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Politics : Bush-The Mastermind behind 9/11? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: R2O who wrote (8641)	10/22/2004 8:07:24 PM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 20039

R20 > US has about 50% of world economic output and generates 25% of it's pollution. We have about 5% of world's population, yes? Seems about right. But when one looks at the surface area of the US in relation to that of the earth it's also clear that the US must be one of the most densely polluted places. In fact, parts of the US must already be uninhabitable. So, it's all very well for Americans to rationalize that others are trying to be nasty (for the lack of a better word). The truth is that the Americans are going to bear the greatest brunt of their own pollution -- and for what? > If the rest of the world follows with their current pollution generation ratios, the total pollution will rise to 60 times present values. That's in theory. But the truth is that the earth is already under severe strain from pollution overload in every area -- biosphere, zoosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, you-name-it. Accordingly I don't believe even the present rate is sustainable over the medium-term, let alone long-term. In fact, I'm sure we'll all be dead long before the 60X level of pollution is achieved -- and not necessarily from an asteroid. Clearly, there is nothing more dangerous to our survival than us ourselves. We are our own worst enemies. Here's some bed-time reading: dieoff.org >>The ultimate outcome is that the modern welfare society is disappearing, to the benefit of growing private consumption and the enrichment of a small elite. The neoliberal model thus becomes the future: miserable public services, bad public transport, decrepid and unsafe inner cities, overcrowded and ever more unhygienic hospitals, impoverished senior citizens; unmotivated, poor education; neglected culture, minimization of scientific research, and environmental neglect. Every government today holds up this agenda, and it is no wonder that they are all concerned above all with cranking up production growth, in the hope that this will generate funds with which to compensate for the new poverty. <<