The Monetary Paradox: Sand Wars And The REAL Cost Of Sand
Our world is literally built on sand!
Sand of various kinds is an essential ingredient in detergents, cosmetics, toothpaste, solar panels, silicon chips, and especially buildings; every concrete structure is basically tons of sand and gravel glued together with cement, in glass, paint, tires, highways, etc ... we used 15 BILLION TONS of sand globally and yearly... so the sand must come from somewhere, right? The goal of the Monetary Paradox Series is to illustrate the irrationality of speculation because value is not 'stretchable'.
Since the demand for this commodity is ever increasing, the sand is being smuggled at high price. Today most of the sand on the market is either from the beaches or the oceans' floor (the ocean beds which is the habitat for the micro-organisms that sustain the whole food chain of the marine life) . Yes, it's a huge problem because desert sand is not rough enough and therefore not deemed marketable. Its quality is too poor. The side effects are already felt, like fishing is more difficult for small and medium size fisheries that do not have the equipment to fish in deep waters and steadily land erosion by the ocean, especially where it is dug.
Sand pillage affects all continents. Did you know that to build 1km of highway 30,000 tons of sand are needed? Smuggled sand represents 40-45% of market! Sand is an essential substance valued at $70 BILLION (conservative number because the smuggling is likely off the books) in the global trade and of course, the market is booming with, of course, no signs of slowing down. There is no reason to panic just yet but we are getting close to hearing an alarm bell regarding our unabated sand consumption!
The conclusion: it is about time to question the "global housing boom and speculation", because the higher the prices are, the more incentives are there for sand consumption and smuggling. Both are exponential. That and hyper-consumerism as a whole since sand is used in so many products and materials. We are in an impasse. As stated in the previous column it is not going after smuggling or demanding a "fair trade label" for sand that will resolve this assault on Nature since the demand is out of control, but an educational system teaching self-restrain and the respect for Creation through awareness optimization. Prohibition, a man-made law, does not work and never will. Following the money (the carrot and the stick) will always comes down to 'collective suicide', as the data below demonstrates.
Dubai is one of the biggest sand consumers
SAND WARS (1h44mins) look like PBS bought the copyrights. But here is a teaser
India's Sand Mafia: The Dark Secrets of India's Booming Construction Industry (24mins)
Sand Wars: Facing a World Without Sand | Interview with Denis Delestrac (10mins)
Sand Wars: Why People are being killed over the World’s Second Largest Commodity? (7mins)
Sand Wars is a surprising investigation into one of the most consumed natural resources on the planet. Due to the high demand for sand, the planet’s reserves are being threatened. Three-quarters of the world’s beaches are in decline and bound to disappear as victims of erosion, or of sand smuggling.
http://pbsinternational.org/programs/sand-wars/
The Deadly Global War for Sand
03.26.15 | Sand mining has erased at least two dozen Indonesian islands since 2005. The stuff of those islands mostly ended up in Singapore, which needs titanic amounts to continue its program of artificially adding territory by reclaiming land from the sea. The city-state has created an extra 130 square kilometers in the past 40 years and is still adding more, making it by far the world’s largest sand importer. The collateral environmental damage has been so extreme that Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam have all restricted or banned exports of sand to Singapore..........
http://www.wired.com/2015/03/illegal-sand-mining/
Reality Is Realistic: The Love For Humanity VS The Love Of Money And Power... Which One Will Prevail?
CONNECTING THE SO MANY DOTS: Reality Is Realistic: Are The Nobel Peace Prizes Still Worth Anything? | Reality Is Realistic: Animal Torture Is A Secret, Multibillion-Dollar Business | The Brave New World Is HERE! Scientists Weighing The Increase Of Lithium In Tap Water | The Monetary Paradox: Why Staying healthy Costs More. Are You Buying Organic? Do The Math! | The Merging Of Science And Spirituality Series: Corporations Are Holographic Projections | The 'Inner Revolution' Series (2) : Appetite For Destruction And Death By Plastic | The Monetary Paradox: The Pursuit Of Profits Means Earth Destruction, Indonesia Ablaze
Human emotions being ruled by physics, Earth Custodians call for the adoption of a different way of thinking to promote conflict resolutions. Different but not new, because such concepts were already debated two thousands years ago: they are keys to grasp the unhealthy mechanics driving people's need for power structures, and as how to overcome them as well. Mainstream Psychology is on its death bed. Yes, it is possible to see way ahead of the curve, and if it takes one generation for a money-free society to take shape, that shouldn't prevent anyone from taking action, and using money to spread the word until a critical mass (20% of population) is reached. The metaphysics of the Earth Custodians Movement is The Spiritual Science Of Vibration
Love your post here @earthcustodians because I had no idea the crazy sand wars going on! With the world being filled with so much sand, it seems crazy to have it being made scarce through the way we are living! I am including your post in upvotable 32 because of the comment by @cryptonet in Upvotable 31! For an awesome post, here is your tip!
I just linked this article to my latest blog on 3D printed houses and... just seeing now that I missed your comment... never too late. Thanks so much for dropping by @jerrybanfield :)
Nice
and there is more coming :)
Wow! I was unaware of the extent of the environmental damage caused by dredging for construction aggregate. Thanks for enlightening me.
thank you for your attention. In the same vein, I'd like to recommend " The Pursuit Of Profits Means Earth Destruction, Indonesia Ablaze" and "Appetite For Destruction"
Money and price will easily handle any "shortage" of sand. If the supply of sand goes down, its price will go up. As the price goes up, industries that use sand will find a cheaper alternative, or simply go out of business. As more businesses exit the sand business, the demand for sand will go down.
So you see, money and price works as a conservation police. Wow, the free market is cool. :)
If you don't have a conscience or a sense of social responsibility or want to relate to those who are able to connect the dots and feel we are custodians of the sacred earth I guess the free market is cool but without a moral conscience and a compassionate sacred heart mankind is just a greedy, mother f@cking, heartless, destructive machine.
Well, if you don't have the eyes to see, or a brain to think, then you can't see that the "sacred mother" earth is a cruel heartless death machine. Sacred mother earth just has to pop a little pimple of lava and ALL life will be squished out. And she wouldn't even notice. You know why? Because the sacred mother earth is not alive, is not sentient, and is not your warm little mother. The earth doesn't give a shit about you or your social and moral considerations.
The plant might say the same of the soil - but then it would realize the foolishness of berating its life-line. We are similarly dependent upon the Earth.
Just as a child is dependent upon its mother - sacred or not.
Its funny how superstition tends to be rooted in common sense. ;c)
No, it is not the same as a child is dependent on its mother. A mother cares for her child. A mother can think. A mother has emotions. A mother is capable of intentional action.
The earth can do none of these things. It is just a big blob of molten nickle and iron.
But I do agree that we are adrift in a sea of death, perched precariously on a tiny sliver of safety.
Hi @earthcustodians! @jerrybanfield is sending you 10.0 SBD tip and @tipU upvote
:)
@tipU - send tips by writing tip! in the comment, get share of the profit :)Someone has to say it