Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Technical Progress is an illusion

SORRY,...

Humans and the Environment cannot coexist if the majority of the world's population is working outside of primary production.

So called "energy efficient" technologies do not account for energy use in a broader context.

If the purpose of work is basic subsistence, most technologies are inefficient when when compared to the capabilities of the Human Body.

Advance technologies affect significant changes in the structure of society, human labour, and our psychological well being. These effects are complex and often unpredictable. This overrides even the theoretical advantages of technology.

Money transactions and energy transfer are closely interrelated. One underwrites the other's uncontrolled behaviour. Neither can be changed in separation without an immediate collapse of both.

...BUT...

Given the precarious nature of contemporary society, one way we can minimize catastrophe is by creative decentralized grassroots solutions for basic subsistence. They increase our autonomy and are more likely to avoid violence.

Governments are unable to decentralize their functioning because they essentially rely on resource exploitation. In times of crisis, these governments will heighten their power over people and tend toward totalitarianism.

While global communication is inherently unsustainable, it can contribute to an alternative unfolding of History.

...DO YOU HAVE A GARDEN?

Lasse Nordlund, Finland in one of the posters shared in a gallery during 2nd Conference on Economic Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity, Barcelona 26-29 March 2010.

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