Message-ID: <3646CE74.67B877B1@frii.com>
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 04:13:56 -0700
From: Jim Talboy <plicysci@frii.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: PROGRESSIVE POPULATION NETWORK <ppn@csf.colorado.edu>
Subject: Implementation is a key matter in an irrational world that 
 understandably suspects "rationality."
References: <364672B3.F01965D8@jps.net>
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Ted Toal wrote:

> Jim Talboy said:
>
> "My complaint,

>
>
> This would seem to have been in response to Ed Glaze:
>
> "It seems more
> likely to me that the biggest sacrifices will eventually be made by the rich
> overconsuming populace in countries like the US because they live so much
> further from sustainability than poor people."
>
> I'm afraid I don't understand Jim's point.  <snip>  I suggest that we try to get
> beyond the idea
> of "blame".  What is happening today in the world is far bigger than any one
> person, group of people, nation, or group of nations.  There is no need to
> place blame.  There is only a need for understanding the big picture, and
> taking actions to change it.

No, you've got the point Ted.  Thank you for intervening.  However to clarify, I'm
suggesting the big picture is "irrational" and yet beyond our capabilities to
understand at this point.  I am also suggesting that those who'd be left to
implement the program cannot be given isolated, particular solutions that ignore
the whole.  The whole is simply not going to respond to piecemeal solutions, and
irrational Ol' Mother Nature, will resist interference.  Given the time frame we
are working with, and the current magnitude of the world's population, what can
"we" do realistically?    Keep in mind, that ideas are fun to discuss, but if they
cannot be implemented worldwide, for whatever reason, they are not relevant to
decision makers.  "Ideas," in general have caused too many problems as of late,
because we are irrational, don't fit "in little boxes," and have had limited
experience as political animals.  "Rationality" has crushed the human spirit during
the last century especially, and it is hard not to notice that it was also used
expediently.   What is "rational" today, slavery for example, is subject to
paradigm shifts tomorrow.  My own rant, regarding the admittedly diverse "rich," is
that regressive taxes or penalties are selective, and are based on local economic
concerns more than sustainability.