News From My TZM Filter Bubble Volume One

Every morning I get up before the sun rises and check my news feeds. I have broad interests, but primarily I'm simply a witness, like you are, of a train wreck in slow motion. I can't remember where I heard this, but it's stuck in my head: "Climate Change is a nuclear war in slow motion." Think of the chemical experiment we're running and its potential consequences to our civilization and our ecosystem. We are cleverly, collectively "splitting the atom" in a ballet of death by a thousand micro-cuts. When we turn on the lights, we are all "pushing the button" every single day.

I'm not saying any of us as an individual is to blame, we're not, but we are all sleepwalking into disaster. We also seem to think that it's someone else's job to fix everything that ails us. Think about it, if you get sick you go to a doctor and get a prescription; if the economy or government services aren't to your liking you vote for someone and assume they'll fight for you and solve the problem; oh and, scientists and engineers have the fix. All you need is the right school, a good teacher, a good education, or a good idea, and everything will fall neatly into place.

Well, I'm here to tell you that if you are paying attention, you should know by now that the significant things ailing society are not getting any better. And I know, I repeat myself. One must focus one's attention on details to understand the meaning of the picture.

We can't consume our way into a healthier world. Think about how fasting is suddenly the most significant trend in healthy living. Health experts are now talking about healthspan rather than lifespan as a way of gauging one's quality of life. It would be much better if we focused on the quality and utility of consumer goods rather than the quantity of production and consumption. Blind consumerism is not making our ecosystem more robust; it doesn't make us happier. Selling more, buying more, and making more money doesn't make us better people.

If we continue with our current socioeconomic paradigm, the systems that support our civilization will breakdown. When that occurs, it will happen fast, and there will be hell to pay. We are woefully unprepared.

So what's in the news?

I watched professor Richard Wolff talk about the different kinds of socialism from a historical and contemporary point of view. One might as well educate oneself on the subject; education is rarely fatal. We must go further, of course, more towards a system described by The Zeitgeist Movement. We have to operate spaceship Earth in an efficient way for the benefit of life on Earth. We must employ 21st Century solutions. We have to build the ultimate sharing economy.

FROM, theecologist.org

Billions of pounds of British taxpayers' money is supporting fossil fuel energy schemes around the world, undermining the U.K.'s commitment to tackle climate breakdown, M.P.s said.

U.K. Export Finance (UKEF), which provides loans, insurance, and guarantees for firms operating overseas, gave £2.5 billion to fossil fuel projects between 2013/14 and 2017/18.

The Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) called on the government to end support for new fossil fuel energy projects by 2021.

We have to stop our governments from subsidizing wasteful, and destructive industries. We must determine what is wasteful and harmful through disciplined scientific inquiry and processes, and expert interpretation of data from a holistic perspective.

FROM, blogs.scientificamerican.com

We Need To Get Serious about "Critical Materials"

The U.S. is 100 percent import-reliant on 14 minerals and metals that are essential for defense technologies, consumer goods and clean energy technology, and 50 percent or more reliant for another 30, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. These numbers go beyond the recent headlines on rare earths to illustrate fundamental building blocks of the energy transition: lithium, cobalt, and nickel for batteries, and materials for solar power and wind turbines. In many of these areas, China has become the dominant world player. The issue is not geological resource constraints, but on whether the domestic focus on mining production, processing, and manufacturing should be prioritized.

This article underlines the necessity to produce for good rather than for war or ruthless financial competition. It also makes clear that the price factors arising from our current economic system don't take into account externalities or harmful effects to communities around the world. The U.S. gets its rare earths from China, not because they are rare but because the U.S. doesn't want to pay the actual cost of producing them.

A GREAT QUOTE

"Nothing captures the biological argument better than the famous New Age slogan: 'Happiness begins within.' Money, social status, plastic surgery, beautiful houses, powerful positions – none of these will bring you happiness. Lasting happiness comes only from serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin." – Yuval Noah Harari

FROM THE BBC

More than 320 million tonnes of plastic was produced globally in 2015, over 40 percent of which was single-use. Recycling helps to tackle the problem, but as Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Anita Rani explain in BBC One's War on Plastic, the plastic you put in a recycling bin doesn't always get recycled.

Why do we throw away so much plastic? Why are things designed to fall apart after two years? Why is almost everything we consume destined for a landfill? It's because our current model is based on consumerism and earning profits and not about any other form of utility.

There was a lot in the news today about the opioid crisis. Companies may have to go bankrupt due to court cases, but that won't stop the demand for drugs. Supplies of legal and illegal drugs come from all over the world, and supplies will continue to flow as long as people feel the need to numb themselves with drugs. We need to fight the real causes of drug addictions and create a society that allows people to live fulfilling happy and healthy lives.

Please read “The Zeitgeist Movement Explained” and “The New Human Rights Movement” and let's talk about them. They are not the only books one could learn from that are focused on radical alternatives to the system we have today, but they are an excellent foundation to start with and are well referenced.