look into alternative source... and that's where this thing gets tricky.  oil is, for the most part, needed for transportation... and cars and transport means that do not require fossil fuels are either not fast enough or they're too expensive.  so what to do now?\n\nwell.... the answer lies in changing the minds of the human race... we live in an economy-driven world... they worry about making money, dont care where it comes from... \n\nbut the good news is that there's an abundant amount of awareness about all the environmental issues out there... i'm in my 20s and i don't remember this type of awareness happening 5 - 10 years ago... so we're headed in the right direction... question is are we alreadfy too late?  the answer is: only time will tell!\n\nand i can go on and on, but due to lack of time i have to end here ... if i have more time before u close this q i might add more in! \n\noh, but before i go... here's a recommendation (a documentary):\nEnd of suburbia dicrected by gregory greene\n\nit talks about the peak-oil crises!\n\ncheers!
565077
yup! i agree with u....... \nthe  remedy is to atleast plant more trees and try not to mess up with mother nature in the name of developments.... \ndevelopments are good......... but who will be there to utilise it? \n\nwe are doing lot of bad than good to mother earth.... we need to start now.........
163893
your observation of current conditions go far beyond the political structure that our world suffers from Today.In brief, the answer to the first part of your question is 'Its already too late!" Our Environment is in total upheaval due to the persistent use of FOSSIL FUEL!! Global Warming is UPON us as we sleep, eat and make war....for the very product that will terminate Life as we know it...First of all,once the concept of Greed is comprehended ...We as a race might have a chance to not become exstinct. As it stands now, it doesnt look very good. Understanding the free worlds economy and realizing that it is controlled by the Petro Dollar.and the handful of people that own the Companies that produce Petroleum.Failure to keep the Petro Dollar afloat WILL and WOULD collapse the free world economy,  THIS is the POLITICAL Machine that decides whose Son or Daughter should be sacrificed to maintain a "Freedom" to breath foul air and watch our Planet slowly Die; Being ravaged by Hurricanes,Tornadoes,and Floods caused by the melting of our Polar caps.Once the Salinity content of our oceans deviate much more or the temperature should fluxuate (I believe its 4 Degrees Celsius) disrupting the food chain, we as a race of people should be issued a shovel the next time we fill our gas tanks ....so we can start digging our own graves....We are on the Precipice, and it IS serious,....but we as a people have a tendency to not want to hear this until its knocking at our door...I pray that we as a society will take note and a STAND and commit...your children and your grandchildren have the RIGHT to live in a world free of Toxic Gases we call 'AIR' that is generated by the handful of Petrol Sharks that keep us stuck from utilizing the technology that ALREADY exist to burn clean fuel  ...Sundancer
266985
A mess.  Our society would be alot better off if we tried to equalize the money a bit.  We are not making much headway doing it the way we are.  I would be willing to join a political party that thinks we should take care of our own country and it's people.  Global warming and the loss of fish, other animals and the state of our rainforests really has me worried.  And I am ashamed that we as a country have not learned to be above war.
208973
Because we can create as much food for ourselves as we want. Its not about birth control, or sex ed, or knowing good from evil. We are just like every other living thing on this planet, and as such, are subject to all the same rules of nature. In this case, one of the primary laws of ecology - when the amount of food increases, the population increases. No matter what. No exceptions. Sure as the sun rises and sets. Due to totalitarian agriculture, we produce as much food as we want with no limits, hence our population continues to boom upward. Millions of years ago, the human population was relatively stable (as hunter/gatherers), but when totalitarian agriculture began, our population began to double and triple at astonishing rates. Now, it will  only be 15 years until our current population doubles again. Other living things live by nature's population control methods: disease, natural disasters, draughts, etc. We figured out ways to escape that. Think it's a good idea? Now imagine what it's going to be like in 15 years. 30 years. 100 years. Horrifying. We don't try to do this intentionally, we just attribute the wrong answer to the problem, thinking that birth control will solve everything, all the while producing more and more and more food each year thinking "well, we have more people to feed this year, so we must make more food." This will continue until one year we decide to 1)produce the same amount of food we produced last year, or 2) produce less food than last year. No big cataclysmic devastation will occur, rather the same number of people will die, and fewer will be born. Fact of ecology.
628618
At least you  have thought intelligently about how we middle class citizens can survive with all the burdens that hard work costs us personally!  It's a pretty innovative concept, but you are over-looking the fact that this possible solution would effect the wealthier portion of our population and really what does wealth go hand in hand with.........?.....\nPOWER, my friend...the rich would never allow such a solution!  Keep brainstorming.....perhaps a workable idea to save the debacle our government calls "retirement"...........We pay and pay and research shows that our medicare/retirement benefits (which enable us to dine on dog food) will virtually become non-existent before too long!!
328466
I'll continue life as usual. Clean my own home. Mow my own lawn. Cook my own meals. People who are not accustomed to doing for themselves the things that they are currently hiring illegals to do for them do not have one drop of my sympathy. Businesses want to leave? Let them. Agriculture can return to American families...where it belongs. Americans will have to do their own dirty work, and there's nothing wrong with that. Civilizations crumble when too many of their citizens do too little for themselves. Make yourself useful and productive or no one will need you.
349590
I agree on moral grounds. I think if you choose to root your business in American soil, you have a responsibility to till that soil. If you've set up your business in the U.S., you've just invested in the U.S, from the employees, to the community where those employees live, on up to the national economy. \n\nBy not paying your employees a living wage (which is not the same thing as a minimum wage), you've shown that you place little value on their lives and well-being. The people of America are its finest resource. So, not paying them enough to live, ultimately degrades the value of that resource in terms of health, happiness, and productivity. \n\nMuch of a resources' value is determined by the cost to produce it. The cost to produce paper includes the money spent on logging, to process it, to package it, etc. The cost to 'produce' a person is a little more hazy. But the basics I would imagine to be: food, housing, utilities, transportation, and medical coverage. These are basic human needs. Not wants. Needs. Things a full time job at $5.15 an hour do not cover. If a business cannot afford its resources, then that business should be out of business. \n\nI find it odd when people say things like low-wage workers make low-wages because they have no ambition or their lazy. We apply this survival of the fittest mentality to people, but as soon as someone says 'lets raise the minimum wage', no one applies that same survival of the fittest rationale with businesses, instead they're arguing about the stress it puts on them, and that higher wages may force them shut their doors. When did we become so dehumanized that we rally to the side of entities over people?
23549
Remember in Social Studies like 80 million years ago, when we learned about the barter system?\nI've often thought that society would be so much better if we acted like people did in the old days.\nBack when everybody was a farmer or had something to do with farming.....well, it WAS the life, after all.  People had to WORK, and therefore, children learned values and morals.  You couldn't have a roof over your head if you didn't build one, you couldn't have food on the table if you didn't grow it or kill it.\nPeople didn't get fat and lazy, because....well, if you're lazy, you die (based on the aforementioned actions of survival).  People didn't rip people off, because everybody had something somebody else might need, so why not work for each other and trade with each other....\nI prefer a simple life, myself.  I don't need much more space than you'd find in a single-car garage.  Plumbing is nice, but anybody who's ever been camping knows how to squat.  Food is far less expensive if you buy the ingredients in bulk and make it yourself, not to mention the nutritional value of ingesting foods not "processed"....  \nYou see where I'm going with this?
36480
Investing money to develop agricultural areas into industrial zones is good---partly though.\n\nFirst of all, the Philippines is an agricultural nation. Perhaps some agricultural areas should be developed, but not all. Since it is an agricultural nation, it derives its economy from agriculture. If  these areas will be developed into industrial zones, a good part of the economy will be crippled.\n\nSecond, people who depend on agriculture for a living will lost their jobs. If their skills are only limited to agriculture, where will they go once these areas are industrialized? \n\nLastly, and this is just my opinion, if agricultural areas will be turned into industrial zones, and considering that the money comes from Western countries, the Philippines will then have a debt of gratitude to these nations. Meaning, its government will do whatever these nations will tell them to do. Another form of colonization, eh?\n\nIndustrialization is not bad as long as it is done with responsibility---which I doubt the Philippine government has. Yeah, I am disillusioned. I'm a Filipino too.
115431
Economist always look at the bottom spectrum of the scale, which never includes people or their welfare. In a perfect world like the Romans had for Centuries even will collapse. They used War and slavery to build their empire. The Slave owners of the DEEP SOUTH, During the Confederacy used these same principles to build the DEEP SOUTH of America. The Republic of China, and the Communist are a mirror of this same type of Government. Same thing in India. World Markets can't compete with an in-slaved Government system, and I say it should be opposed. China right now is putting pressure on the U.S. Auto-makers with this labor situation. I think it was poor investment; because you gave all your bargaining power away, and are at their mercy now to what they will. I believe that with a free market, which includes the vote of the populous, and their concerns. The market will thrive, and you attain greater returns back into the market. That's my observation.
659164
USA ( and a number of other countries ie France) stil pay large subsidies to their farmers and doesn't agree to other countries having subsiies - and not just developing ones - because this allows their farmers to keep their prices artifically low so that they can sell more and therefore drive more sales. if Other countries who can produce cheaper than the USA anyway had subsidies then US farmers would not be as wealthy as they are. \n\nI think that's how it works.\n\nAddtional:  This seems to have gone down the slope of "we can't support the rest of the world blah blah blah. All these comments add to the flavour around the world that Americans see themselves as the polcieman; that everything they believe is true should be put o&#92;upon the whole world and why should we help the poor. This is because if all the wealth of the world was $100  and there were only 100 people in the world, $95 would belong to SIX people and those Six would all be Americans. \n\nUSA is spending alot of money (trillions) on Wars it can't really justify simply to secure more wealth for itself.
129703
Are you sure that these towns are that bad?  People often pay pretty high prices to buy these houses.  I do agree that they often do not match the rural character of the farms nearby, but people need somewhere to live.\n\nThere is a balance between providing housing and preserving farmland.  The economics of farming these days mean that you need huge amount of acreage and low property taxes to be able to stay in business.  If development is allowed on the land, a lot of times it will not make sense to keep farming and a farm community will turn into another exburb.