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This page contains all of the posts and discussion on MemeStreams referencing the following web page: The Gospel of Consumption. You can find discussions on MemeStreams as you surf the web, even if you aren't a MemeStreams member, using the Threads Bookmarklet.

The Gospel of Consumption by possibly noteworthy at 7:48 am EDT, Aug 15, 2008
Citizenship requires a commitment of time and attention, a commitment people cannot make if they are lost to themselves in an ever-accelerating cycle of work and consumption. We can break that cycle by turning off our machines when they have created enough of what we need. Doing so will give us an opportunity to re-create the kind of healthy communities in which human welfare is the overriding concern rather than subservience to machines and those who own them. We can create a society where people have time to play together as well as work together, time to act politically in their common interests, and time even to argue over what those common interests might be. That fertile mix of human relationships is necessary for healthy human societies, which in turn are necessary for sustaining a healthy planet. If we want to save the Earth, we must also save ourselves from ourselves. We can start by sharing the work and the wealth. We may just find that there is plenty of both to go around.
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RE: The Gospel of Consumption
by flynn23 at 3:33 pm EDT, Aug 15, 2008

possibly noteworthy wrote:
If we want to save the Earth, we must also save ourselves from ourselves. We can start by sharing the work and the wealth. We may just find that there is plenty of both to go around.

I was thinking about this last week. I caught a new show on the Science channel and they were talking about how the 20th century saw the greatest advances in the distribution of knowledge and it's subsequent distribution of wealth and health. That got me thinking:

More important than the call to action by things like An Inconvenient Truth, is a global "pulling together" of humanity in order to save ourselves. We are getting to a place where knowledge breakthroughs are occurring at an accelerating pace, and the distribution of that knowledge (IP law withstanding) is also accelerating, adding a super-charing effect to the discovery and application of new knowledge. BUT, our societies are becoming more and more volatile as we disenfranchise a greater and greater number of people. The top 100 most wealthy individuals in the world account for 40% of the entire world's wealth! Think about that for a second!

Terrorism isn't the problem people. Terrorism is a symptom of a global problem where our advancing knowledge and understanding of the universe is enabling a very small number of people to control wealth and resources of immense proportions. That is leaving a great number of people enslaved and that will threaten to undermine all of humanity. What good will it do to end disease, elongate life, clean our environment, and understand how the universe works if we are killing each other faster than ever before?

I think that a movement needs to be unveiled where we globally dedicate ourselves to not only cracking these important problems of science and knowledge, but also are distributing wealth and resources to maximize everyone's productivity and contribution. It's a complete waste of resources to have someone undereducated and not contributing to society's benefit (however you can define that). They might as well be aborted, because they will consume far less resources than if they were to live. With everyone pulling, we can accomplish ANYTHING in short order.