5) Is there hope? Is there a way out of this deathtrap we have put ourselves in?

(Before delving into this topic, we would like to take the time to clarify a few things.  Through out history, whenever humanity faces a threat, two behavior patterns emerges.  One group of humans are drawn to wrestle with the threat in an attempt to change the outcome; while another group of humans are drawn to rescue people, to extract people out of harm's way.  Consider the following.  During the Chernobyl disaster, one group was sent to try and contain the radiation leak, while another group was sent to evacuate people from the surrounding communities.  Whenever there is a wildfire, the firefighters are sent to wrestle with the fire; while the rescuers are sent to evacuate people out of harm's way.  The path of the fireman is the path of strife and conflict, they are drawn to wrestle with the fire.  Their priority is winning the wrestling match with the fire in order to change the outcome.  The path of the rescuers is the path of peace, the path of humility, the path of the comforter.  The rescuers impulses are to distance themselves away from strife and conflict.  Their priority is the saving of lives by evacuating people away from the fire.  Because this Community ARK Project takes the path of the rescuers, what we present below are from the perspective of the rescuers, and it can be misinterpreted as belittling or undervaluing the path of the fireman.  We want to clarify that we do not undervalue the role of the fireman.  We understand that the fireman actions are forestalling the encroaching proverbial "fire", buying us precious time to evacuate as many people as possible.  So as you read this article please bear in mind that we very much respect those who are called upon to take the path of the fireman.  Though each path has a different perspective and a different priority; we recognize that both paths have a role to play, and both paths have equal merits in the grander scheme of saving lives.)

So is there hope?  Is there a way out of this deathtrap we have put ourselves in?

The answer is YES!  There is HOPE!  There is a way out, but NOT in the way many are expecting.  As long as the leaderships of the world refuse to let go of their financial culture, refuse to change their ways of doing things, there is no hope in saving the world environment.  As Albert Einstein said, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html#G2hJIVli8jU6AUAj.99

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html#G2hJIVli8jU6AUAj.99

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html#G2hJIVli8jU6AUAj.99

There is no hope in saving the surface environment, not because we don't have the technologies.  Our civilization has the technologies to fix the situation (if people study old patents they will understand).  There is no hope in saving the surface environment, not because we lack the resources.  Our planet is full of resources to implement the necessary technologies to remedy the situation.  There is no hope in saving the surface environment simply because we lack the necessary culture, the necessary ways of doing things.  Every nation condition their citizens to be proud of their way of life, to fight for and defend their way of life.  But few stop to think and ask.  What if our way of life, our way of doing things is destroying the global environment and leading us toward extinction?  Should we then continue that way of life?  As long as our modern societies continue to operate in a financial and a competitive system, we cannot save our surface environment.  Why?  It's simple.  The world environment can only be saved when all the people of the world come together and pool their resources to fix it.  But competition separates and divides people; it forces them to deprive each others of access to resources and technologies in order to gain competitive advantages.  So how can different people come together when their economic/financial competitions are pushing them apart, conditioning them to be at odds with each others?  The simple answer is they cannot.  So why do we need everyone in order to save the environment, why can't just a few organizations here and there do it?  Consider this parable.  There is a boat that is sinking because it is taking on water due to multiple leaks.  One group of people on the boat is desperately trying to plug up the leaks, while another group on the boat continue to punch new holes causing more leaks.  Can the boat be save?  Of course not, the actions of one group would cancel out the efforts of the other group.  The boat would still continue to take on more water, sinking further and further.  We can draw the same similarity to our current world situation.  We have groups here and there trying to address climate change, all the while corporations and nations continue to pollute the environment and pump even more external CO2 into the atmosphere, exacerbating the acceleration of climate change towards the point of no return.

There are those who think that if we could just get through to these corporations and nations; and get them to become aware of the harm they are doing that they would stop.  What they failed to realize is, these corporations and nations are already aware of the situations, but they are unable to stop as long as we operate on a monetary system.  To understand this, require a bit of knowledge in biology and psychology.  If you are face with two threats coming at you, one threat is 30 feet away and the other threat is 2 feet away from you, which threat would you deal with first?  You would deal with the closest threat first, the most immediate threat first of course.  We humans are hardwired by our biology to focus our attention on the most immediate threat first.  For corporations, the most immediate threat is not making monetary profit and going out of business in the present time.  Therefore, these corporations are forced to cut corners and continue to pollute in order to make a profit.  The devastating effects of an environmental collapse in the future is a distant threat to them.  Similarly for nations, their immediate threat is not having monetary income to run their nations at the present time.  Therefore, if these nations have fossil fuel natural resources, they are going to continue to exploit and sell them in order to gain the necessary revenue to keep their nation running.  For example, in 2007 Russia supply 32.6% of total oil import to the EU (185 million tonnes of crude oil), and 38.7% of total natural gas import (100.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent of natural gas).  The revenue generated helps to run their nation and maintain their military, allowing them to be a superpower.  Are they going to stop selling the gas and oil and allow their nation to collapse, all for the sake of saving the global environment and preventing a future catastrophe?  Of course not, no nations would.  The biological drive for self preservation in the immediate present overshadow any future threat.  Even if there was an alternative energy technology developed.  Russia would have a vested interest to influence EU energy policies to continue to be reliant on fossil fuel.  Just as gas, oil and coal companies here in the U.S. have a vested interest in influencing our domestic energy policies to continue to be reliant on fossil fuel.  Do not be angry at them for their actions.  If the shoe was on the other foot, and you were in their position, and your livelihood was threaten, you would do the same.  (You have to take into consideration that vast amount of wealth were invested for decades into the development of coal, gas, and oil's refineries, mines, and pipelines.  So those who've invested so much into them will naturally want a profitable return on their investment.  So you've already know things are not going to change.  It will be business as usual; it will be pollution as usual.)  When the devastating effects of the collapsing environment reach their doorsteps, when it become an immediate threat instead of a distant threat; then the nations and corporations will sincerely act and change their ways.  Unfortunately, it would be too little too late by then, like the Titanic.  By the time people are ready to make sincere changes in their behaviors, the majority of the people on this "Titanic" planet would have been dead; but the minority few that are able to change their behaviors in the nick of time would survive.



Understanding this biological trap we are in, and recognizing that the pollution of external CO2 into the atmosphere will continue as long as our civilization continue to operate in a competitive monetary system; the rescuer's perspective see the futility in wasting resources and effort trying to save the surface environment, when any effort is negated by the continuing pollution.  The rescuers see HOPE in investing resources and efforts to evacuate people out of harm's way by preparing people to survive as a network of fully self-sufficient communities.  The way out of this deathtrap is to form network of communities that are specifically designed to operate in a new desolate environment; one that is emerging due to the collapsing global environment.  This Community ARK Project see HOPE in applying knowledge and technologies that we've spent time researching (the ones that were intended for Mars colonies to thrive in a hostile environment).  We see HOPE in using these very same knowledge and technologies to form a network of self-sufficient communities so that people can survive and have a future living in a desolate environment that is emerging back here on Earth.


Key: The Grasshopper and the Ants