THE problem
The news is full of doom and gloom about recessions, oil prices, housing slump, immigration and a whole host of other problems laid squarely at government policies. The real issue is that nobody can talk about what the real problem is. Nobody can talk about it because it brings up so many uncomfortable conversations and emotive and (in many peoples
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Really good to hear from you and even better to read such a cogent reply.
I agree with everything you have said in regards to the distribution of wealth and inequality in general. However the tools to reverse the trends of capitalism or the inequality in this breed of capitalism were taken out of our hands long ago. I don't believe there is a single government that can legislate against the companies as those governments are pretty much owned by them and sadly, without legislation, the corporations will continue to do exactly as they please and "reframe" their position to disguise the fact that it's business as usual.
As you rightly point out the vast majority of the destruction of our ecosystem is due to industrialisation and that is due to the demands of the corporations and individuals to increase their source of wealth. However with a stable population the only means to increase wealth is to either have a rapid turnover of goods or increased automation to reduce costs. The former will accelerate the consumption of resources to generate the new waves of goods and the latter increases the likelihood of redundancy. Another effect, which I apologise for not pointing out, is exploitation of poorer countries resources (through the nefarious Free Trade Agreement frameworks so beloved of the rich).
My only reason for saying capitalism works is that it is the only surviving mechanism when every other system has failed or been corrupted. In it's original conception it was a workable ideal within a fixed time period but it was also self-defeating in the long term. The various other allied systems such as meritocracy (a huge joke perpetrated to keep us blind) and trickle-down economics (the trickle cannot sustain anyone and usually dries up once the corporations have no use for it)
You say that it is the rich european countries that have overpopulated but this is simply not true. Countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Indonesia were hit badly in 2004 by a Tsunami because their settlements were built in areas known to be affected. Again this is due to overcrowding and greed as the inland real estate was priced out of their means. There are communities in countries butted up against known live volcanoes and earthquake zones simply because there is no more room for them or the land is too expensive for them to buy in safer areas. The safer areas are built up to accomodate as many people as possible to maximise income for the property holders in these areas so the population argument holds.
Sadly both of our ideals of equal distribution of wealth or reduction of population are pipe dreams that will never be permitted to take place. The populations of the rich countries are now so inured in a culture of arrogant greed and conspicuous consumption that it is spreading to the poorer countries who live by our example. My comment of "Getting rich is where it's at and hang who we hurt in the process" is particularly relevant as it's this kind of corruption that spreads to countries with burgeoning economies so we see the rich-poor divide even more starkly represented.
Corporations, media, and government have all conspired to make future generations avaricious, arrogant, ignorant and fearful despite there being so many more people like you and I shouting against the wind.
I only hope that there are enough ears to hear and carry the word forward.
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Its is obvious we have the same concerns albeit from slightly different political perspectives and as such I am not going to disagree with you except on one point.
Overpopulation, whilst I agree that many poor settlements are forced to be built in the most precarious of regions and as such are overcrowded, this isn’t due to “overpopulation” the land mass of these countries means there is more than enough land for all to live on, however due to the distribution (or lack of) of wealth in these countries the poor are given the poorest land to live on.
Whilst India is above us on population density, Thailand/Indonesia way below us. So your argument doesn’t hold except for the issue we agree on - distribution of wealth. Whilst devastating, the tsunami per country made hardly a dent on the population numbers. However the devastation left behind affected millions… in the main the poorest people of those countries. Not due to overpopulation but poverty.
The poor of these countries can’t buy the products that are being produce in the name of consumerism yet their countries are stripped of their natural wealth to provide the fuel and means for that to happen. This also contributes to countries not being able to naturally defend themselves against natural disasters..
What causes the biggest issue on population is mass unplanned urbanisation. China has modest population density but if you look beneath the surface many of it’s provinces can barely sustain their inhabitants due to the unbalance of population in urban areas… grown out of industrialised cities being built around their natural resources.
The Sichuan earthquake is proof of that. Whilst relatively few people died over 5 million have been made homeless due not to the earthquake but to the corrupt officials who were given money by China to throw up housing and schools/ factories etc as the province of Sichuan swelled in urbanisation from 1990 - 2000. Sichuan province is rich in mineral resources has great water transport channels, coal, natural gas and biological forms of energy. It has been exploited for its resources and greed and corruption has literally resulted in the murder of its people - this province could have and should have built earthquake proof housing - but once again workers already exploited on cheap wages and cheaper housing have as a result an earthquake found 5 million of its 80 million people homeless. I am guessing those homeless don’t include party officials. State capitalism at its worst.
As for capitalism, substitute capitalism for feudalism and we may be closer to the problem. A handful of the world population use the governments and religions of their chosen country (corporatism doesn’t equal patriotism) to keep their labour in check.
Despite world changes, consumerism, capitalism, corporatism - when you get right down to it - its class struggle - always has been - always will be - people dress it up as race war, or culture divide but at the end of the day its class war. When you have an economy that creates great wealth for just a few at the expense of the majority you have a crisis.
Anway Warlock great to trade time with you… hope you are both well :)
Redbratxx
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