Community | April 27, 2009 | 31 comments

Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?

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DeliaTheArtist
* Food scarcity and the resulting higher food prices are pushing poor countries into chaos.
* Such “failed states” can export disease, terrorism, illicit drugs, weapons and refugees.
* Water shortages, soil losses and rising temperatures from global warming are placing severe limits on food production.
* Without massive and rapid intervention to address these three environmental factors, the author argues, a series of government collapses could threaten the world order.

For most of us, the idea that civilization itself could disintegrate probably seems preposterous. Who would not find it hard to think seriously about such a complete departure from what we expect of ordinary life? What evidence could make us heed a warning so dire—and how would we go about responding to it? We are so inured to a long list of highly unlikely catastrophes that we are virtually programmed to dismiss them all with a wave of the hand: Sure, our civilization might devolve into chaos—and Earth might collide with an asteroid, too!

For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economic trends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.

I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declines that are undermining the world food economy—most important, falling water tables, eroding soils and rising temperatures—forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible."

More- MUCH more (it's SCIAM so it's like 6 pages) at the link!
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31 comments // Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?

  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • Most people think of the Truth Embargo as only applying to not telling us they have made ufo's and are posing them in plain sight to fuel a panic or something. The Truth Embargo I'm referring to is toward a number of engine systems I've explained publicly over the years that would have raised the standard of living worldwide, and prevented the pictures in this article from being taken.

      And yet the two dovetail together, because if they have the technology to reach the stars -or simply just neighboring planets like Mars- OVER POPULATION CEASES TO BE A PROBLEM ONCE PEOPLE HAVE SOMEWHERE TO GO. So these issues are being purposely created an artificial Reality? Looks like it.

      In 1989 I came to suddenly understand by whatever cause how to get half this world's electricity supplied by lightning. Having survived an awesome crippling accident my disability check limited me to how much I could afford to tell people, plus I didn't know really how or best to do so, so I applied for a Patent that should have put it into the hands of people who did have money.

      They refused so the world began spinning down like a top advancing faster & faster. I won't waste space telling about my subsequent engine systems but for every one I had I had to deal with a person who had the authority and power to stop it, and so they did, every one. THAT IS THE TRUTH EMBARGO I MEAN, A WIDE SPREAD TORPEDO.

      I mentioned in earlier posts that I would reveal how to make a "Gravity Wheel" that can bring Electric Power to every person and their family on Earth. I HAVE BUILT ONE RECENTLY, AND IT IS OF A GLORIOUS FLOATING CAM DESIGN WEIGHTS ROTATING AROUND A CENTER OF AXIS NON-STOP. A larger version of my new engine could supply electric service worldwide without any more need for fossil fuels.

      I have 5 other Gravity Wheel designs yet to build. I have not made a video of it running as yet nor a new webpage to show it to the world, but I have shown others how to make one and reproduce it as many that wants to. The pictures are simple and the resulting engine is very low cost to produce, and I give them to anyone to build who wants electric power from a home generator.

      "Gravity_Man" is not a name I pulled from a hat.

      The 1st picture is an End View overview of the leverage reversed-direction design => http://www.newpath4.com/parts_list_gravity_wheel_one_5152009.gif

      The 2nd picture shows EXACTLY how I made a homemade axle to go with it => http://www.newpath4.com/parts_list_gravity_wheel_one_construction_diagram_516200...

      All the Poor starving people in the world now have the design for a generator-turning Gravity Wheel that costs less than $25.00 US to mass produce, with a side generator costing whatever a generator costs. Shouldn't be all that expensive. A large car generator or a diesel truck generator would be more than ample to run a strong trickle current into a bank of batteries overnight, charging them fully for the day.

      I will eventually make a separate post when I get some videos of it running by gravity and have it on a new website but I decided to release the drawings without further delay so these starving people could get started doing less starving and having the means to power water pumps for new wells and water purification machinery. Perhaps someone will sell them a low cost water-from-the-air condensation machine now that they have the electric power to run one.

      Problem Solved.

      God is blessing this world through his JW servant.

      Woodrow Riley of the Virginia Colony

    • 2 years ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • Probably 99+% of people in the world are unable to understand some of my engines like Millenial Dawn. They use REALLY SIMPLE PHYSICS but the difficulty lies in the ways I interleaved and overlapped those physics principles to make them work. Some of my engines are harder to understand than 3-level Chess might would be in a Star Trek movie.

      I've had very limited funds and zero support for many years, 2 decades actually. Banks would not loan me money for my low credit score and being on disability a lack of ability to repay (so they thought). But I do know that some major players in China and elsewhere are studying my engines and I must assume their men & women versed in Physics are surely able by now to know I have made a DRY WATERWHEEL.

      Of course if they were to tell people and put them into production the population of Earth would quickly reach a boiling point far above what it has now. THERE IS AN ANSWER TO THAT => OPEN UP OUTER SPACE.

      I am convinced they already know -and have known for years- how to make space travel for ordinary people not just highly-fit astronauts and cosmonauts. How can I know that? I know it because Millenial Dawn can be altered to produce a very powerful UPWARD FORCE enough to overcome Earth's Gravity.

      THAT'S HOW I KNOW. And also over 1 1/2 years ago in late 2007 I read some information, leftover scientific notes of Nikolai Tesla, and by that night I had figured out how he was planning an anti-Gravity system that I had cracked in JUST ONE DAY. So I have two space engines each different, one mine & one Nikolai Tesla's that can raise people up through the atmosphere into Earth orbit without having to press their old frail body back into the seat at 18,500 miles per hour.

      So that is how I know they have it because I have two of em, and their training and knowledge FAR EXCEEDS MY OWN. Some people nowadays are and have been suspecting a "Truth Embargo" has kept these informations from everybody on earth, but I do not suspect I KNOW.

      I know that people of every age can now travel into Outer Space. In fact, their sick weak ill body would heal faster in the weightless of Outer Space. We could have orbiting health stations and spas being built now. And OVER-POPULATION CEASES TO EXIST when people can leave.

      The Truth Embargo is Real.

    • 2 years ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • How about a waterwheel that runs without any water?

      A DRY WATERWHEEL.? Yep.

      None of those children shown at the top of this page should be starving from a lack of electrical power, nor from a lack of electricity to pump water inland from the oceans, nor from a lack of water filtration systems.

      But, since 2005 when I invented a dry waterwheel called Millenial Dawn it has failed to be accepted or been purposely withheld. You can read my posts here on another thread to learn more about why people would have purposely withheld my dry waterwheel system from mankind => http://current.com/items/90004903_6-77-billion-and-counting-humans-are-over-popu...

      You make a dry waterwheel very easily by substituting metal balls for h2o water molecules and you have a PORTABLE POWER SOURCE for the world or, for Earth's Moon, Mars, anywhere people wish to inhabit has been a wide open door since Feb. 15 2005 when I came to understand it and since Nov. 10 2005 when I put it online => www.newpath4.com/millenialdawnpowerandlightsecure21.htm

      The Physics used to make a dry waterwheel is very basic & simple. Two opposed washing machine solenoids fire at the EXACT SAME TIME by being connected to the same switch that splits to fire each solenoid simultaneously. What that does is totally rids the device of wasted recoil energy.

      I have been a very Blessed person to have had so many new engine systems and devices enter my mind, and a long time ago they SHOULD HAVE BEEN WORKING. Those children and millions more like them should not be standing with their pans empty of anything.

      Should the link to Millenial Dawn not work because
      of its length here is a shorter link that has it =>
      http://tinyurl.com/NoEnergyCrisisSince1989

      My disability check restricted me from doing more than writing about my engines. The few people around who have understood my engines are in high government positions of many countries. Apparently they have decided to enforce a worldwide ignorance condition.

      Even when the children suffer.

    • 2 years ago
  • 747nomad
    • 0
      747nomad  
    • I have the Scientific American Mag that has this article and it's compelling, Food, energy, and land will compel our future wars.

    • 2 years ago
  • banditalamode
  • poosta7
    • 0
      poosta7  
    • All DNA (including human) is programmed to reproduce itself exponentially and does so until it reaches a "limit". Bacteria on plated media, yeast in a corked bottle of fruit juice will do so every time until....it reaches a "limit", either its own waste products or exhausting its energy source.

      Rule #1 in our universe: things that can't go on forever generally don't.

    • 2 years ago
  • darthophage
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • Those are all good points Jan. They say all the water is still here so where is it? Could it be chemically locked in the ocean by pollution bonding? Could there just be too many animals, each holding many times the amount of water of a single human?

      It's obvious the water is still here but also obvious the water has ceased to circulate around as it should, resulting in drought conditions spreading. Water used to be locked and stored inside the rain forests... so when they started cutting them down and burning them to make a buck Forest Water Storage went south.

      One thing that might help is a very large aeration system to get water up in the air destined to replenish the clouds... but that would be a temporary fix. If we boosted the cloud rains it would give a false impression our way of living could continue WITHOUT CHANGE (referring to the information you shared in your videos, the concrete & asphalt).

      When that boomerang came home that would be it. We would have painted ourselves into a corner named THE LAST BIG DROUGHT. It's all a very intertwined issue but no matter which angle I look at it it seems tied to the introduction of crude oil pulled from under the ground where it likely has a job to do => lubrication of the tectonic plates.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • It is about population, and more importantly water. Why aren't more people focused on the global water crisis we face? Just look at Australia. Drought persists over at least 40% of this planet with the prognosis calling for more severe drought in Africa and Asia that is also stemming from deforestation and desertification. You can't grow food without water and you can't depend upon untested GM technology to provide you with the yields necessary to feed people safely and efficiently. It has already failed in drought stricken India. It must come down to water conservation and ethical management combined with sustainable agriculture practices that work to maintain biodiveristy while putting carbon back into the soil through those sustainable methods that give nutrients back to the soil instead of stripping them out with pesticides and herbicides. And yes, it must also revolve around providing developing countries with information on family planning and birth control, though that is difficult in areas where their traditions would collide. In other words, addressing the root causes (pardon the pun) instead of just dismissing them to make a profit off the misery that ensues from ignoring them. We also must address this in declaring water a global human right and taking it out of the hands of those seeking to take advantage of this scarcity of freshwater to privitize and commoditize it. Food and water go hand in hand and this is just as much a water crisis than a food crisis.

    • 2 years ago
  • charfman
  • Bald_Avenger
    • 0
      Bald_Avenger  
    • charfman:

      The subject of the sentence is 'people,' so you should use 'are' too many people; as opposed to 'is' too many people.

      I just thought you should know.
      In the event that policy-makers determine the best approach to population control actually IS through the barrel of a gun; I'd hate for you to be nominated on the merits of your presumed low I.Q.

      Unless I'm misinterpreting your Mao Quote.

    • 2 years ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • The air we breathe is teeming with nutritious plankton, the invisible tiny bacteriums and viruses. Those little animals are super-energetic and possibly one of the purest sushi-level food sources in the world.

      People are starving in a paradise with a full plate. Pass me some, and don't hold back on the mold. I want their energy and health to be my energy, my health.

      Second helpings please.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • We need to return farming back to the farmers and take it out of the hands of the subsidies, the World Bank, the IMF, and WTO. We need to allow people in developing countries to be free of World Bank debt and restrictions on what they can grow that is used for export to Western countries, and allow them to grow what they need to live.

      Much of the hunger is now resulting not only from biofuels and animal feed taking up land that should be used to grow food, but also from the way loans are set up from the World Bank that privitize their water, farms, banks, etc., wherein farmers are bound to plant flowers, coffee, and other luxury items to be exported to make profit for others, while leaving little land for planting necessary crops to live which leads to higher prices and shortages.

      Waste is also a big factor regarding food as it is with water. Millions of pounds of food are thrown away in America every year alone. How then can we say we have shortages? It is clearly a matter of the rich controlling food policy in this world. So access to food, streamlining waste, and breaking the chokehold these organizations like the World Bank have on developing countries by allowing them to farm using the eco-agricultural and sustainable agricultural methods they know (as well as giving them the tools necessary to practice water conservation regarding growing crops with drip irrigation) would go a long way to feeding people in this world.

      Speculation also drives up prices as subsidies flood the market with too much of certain commodities. We don't need GMOS to feed the world. We need equitable food policy that recognizes the rights of farmers instead of catering to industrial agriculture for profit.

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  
    • We are headed for a food shortage . GM foods deplete water unsustainably and destroy soil health . We are very clever , but some are blinded by greed . All it will take is a few unfortunate events , droughts , fungus . We already lost the original chiquita banana to a fungus . Most people do not know . Go organic . That is sustainable , but we need more , not less .

    • 2 years ago
  • Wessagusset_Oracle
    • 0
      Wessagusset_Oracle  
    • this world is a pitrey dish overflowing with bacteria, and we're the bacteria obviously! the problem is too many of us humans around, not that that there is not enough food. think about it. this planet can only support so many people. so if you're "pro" life and religious, fuck you! you're making this world over populated and polluted, we're coming to eat your house!

    • 2 years ago
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  
    • I live in America's bread basket. We are being told by a number of researchers that global warming -- regardless of whether it is being caused by man or is just part of a natural cycle (or both) is almost certainly going to cause both a wide-scale destruction of the bread basket as we know it today, as well as a Northward migration of whatever is left of it.

      But I have outsmarted the weather by cornering the local Wheaties market...now if I could just stand the TASTE...

    • 2 years ago
  • FrankyZemo
    • 0
      FrankyZemo  
    • I highly doubt it.

      This country has been promoting instability in many parts of the world...with airdrops of food one day, and shipments of munitions the next.

      1:29

    • 2 years ago
  • Lazybones
  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  
    • food riots in third world nations will not collapse first world nations, though we will see a rise in war. america has the bread basket, it will never starve in the forseeable future

      more soldiers dying mayhaps.

    • 2 years ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • Technically this world should be able to support over 25 billion people. As a species we don't know how to run a planet. And why should we ever learn when we always have the War card to play? We have barely remained ahead of the movie Soylent Green. A few people have figured out how to make pot bellies disappear by rubbing a concoction made of aborted babies on their stomach...

      When these pockets of humanity die while we thrive with plenty on our shelves is not our fault, but their existence drags us to a lower level just by ignoring them. Tolerating their pain makes pain acceptable, like waterboarding.

      As far as overpopulation is concerned it would not exist if the government released their knowledge how to make flying saucers. It isn't rocket science.

      Propulsion rockets are hard so they keep using them to keep everyone thinking they don't know a better way. Problem there is they do know. Using old out-dated technology keeps people thinking in the old ways. Freedom is something they hoard like nuts for winter, scared ta death the Joneses will see what they have.

      But if they would go ahead and make Space Travel open like they did when they let Tom Cruise loose in Oklahoma there wouldn't even BE ANY POPULATION PROBLEM. Old people would set out for parts unknown after raising their family.

      Instant Population Control Valve = Outer Space.

    • 2 years ago
  • Lazybones
  • sue4e3
  • Ares
    • 0
      Ares  
    • I'm not saying either one of those arguments are correct, they're both pretty extreme. It's true that imperialistic societies of the past have helped along a lot of current problems, but is it fair to burden present day citizens of developed nations with aiding these poverty-ridden countries?

      I'd love to see some money go towards making America healthier, smarter, more employed, and aware before we start trying to fix anybody else.

    • 2 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • 0
      DeliaTheArtist  
    • Ares:

      "I'd love to see some money go towards making America healthier, smarter, more employed, and aware..." I think there is a lot of money going towards those goals as well!

    • 2 years ago
  • MoMoney
    • 0
      MoMoney  
    • Ares:

      Absolutely. But now we are seeing that the neglect of these places is hurting America itself. Through Terrorism, globalization and the economy, and even pandemics. Id argue that helping them out is in the best interest of America. Except now it is not only in the long-run but even on a shorter timescale...

    • 2 years ago
  • Bald_Avenger
    • 0
      Bald_Avenger  
    • Ares:

      " ...helping them out is in the best interest of America."

      Thats exactly wht Obama has been arguing since the campaign!

      Looks like he's doing that AS WELL AS actively investing in America through Americorps.
      Hmmmm....but he's a lousy bowler and a smug academic-type.

    • 2 years ago
  • MoMoney
    • 0
      MoMoney  
    • Sure but I dont think these countries are half as responsible for "squandering their resources" as we are. Consumer demand from the US has destroyed most of these countries. Not to mention British Imperialism before that and so many other factors... This is a global issue- blaming it on poor governments is pointless- especially since we are usually responsible for the governments in place elsewhere...

    • 2 years ago
  • Ares
    • 0
      Ares  
    • Sounds similar to Peter Singer's rationalization. It's interesting stuff, but I can't say I could find myself getting behind these ideas.

      A Psychologist named Garrettt Hardin stipulated that it wasn't the responsibility of developed "wealthy" nations to repeatedly come to the aid of "poor" nations, whose governments had squandered their resources. The article is called "Lifeboat Ethics" and is a great read that addresses this issue. My favorite line from the piece; "cancerous growths demand food; but, as far as I know, they have never been cured by getting it." Hardin likens the governments of poor nations to cancerous growth, NOT poor people themselves.

      I don't think civilization as we in the developed world know it will be effected all that drastically by food shortages. We may see a rise in attacks but our day to day lives won't collapse.

    • 2 years ago
  • jh64487
  • Bald_Avenger
    • 0
      Bald_Avenger  
    • Ares:

      I agree with jh64487.

      Another book that addresses this issue is "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." I think its significantly more representative of the reality of trade liberalisation and globalization, than Hardin's views on overpopulation.

    • 2 years ago
  • Ares
    • 0
      Ares  
    • Ares:

      Easy buddy, I'm not saying I agree with either viewpoint (as stated perhaps 2 inches lower).

      It isn't their fault that they're struggling to survive, but is it any more fair to say it's our fault? If so, you're making a generalization that is just as bias as accusing ALL poor people in the third world of being responsible for their own predicament. It's just as ludicrous to say that ALL Americans are responsible for the problems in Africa. I'm not condoning the condemnation of poor countries by any means.

    • 2 years ago
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