The Choice Is Ours Page #6

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Far from being a problem for only the poor,

all areas of the socioeconomic spectrum suffer

when our air, food and water

are polluted by fossil fuel emissions

and radiation from nuclear accidents.

PLANETARY IMPAC [Mark Jacobson, Engineering, Stanford] The current

energy infrastructure results in about 2.5 to 4 million

deaths per year, worldwide,

from respiratory disease,

cardiovascular disease

and complications from asthma.

(Reporter) Were in downtown Beijing

and the pollution ratings

have once again gone off the charts.

Readings are around 25 times

World Health Organizations standards.

(Mark) ...including 50 to 100,000 deaths

per year in the United States

and 16,000 alone in California.

(Abby) The economic system that were living in today

is destroying the planet

because it is based on an unsustainable model.

Were seeing proof of that right now.

(Mark) The current energy infrastructure,

which has been going on for a long time

has resulted in the accumulation

of green house gases and

particles that cause

warming of the Earths climate.

The Earths climate is warming

at a rate faster than any time

since deglaciation from the last ice age.

WHAT ARE THE REAL COSTS?

In addition, the higher CO2 levels:

CO2 is [a molecule] that dissolves in water

and becomes carbonic acid

and has resulted in the

acidification of the oceans.

This is destroying coral reefs.

(Jeff) We have to realize our planet

does have a certain amount of

regenerative power and there is no question that

weve been through numerous worldwide extinctions.

We have fossil records of that

and the Earth has recovered.

There is a limiting carrying capacity though.

(Mark) There are many

additional impacts of global warming.

Sea level rise is a very big concern, for example:

right now there are about

65 to 70 meters of sea level stored in ice

mostly in the Antarctic,

but also in glaciers in Greenland

and also sea ice in the Arctic and other places.

The temperature is warm enough that...

If we melt all this ice,

that means the sea levels will rise 65 to 70 meters

and that will cover 7% of all the worlds land and...

All this is along the coast

where most people in the world live,

this will cause a significant disaster.

Were also seeing enhanced storminess,

increased intensity of hurricanes,

and greater extremes of weather

associated with global warming.

There are significant problems associated with this

and these are all tied back

to the emissions from coal, oil and gas combustion

that have been occurring

since the industrial revolution

that started in the mid to late 1700s.

"Is Earth the insane asylum of the universe?"

(Narrator) It is probable that

war itself could be our undoing

let alone the environment.

Our brutal competitive behaviors

are not human nature

but simply a result of scarcity,

making us all competitors

in the fight to attain what we need to survive.

While scarcity is naturally occurring,

it's also intentional in industries

and governments for profit

and national interest.

As long as nations are immersed in scarcity

we will continue to have conflicts between people.

Crimes, murder

and other violence

to all out war;

the ultimate expression of human stupidity.

- Bomb the heck out of them!

These behaviors must be surpassed

if we wish to survive.

- Drop the bombs on them!

- It's the best recruiting tool for al-Qaeda

This guarantees the cycle of violence will go on.

(Narrator) With our technological ability

to provide for all

we must take steps toward a different approach.

Or the endless cycle of booms, busts

and war will continue.

- (sarcastic) Oh, no! Peace in our time.

Aye yai yai!

"If we don't end war, war will end us."

~ H G Wells, 1936

(Dylan) Nobody including

-most of all- the United States

goes to war to liberate or spread democracy.

The only incentive on a

practical level to go to war

is to acquire resources.

In the United States' case,

it frequently is either energy resources

[or] shall I say supporting political alliances

to preserve access to energy resources.

(Narrator) Smedley Butler,

a US Marine Corps General Major,

who was the most decorated marine

at the time of his death

stated it well when he wrote:

"I spent 33 years and four months

in active military service

and during that period I spent most of my time

as a high class muscle man for Big Business,

for Wall Street and the bankers.

In short, I was a racketeer,

a gangster for capitalism.

I helped make Mexico safe

for American oil interests.

I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place

for the National City Bank boys

to collect revenues in.

I helped in the raping of

half a dozen Central American republics

for the benefit of Wall Street.

I helped purify Nicaragua

for the International

Banking House of Brown Brothers.

I brought light to the Dominican Republic

for the American sugar interests.

I helped make Honduras right

for the American fruit companies.

In China, I helped see to it that

Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.

Looking back on it, I might have

given Al Capone a few hints.

The best that he could do was to

operate his racket in three districts.

I operated on three continents.

War is a racket. It always has been.

A few profit and the many pay.

But there is a way to stop it.

You can't end it by disarmament conferences.

It can be smashed effectively

only by taking the profit out of war."

(Jacque) Our universities today

are better equipped than ever:

...best scientific equipment,

the bombs are getting worse.

The wars are getting worse.

The killing is getting worse.

You don't need to kill people, bomb cities.

There's something wrong with our culture; very wrong!

(Narrator) To blame any individual or corporation

does not get at the root causes of the problems.

The structure of our socioeconomic system,

itself, has everyone out

to meet their own needs,

creating a predatory, competitive environment.

Attempting to find solutions

to the monumental problems

within our present society

will only serve as temporary patchwork

prolonging what is quickly becoming

an obsolete system.

PART III:

(Narrator) Now, more than ever

a sustainable civilization is possible

and furthermore, essential.

Our social designs, language, and values

have evolved from ages ago.

The reality of scarcity in earlier times

shaped our behaviors

and remains deeply entrenched

in all cultures today.

The history of civilization is a story of change

and this includes our social systems, as well.

Our earliest enlightenments

were but stepping stones

in the sequential development

to our present science and technology,

which could now produce

and distribute abundance to everyone.

THE MARCH OF EVENTS

[Erik Brynjolfsson Ph.D, MIT] There's no question

that many jobs simply aren't coming back.

But probably the single biggest driver of that

is the way that technology is racing ahead.

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