The End of the Industrial Age and The Homeless

[mary rose]

Few people today appear to realize that as we have approached the end of the Industrial Age and are moving rapidly into the Age of Knowledge, that less and less human labor is needed to provide all the goods and services necessary for the 6.7 billion of us on the Planet. This is due to advances in technology that are rapidly displacing the need for human labor. In his book, "End of Work" published in 1995, Jeremy Rifkin revealed that only 30% of the presently available workforce worldwide was needed then to produce the necessities of life for all of us. And he projected that as we moved further and further into nanotechnology and bio-mimicry in order to conserve on resources that are growing more scarce, we would need only 3- 4% of the presently available labor force.

So, here we are approximately 19 years later and fast moving into this reality, while at the same time, the Ecological Footprint Index reveals that by the year 2030 we will need the equivalent of 2 earths in order to provide for all of the resources necessary for the number of people estimated to be living here at that point in time. A figure that one quickly realizes is one that we cannot meet using the same practices we use today. And, what these figures tell us is that we are already "ecologically bankrupt" as well as economically.

Thus it becomes apparent that we must quickly move into dramatic lifestyle changes if we are to meet the challenges presented to us by this conundrum. And, it is my feeling that those who are best suited to lead us into the future are those who have recently become homeless and are without jobs as they are the ones who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being open to new an innovative ideas necessary to revolutionize our world, creating a "future by intelligent design," .

[mary rose]

Ron, i luv your input here to this group. Yes, once we are freed from menial "labor" our minds can fly into other dimensions. And, i do feel that Bob Ballard is on the right track with art. He and I had an interesting conversation about this the other day in which i was reminded of Frankie Lee Slater's work in that she considers "living" an "art form." And, i really do believe we are moving in this direction as the Industrial Age ends and the Age of Knowledge begins. And, as need changes, our structures are definitely going to change.

The monetary system is of prime concern. And, IMHO, one of the foremost discerning people involved is Thomas H. Greco, Jr. author of the book "Money" (among others), and now his newly released: "The End of Money and the Future of Civilization" is set to make waves. Tom, unlike most economists, has a holodynamic view of money and takes a bottom up perspective that also involves social systems design, and he also demonstrates how these sub-systems are affected by the system itself.

Since, I, myself, have been homeless i have a better perspective than most on what is needed.

I have to run out now, but more on this later.