Hello Steemit, My name is Susan,
I am an Anarchist, an RBE supporter, and an aspiring Photographer. I just learned about Steemit, a few minutes ago, from a Facebook post, and joined right away. But, it will most likely take me a little while to get the hang of it.
Hey so you are also a Resource Based Economy Supporter ? Wel come mate. This is amulya from Nepal. I have also been following the Venus Project form 2013. Once i had a chance for volunteering for their project for video creation.
Glad to meet you. I have been a RBE supporter since Zeitgeist Addendum first came out..but I had already been thinking along those same basic lines for good while before that. So, I actually needed no convincing at all. It immediately made perfect sense to me.
Welcome to Steemit, Susan!
By RBE, do you mean Resource Based Economy? What are your favorite sources on that topic? I've looked into it a bit, and I'm not convinced (I think scarcity is a thing). Would love to know more.
Yes, that is exactly what I mean. Wow, my favorite sources. Well, I will have to come back tomorrow with some links. I am too tired tonight to go look for links. But, you could start with watching a documentary on YouTube, called Zeitgeist Addendum, and follow that one up with Zeitgeist Moving Forward. Scarcity is a completely artificial thing...created for the intention and purpose of keeping prices up. Some things are scarce, but most things are not. There is a guide book that could help answer most, if not all of your questions...but I will have to find that link for you, tomorrow.
I've watched all of the Zeitgeist movies and studied the Venus Project along with multiple Jacques Fresco interviews. I've also enjoyed a Culture in Decline by Peter Joseph (he makes a lot of really good points), but I'm still not onboard wth the "Scarcity is a completely artificial thing." You even contradicted yourself here saying "completely" and then describing some things which are scarce. To me, it's simple economics of supply and demand. That's what creates scarcity. Send me the links though, I'd like to look into it more. As I said, there are some interesting ideas out there, but for me, so far, they don't fit with reality.
Actually, while I can see how my statement can be seen as a contradiction, it is actually not. I will explain. There are indeed some resources which are somewhat scarce, and other resources which are damaging to the environment. The purpose of the true sustainability, which is the goal of RBE, would be to evaluate which resources are both scarce and damaging to the environment, and then seek out abundant, sustainable, and non-damaging alternatives for that particular resource. In other words--If a particular good or product is currently made with a scarce or damage planetary resource, then RBE would seek to find an alternative which could be used to produce that particular product, instead of the currently used material. So, that would mean that the product does not have to remain scarce...just produced with different materials. There is actually no scarcity of food or shelter, even now. There is said to be almost 6 vacant houses for every homeless person, and almost half of the food produced every year actually ends up in landfills. Water itself, is not scarce either. There is more than enough water. But, because of pollution of the water...CLEAN water has become scarce. This can be solved by technology designed to clean and purify the water, and with the right technology, it does not have to be costly or difficult. Trees are a finite resource, and several industries have been decimating the rain forests. Part of the reason for this, is that trees take so long to mature, and many countries have made hemp illegal. Hemp would be an excellent substitute for trees, in many products, including paper, lumber, and home building materials. It would even make an excellent substitute for cotton, and makes an even better cloth for clothing and other products. These are just a few of the multitude of examples for how scarcity can be completely eliminated, just by using different materials and resources. In RBE, things would also be produce in kind of a modular way. All parts of electronics, for example, would be standardized, and modular, so that if a modular component of a product fails, you would only need to replace that small component, instead of having to replace the entire product. Upgrading of products would work the same way. This would requite manufacturers of goods to cooperate instead of competing for market share. Working together, the computer industry--for example--would join forces to create the very best possible computers, instead of competing against each other. We would end up with much higher quality goods, than we have now--with a great deal less waste of resources.
Also, I should add, that any market based system requires turnover for its continued existence. This means that market system require goods to break down after a certain period of time. Markets also need to make it cheaper to replace products, than to have them repaired. So, this means that all those broken products end up in landfills. Not only is that harmful to the environment, but it is also a tremendous waste of resources. In RBE, things would be made to last as long as we have the technology in any given time, to make them last...so that fewer products need to be made, and fewer resources need to be used. And, we already have the technology to be able to make goods last a really long time. For example--it would be way too expensive to have to replace or repair the satellites orbiting around the earth--very often. So, those satellites HAVE to be made to last a really long time. The reason the same thing is not done in the market system, is because it requires the turnover to continue its existence--as I have already stated above.
I agree with much of what you said, but you're still using phrases like "can be completely eliminated." (emphasis mine) Maybe I view scarcity differently than you do. While I agree with the need for sustainability, and I'm very frustrated with how much governments screw up the world (making hemp illegal is a good example), to me, scarcity has to do with human ambition, which is boundless and will never be equal among humans (unless our future looks like Brave New World or 1984). Some may want to vacation on the moon or mars and they are willing to work hard and create value for millions of people in order to earn the right to meet that ambition. Does RBE suggest we should deny them that? Doesn't that sound like authoritarian control? I'm all about protecting the environment, but I think there has to be balance. When things get too expensive (such as oil), other options will arise via market forces. Until then, the pain simply isn't great enough for most people to care.
I think a connected world is part of the solution. If a family with dying, mal-nourished children showed up on our doorstep this afternoon, you better believe we'd offer them some food from the fridge instead of stepping over them to head out to a restaurant. The problem, as I see it, has to do with us being so disconnected as a species. If it happens "over there" then it's out of sight, out of mind.
Again, there are aspects of RBE that really interest me, especially the parts that want to recapture the concept of "economizing" our economy instead of promoting planned obsolescence for profit, etc.
It is a completely artificial thing. When one resource is being used to make a particular item that people want, and that resource is less plentiful, or less renewable, or harmful to the environment in some way, you find another more sustainable, more renewable, or less toxic to the environment--resource or material with which to make that particular item. Examples could be hemp for paper, rope, cloth, building materials, plastics, medicine, and countless other things. ..instead of cutting down trees for wood and paper, or growing cotton for cloth, and so forth. Also, without planned obsolescence, or without the need for everyone to own one or more of any given thing...and with products being made to last as long as possible, be made easy to upgrade or repair when needed, etc., and with a system which replaces ownership with access abundance and usership ..many fewer of everything would need to be produced. Goods would be used when needed, by whomever needs them, for as long as they need them...but when one person does not need an item anymore, it will be available for someone else to use. All of these things greatly reduces the waste of resources, while giving everyone access to whatever they need without the restriction of price tags. It is not a contradiction to say scarcity is artificial while some things are indeed finite, and non-renewable, and can run out if over used. The reason that this is not a contradiction, is that things which can run out, or are harmful to the environment, do not need to be used. We simply change what we are making things from, and that will allow us to have as many of a given product as needed, without wasting non-renewable resources. Water is another resource that some people claim is scarce. But, it is only clean water which is becoming scarce. That is because we are polluting the water. But, there are already technologies which can clean the water, and desalinate ocean water. We are not using these technologies as much as we could be...because industry does not consider it profitable to do so. There are many beneficial things that we could already be doing, but industry and the status quo do not consider them profitable. Money is about power, greed, control, and profit before people or the environment.
What is reality? Reality is what we make it. Reality is that we get what we allow and accept. Reality is a projection of the collective mind...and reality will change, once the collective changes its mind. There is no "out there". The so called elite whose ancestors hijacked this reality thousands of years ago--know this very well. They know how this reality is created, and to control the kind of reality we create, they relentlessly control what the masses think--through various different means. Television, advertising, the indoctrination which masquerades as education, religion, mainstream media, subliminal messages hidden in movies and TV shows, and many more. They control the reality we experience by controlling our minds. ..to control the reality we create. And, I am perfectly aware that some people think that stuff like what I just said, is crazy...but others already know..and they don't think it is crazy at all. I am positive that the so called elite don't think it is crazy at all...but they want the masses to think it is crazy, because they would not be able to use this knowledge against humanity if everyone knew it--so they want to keep it to themselves.