The two, main, REAL reasons for our prosperity in recent times are the evolution of applied scientific thinking and the harnessing of non-labor energy.  Now I could go on forever about how applied science freed us from day to day existence with agriculture, or how human life expectancy doubled overnight with germ theory, how physics have given us tools to make daily life a breeze, or how computational science has "given wings" to ideas, but I want to concentrate on the latter idea for now.

Although applied sciences have given us the intellectual ability to create prosperity, it cannot get us very far without "work" to make our dreams a reality.  For all of time prior to the last 100 or so years, human and animal labor were "work" and nearly everything we did relied on these to give ideas form.  In the last 100 years we have used that black magic we call oil.  Now I can criticize oil for its messiness and various environmental damage, but in all honesty it has been the catalyst of our great material progress in recent times.  Now before I lose all the environmentalists reading this, I want to point out that I'm not advocating petrochemical energy; quite the opposite I want us to focus intensely on sustainable energy.  HOWEVER, the point of all this is to make you understand what a monumental challenge this is.

1 gallon of gasoline is estimated to do about 600 man hours of work.  Imagine having to push your car around, think about the problem of hills and the velocity you would travel at.  Think about the way we plow fields and construct buildings.  Now, I know what you're thinking: "if we run out of oil we still have electric motors and other technologies, right?"  The idea you need to think about here is the net energy gained from an energy source, that is, how much extra energy do you produce as opposed to consume when you build/run an energy source.  It is here that oil leaves anything we currently have in the dust.  Oil needs only to be pumped out of the ground and run through a couple distillation processes, can be stored easily, and produces huge amounts of energy.  What we require now is nothing less than a completely new set of technologies for energy production and utilization, a massive, organized, efficient infrastructure...and we haven't even started.

Yes, we've all heard about the energy crisis, blah blah blah.  Well think about the other things oil produces, the plastics, nylon and polyester in clothing, irragation piping, fertilizers, food preservatives, pens, computer parts, printers/toner, scotch tape, telephones, mattresses, earbuds, shotgun shells, oil paints, light sticks, skates/skateboards, musical instruments, toys, cosmetics, baby bottles/diapers, medication/inhalers/bandaids/rubbing alcohol/glycerin/first aid spray, insect repellant, chapstick, syringes, vaseline, antiseptics, eyeglasses, antihistamines, cortisone, trash bags, tupperware, refrigerators, detergents, sponges, shampoo, perfumes, toothbrushes, carpets, furniture, blinds, linoleum, upholstery, polyurethane stains, vinyl, Plexiglas, enamels, epoxies, glues, roofing materials, antifreeze, asphalt, most car parts/fluids/fuel, bubble gum, bungee cords, crayons, watches, composites, to list just a tiny few.

Here in TZM we preach a lot about creating abundance, while I agree it is a worthy goal, it is by NO MEANS an easy thing.  Many of us throw the term around as if we could flip a switch and it could be so.  We aren't going to create the world we want with communal gardens and earthship homes alone.  When you tell everyone to alienate themselves from government, from the corporate structure, from the institutions that push all the largest changes on this planet, you better do so mindfully and with some plan in place.  If our choices ignore the size and scope of this challenge, not only will we not free humanity from drudgery, we'll have more laborious work than we've seen in many generations.

It appears we have many obstacles to discuss and consider as we attempt to transition ourselves into a more sustainable future. So many that trying to discuss and consider them all (even with an extreme amount of cooperation) would probably take more time than most of us have left to live. So it seems to me, we need to narrow it down to a more manageable number.

Of course were I to start suggesting what was or was not important, what I would end up with is a list of things that were important to me. So my list would not be an accurate description of what was important to us all. Now I could try to be reasonable or logical or any of the other words we use to describe ways of looking at things that attempt to reach out beyond ourselves and be more inclusive, but then I would just be fooling myself and misleading everyone else. As far as I can tell there just isn't any way I can include things I have no awareness of, so the list would still be a description of me

Even if I were somehow able to come up with a list, my efforts to communicate this list to anyone else would be subject to interpretation based on how they defined the words contained within such a list. In a sense we all come to this conversation speaking a language of our very own. There are similarities to be sure, but that just seems to complicate matters even more.

What I am trying to say is whether the earth was created for us, or we ourselves are a product of it, we are part of a natural system. It seems to me that the vast majority of the obstacles we face today are a result of our attempts to control this system rather than being a part of it.

http://tzmlaca.org/beta/discussion/topics/546302/messages

http://tzmlaca.org/beta/discussion/topics/546644/messages

Well these identities are strongly proposed to us by the society(ies) we live in.  I feel that when I talk to many people about TZM and the problems with our various systems, I am not REALLY talking to an individual, but in some way I'm debating against this abstract representation of society; this "personality of society."

If an individual has a personality trait that is so distorted or overpowering that it prevents them from functioning healthily, we call it a personality disorder.  Similarly, what if the prevailing ways of thinking and approaching situations given to us by society could fall victim to a similar distortions and overpowering values; can society have a personality disorder?  In much the same way Peter talks about these value disorders as "virus-like" and us as an "immune system," I'd like to carry that tradition on and talk about society and its "personality disorders."

For people, the American Psychiatric Association has created a "bible" for disorders and this is known as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).  As wiki states, "currently the DSM-IV lists ten personality disorders, grouped into three clusters."  Let's see what those are and explore whether "society" is a healthy person.

Cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders and fears Social relation)

1) Paranoid personality disorder: characterized by irrational suspicions and mistrust of others.

MY NOTES: TERRORISTS! WAR ON TERROR! WAR ON DRUGS! MUSLIMS! Minorities stealing our jobs! I see no problem here.

2) Schizoid personality disorder: lack of interest in social relationships, seeing no point in sharing time with others, anhedonia, introspection.

MY NOTES: Self-interest the basis of motivation? "Don't worry about society, worry about yourself." AhMERRiKA! "Our 'interests' in the middle east."

3) Schizotypal personality disorder: characterized by odd behavior or thinking.

MY NOTES: Every society past or present.

Cluster B (dramatic, emotional or erratic disorders)

4) Antisocial personality disorder: a pervasive disregard for the rights of others, lack of empathy, and (generally) a pattern of regular criminal activity.

MY NOTES: CISPA, ACTA, Patriot Act, NSEERS, Real ID Act, Military Commissions Act, No Fly and Selectee Lists, Material Witness Statute, etc.

5) Borderline personality disorder: extreme "black and white" thinking, instability in relationships, self-image, identity and behavior often leading to self-harm and impulsivity.

MY NOTES: DEM vs REP, Life or Choice, Man & Woman Only, 50% Productive & 50% Unproductive Citizens.

6) Histrionic personality disorder: pervasive attention-seeking behavior including inappropriately seductive behavior and shallow or exaggerated emotions.

MY NOTES: Britney Spears! Angelina Jolie! Brad Pitt! Super Models! Thigh Gaps! "Does this make me look fat?" Huge Boobs! Huge Cocks! Blonds have more fun!

7) Narcissistic personality disorder: a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. Characterized by self-importance, preoccupations with fantasies, belief that they are special, including a sense of entitlement and a need for excessive admiration, and extreme levels of jealousy and arrogance.

MY NOTES: All media? Hollywood? Entitlement? EPIC! HEAD SHOT! Every penny I make, it's cause I am intelligent and work hard...but if you make less it's because you're stupid and lazy and if you make more it's because you're corrupt of course. "I'm sexy and I know it."

Cluster C (anxious or fearful disorders)

8) Avoidant personality disorder: pervasive feelings of social inhibition and social inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation and avoidance of social interaction.

MY NOTES: "Capitalism is only failing because the market isn't free!"  "An attack on Ammerrka is an attack on freedom!"

9) Dependent personality disorder: pervasive psychological dependence on other people.

MY NOTES: "It's governments job to take care of the problems." "The free market is positioned to solve our problems." "We can't change society, 'it is as it is.'"

10) Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (not the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder): characterized by rigid conformity to rules, moral codes and excessive orderliness.

MY NOTES: "Get Title 26 of the US Code of Federal Regulations (that's the part written by the IRS), all twenty volumes of it, at the bargain price of $974." Problem with society, make more laws! Vote on laws!

CONCLUSION:  If I were a psychiatrist, I would commit society to an asylum, and in the spirit of America, prescribe it many many drugs.

How is it that Creationists exist and how can they truly believe that science and mythology somehow go hand in hand?  The answer is: THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND the science.  How is it that Natural Selection was perverted into Social Darwinism?  The answer is: THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND the science.  If a study comes out (by a well respected scientific publication) and tells you that it has been scientifically proven that plants are responsible for global pollution and the study concludes that plants need to go.  You better damn well be able to analyze that data and make a responsible choice if legislation ever comes up that proposes such action.  My point is, even if we arbitrarily embrace science as a value, we are still doomed without understanding what it is about science that makes it so important.

Understand this; values CAN'T be arbitrarily changed.  Values come from your beliefs, and beliefs come from your understanding of the world.  As Percy Bysshe Shelley once said:

"There is a passage in the Christian Scriptures:
'Those who obey not God, and believe not the Gospel of his Son, shall be punished with everlasting destruction.'
This is the pivot upon which all religions turn: they all assume that it is in our power to believe or not to believe; whereas the mind can only believe that which it thinks is true.  A human being can only be supposed accountable for those actions which are influenced by his will.  But belief is utterly distinct from and unconnected with volition..."

As we continue to look for ways to reach those people lost in the darkness, we need to realize that we can't change their values without first raising their understanding.

Creates frontiers where phlegmatic fronts may appease

The most wretched of pains by undaunted leisure.

Whence beguiled we find the gates decorated with ease,

Fickled natures will reign the main base of morrows,

And burdens gain weight from delivered hollows.

Responsibility mumbles deep from among the barracks,

Soldiers wear the armour of glory, faith and honour;

Glory for a name, faith in the nation, and honour for attacks.

Lest be said they foolish, ambitions strike their loudest tenors.

Glass windows resist rambunctious tings & farandoles,

Taking heads by counts of uncovered burrow moles.

Orders delegated by the millions, hits enacted by the thousands;

Dead children, mournful families, and resentful militias convene,

Reactions of actions, respite long excempt from intentions' quicksands.

Nobility guides the troops, patriotism the will, yet no hands remain clean;

Treaties are torn, dust from nukes are wiped, and countries break armistice.

Spring is over, Summer dawns, Autumn cripples, and Winter trips the solstice.

Rogue nations! Terrorist organizations! Military interventions!

Those lacking nuclear capability now must strive to achieve,

Nations without them are torn by corporate media attention,

And burned by invasions to bring 'democracy'! Or else believe!.

Umpteen voiceless victims, helpless, crying, collateral damage;

Puppets happy, masters creepy, game of chess for disguised pillage.

The stage is set, actors get puffed, and directors say 'Action!'

Pre-emptive strikes, national security, War on Terrorism;

Petty semantics, geo-political speeches by the factions.

War is sold, soldiers are killed, innocence bought by corporatism;

Consciences are settled, glory achieved, faith restored, no remorse;

And the honour of protecting the usurping party led by force.