Posted on 03/18/2014 7:12:51 AM PDT by shove_it
Natural and social scientists develop new model of how 'perfect storm' of crises could unravel global system
A new study sponsored by Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution.
Noting that warnings of 'collapse' are often seen to be fringe or controversial, the study attempts to make sense of compelling historical data showing that "the process of rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout history." Cases of severe civilisational disruption due to "precipitous collapse - often lasting centuries - have been quite common."
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Never mind from the Manchester Guardian. Ready for the fantasy Luddite world of water mills and mule-drawn barges?
Wasn’t NASA directed to become an outreach for Muslims?
“What does this have to do with space? Administrator Bolden, you have three minutes to explain before we vote to cut your funding by 50%” <-————— What Congress needs to be saying.
If global industrial civilization collapses it will be due to the creation of a global nanny state.
“unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution”
Oddly, this government study echoes the White House propaganda.
“A new study sponsored by Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution. “
What the hell does this have to do with space flight? Do they do landscaping too?
Yup.
NASA might find a lot more support if they got back on the pathfinding and prospecting mission they were intended to be.
“unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution”
Unsustainable social spending and draconian regulation and taxation is more like it.
Translation: the is an increasing population of people who do not have the skills, or the aptitude to acquire the skills, to be productive enough to be able to earn what it costs to feed them, and the charity of the productive will be inadequate to support them.
The result will be either a mass invasion of refugees into the developed world to take it over (see Camp of the Saints) or the developed world will have to start killing a whole bunch of invaders.
Wonder how long it will be until the Russians deny access of American Astronauts to the ISS and take it over!
They made a movie about what the future will look like, it’s called “Idiocracy.”
Who is John Galt?..................................................
British people need to learn how to spell in English..............;^)
I remember reading the book when I was a junior in engineering. If I recall correctly (it’s been a LONG time), but book actually was careful to not spell out exact dates, but general trends. The horizon for collapse could have been as short as 50 years but as long as several hundred. The thesis was ultimately rejected because it didn’t take sufficient account of changing technology to control pollution, improve crop yields, etc.
But, it is probably correct over the long run, say several centuries or maybe even millennia. The earth sustains 7 Billion people today. Can it sustain 15 Billion? 25 Billion? 100 Billion? 200 Billion? 500 Billion?
At some point, you do run into the “carrying capacity” of the planet — arable land is finite, the earth’s crust is only so thick and endowed with only so many minerals, and the atmosphere only a few miles deep.
Should we spend any time, energy and money worrying about such things today?
Is it going to be the “beautiful people in a dome surrounded by dystopia” collapse, or “marauding, shotgun wielding bikers in leather” collapse? Or both? I’ve got to plan my wardrobe.
Note to self: shame Jenny Agutter is so old now.
So, the communists have taken NASA, too. Not many conquests left.
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