Joshua's guide to civilization collapse

Would you like to do something to stop the collapse of civilization?

Well go ahead but nothing you do will make any difference.

What we can do is soften the blow.

Eventually we will run out of resources to exploit.

Liquid fossil fuels are so depleted that we need to drill five thousand feet into the ocean, and another thirteen thousand feet into the ocean. We need to boil sand to extract oil.

Marine habitats are collapsing.

And topsoils are eroding.

Go ahead and buy nothing for a week if you like, think locally and act globally, or stop eating meat if you like, but on the scale of things it won't make a difference.

What might make a soften the blow is not having any children or dying earlier that might make a difference.

Reducing the number of humans on the planet is the single best way to conserve resources. Reducing the number of North Americans is the most effective.

If you still think you can do something about the collapse of civilization or the collapse of the economy or of the ecosystem or the food web in which we live ask yourself

In what way am I different from the Sumerian people? What can I do about collapse that they couldn't do?

And in what way am I different from the Romans?

In what way am I different from the people of Easter Island?

In what way my different from the Lowland Maya?

What could they have done differently to avert the collapse of their civilizations?

If you were them what would you have done different to avert the collapse of your civilization if you were living in those times?

And then ask yourself what you could do different to prevent the collapse of your civilization?

What can a grain of sand due to stop tsunami?

Would fewer people that consume this much energy be a good idea?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080723094838.htm
An estimated 19 percent of total energy used in the USA is taken up in the production and supply of food. 
Researchers now set out strategies which could potentially cut fossil energy fuel use by as much as 50 percent.
By just reducing junk food intake and converting to diets lower in meat, the average American could have a massive impact on fuel consumption as well as improving his or her health.

Great - but how is that going to happen? Triple the costs of those items. No more meat and junk food for the poor. Prime rib and Doritos are for the rich.

http://public.wsu.edu/~mreed/380American%20Consumption.htm

In the United States:

Reducing consumption without reducing use is a costly delusion. If undeveloped countries consumed at the same rate as the US, four complete planets the size of the Earth would be required. People who think that they have a right to such a life are quite mistaken.

·         Americans constitute 5% of the world's population but consume 24% of the world's energy.

·         On average, one American consumes as much energy as

o        2 Japanese

o        6 Mexicans

o        13 Chinese

o        31 Indians

o        128 Bangladeshis

o        307 Tanzanians

o        370 Ethiopians

·         The population is projected to increase by nearly 130 million people - the equivalent of adding another four states the size of California - by the year 2050.

·         Forty percent of births are unintended.

·         Americans eat 815 billion calories of food each day - that's roughly 200 billion more than needed - enough to feed 80 million people.

·         Americans throw out 200,000 tons of edible food daily.

·         The average American generates 52 tons of garbage by age 75.

·         The average individual daily consumption of water is 159 gallons, while more than half the world's population lives on 25 gallons.

·         Fifty percent of the wetlands, 90% of the northwestern old-growth forests, and 99% of the tall-grass prairie have been destroyed in the last 200 years.

·         Eighty percent of the corn grown and 95% of the oats are fed to livestock.

·         Fifty-six percent of available farmland is used for beef production.

·         Every day an estimated nine square miles of rural land are lost to development.

·         There are more shopping malls than high schools.

http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/THHGTTG/THHGTTGradio1.htm

BARMAN:
Are you serious sir? I mean, do you really think the world's going to end this afternoon?

FORD PREFECT:
Yes. In just over one minute-and-thirty-five seconds.

BARMAN:
Well isn't there anything we can do?

FORD PREFECT:
No, nothing.

BARMAN:
Well I always thought we were meant to lie down and put a paper bag over our head or something.

FORD PREFECT:
If you'd like, yes.

BARMAN:
Well will that help?

FORD PREFECT:
No. Excuse me I've got to find my friend.