radon1 wrote: They somehow find a doctor but the entire thing begins to fall apart in couple years time as nobody is available to maintain it. And this all is vastly expensive as a hospital for 100 people costs as much as the one for 10 000 in terms of building and maintenance. The solution is straightforward - bring people into clusters. Not only will they be able to visit a modern hospital, but also they will have a much greater choice in terms of available jobs and opportunities.
Radon,
Wilderness is a refuge and no longer provides livelyhood for modern humans. So these huge wilderness areas that remain can be understood as a place for humans to visit to nourish the soul, not provide a means of physical sustenance. Wilderness is a spiritual church in this sense. Preservation of wilderness is laying the foundation for an alternative to consumption. this is not theoretical, you can see it practiced already by millions. Maybe these millions are still eclipsed by the billions of clueless consumers but it is an important start.
One example are the millions of bird watchers globally, folks that spend their free time going out out on their own or who join clubs and find natural areas closer to their homes to spend time observing the diversity of avifauna, observing and recording migration of hundreds of species of birds. I will give you a specific data. There are 300,000 members on EBird which is a citizen science site where bird watchers record their sightings Since 2002 there have been recorded 300 million specific bird sightings This data is valuable for monitoring changes of population etc. Compared to the global population of mindless consumers this may seem like a small fraction of humanity but it is a good example of a sizable population of human beings choosing to spend their time in nature and feeling a tribal alliance with others with a mission of sorts to protect birds. This is one of many examples actually. The Russians and Ukranians that are currently visiting have shared with me how popular it is in Russia to go out to surrounding forests and natural areas to collect mushrooms, how popular it is in Russia to have really robust back yard gardens that contribute an important percentage of their vegetable consumption. Etc etc.
I disparage the vast population of Kudzu Apes who have become mindless consumers but at the same time I acknowledge the viability of alternative orientations that already exist. The number of humans who derive well being spending time out doors. I am a host every year to hundreds of them.
Your point is well taken regarding the efficiency of modern life requiring humans clustering together in urban and suburban living.
If I think of the suicide statistics that Newfie posted and if I think of how many of our guests here come to find spiritual sustenance to heal what urban living is lacking then we can begin to not only understand the spiritual impoverishment afflicting the vast majority of humanity but also the remedy to this. If over consumption is one of the major causes of human overshoot then it is not hard to understand the important role nature plays in providing spiritual sustenance as an alternative to consumption. This does not require that everyone travels thousands of miles.
If we take a close look at the lifestyle of your average American, many no longer even understand the connection of the food they buy in grocery store and the plant or tree that was grown to provide this food. You can no longer recognize the plant or animal source of most packaged process food these days. Americans do not stand alone but they certainly are much more disconnected from natural processes then the majority of humanity. Think opiate addiction, suicide, addiction to media, obesity, the ease to which angry folks with grievances are susceptible to the hatred spewed by demagogue leaders and one begins to understand the depths of the spiritual poverty in the United States of America.
The Chinese pathological relationship with money was recently explained to me by a Chinese American... It seems the Chinese suffer a growing population of mentally deranged and hungry consumers as well.
Many pockets of deeply afflicted Kudzu Apes around the planet. Americans aren't alone but they are certainly well infected and well represented of this cultural decadence.
