The Science Unveiling

Are we suffering from the illness, amnesia, that is resulting in our forgetfulness with regard to the value of the Earth and its environs? Have we been mesmerized by a Tower of Babel?

Perhaps we are forever forgetting about Earth and its environment because too many people, especially the economic powerbrokers, their bought-and-paid-for politicians and their minions in the mainstream media, are worshipping a "totem". At least to me, there appear to be many too many people for whom the economy, in and of itself, is the primary object of their idolatry. This behavior is observable, obvious and flagrant. In many instances, these worshippers make what they evidently believe are rational arguments that suggest manmade financial and economic systems are somehow essential to, and an integral part of, God's Creation; that indicate the growth of the global economy will occur from now on, even after the Creation is ravaged and its frangible climate destabilized by unbridled overproduction, unchecked overconsumption and unregulated overpopulation activities of the human species. Aside from the "Economic Colossus" nothing matters to them.

Today, it appears that the financial system of the economic powerbrokers is collapsing like a "house of cards" and the real economy of the family of humanity is threatened. Experts in political economy are saying internally inconsistent and contradictory things. Communications about financials and the economy are generally confused and in disarray. Confidence and trust in the operating systems of finance and the global economy have been undermined by the invention of dodgy financial instruments and unsustainable business models as well as by the promulgation of con games and Ponzi schemes. Transparency, accountability and honesty in business activities have been largely vanquished. A great economic system is being undone by con artists, gamblers and cheats. In such circumstances, does the manmade colossus we call the global political economy remind you in some ways of a modern Tower of Babel?

Sincerely,

Steve

Steven Earl Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population,
established 2001
http://sustainabilityscience.org/content.html?contentid=1176

I left a comment on Mr. Mooneys' article on Science Progress but I will repeat some of it here. Does Mr. Mooney have any suggestions as to candidates for President Elect Obamas' science adviser?

I wonder if the new science advisor might subscribe to the notion that resource depletion is possibly an equal or greater threat than global warming. Climate change appears to be the cause celebre on this blog, but rarely are the subjects of growth (particularly population) and resource depletion (petroleum, coal, other minerals, soil, water) given much attention. In my opinion, a science advisor well versed in these issues could give the most useful advice and counsel to Mr. Obama.

The interplay between oil and coal depletion on the one hand and global warming on the other, particularly with regard to the IPCC projections are far more complex than given credence on this blog, except for an apparently gratuitous mention by Sheril on the old energy blog. Those unfamiliar with the work of the Energy Watch Group and others (such as CalTech's David Rutledge) are thus working from a position of ignorance. The real interplay between resources and the economy are also given short shrift, making proclamations regarding climate policy seem fanciful or shortsighted, rather than reality-based and comprehensive. Despite the hype surrounding alternative energies, they are far from ready to substitute for the energy shortfalls expected with the next few years and it is this reality--and all of its ramifactions--that seem too complicated to be addressed in a serious way by our journalistic liasons.

I would be even more impressed to see a science advisor well versed in evolutionary anthropology and human ecology. The prehistory and history of the human relationship to energy is one of the more rewarding and revealing lenses with which to understand the current human condition.

Thus it seems rather odd that science journalists such as Chris (and I guess Sheril) who are interested in energy have to date completely ignored the reports and findings of the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2008 and the brilliant follow-up analyses that have been ongoing over at TheOilDrum.com. Rather, we see pop-culture and pop-science. I'd like to see more serious discussions of the issues on this blog, but also see a science advisor equally in tune.