Read on Twitter
I understand that nobody is interested in thinking about climate change, mass extinction, or the underlying global ecosystem collapse right now, but now would be a good time to think about them all. In light of the new information which has come to light.
2. I have been writing, for the past two years, that if we were serious about climate change we could address it immediately, on any day, by slowing down.
The proof to that theory is now visible worldwide.
Yes it is.
The proof to that theory is now visible worldwide.
Yes it is.
3. My voice, and the voice of the handful of others worldwide, including some very educated people, scientists, has been ignored while the general public was wowed with promises of high-tech solutions that would give us everything we wanted, toys and fast cars and jet planes,
4. While also miraculously bringing climate change to a screeching halt.
All this in spite of absolutely universal agreement that we did not have, now, today, the technology to even begin to do such a thing.
We don't know what to make.
We don't know how to make it.
"Optimism."
All this in spite of absolutely universal agreement that we did not have, now, today, the technology to even begin to do such a thing.
We don't know what to make.
We don't know how to make it.
"Optimism."
5. One of the things that I have pointed out, over and over, in the hope of getting someone, anyone, to even discuss the "slow down" option, was the systemic frailty of our high speed, large scale system of resource provision.
Resource meaning, you know, toilet paper. Or bread.
Resource meaning, you know, toilet paper. Or bread.
6. It is not "coronavirus fear" that is leaving our grocery store shelves empty.
It is the system that we relied on to fill them.
Fear drove the unexpected demand. The centralized control system was unable to serve the demand. https://www.nbc-2.com/story/41929830/coronavirus-fears-leave-grocery-store-shelves-empty
It is the system that we relied on to fill them.
Fear drove the unexpected demand. The centralized control system was unable to serve the demand. https://www.nbc-2.com/story/41929830/coronavirus-fears-leave-grocery-store-shelves-empty
7. Local stores, buying bread from local bakers, and selling to local customers, all operating within a walking distance of one another, do not generate this sort of fear, nor this sort of outcome.
That's one point.
That's one point.
8. Our high speed system brings virtually every person in America into contact with hundreds to thousands of other persons every day, and those other persons could have been in any city on Earth yesterday, because our high speed system requires it.
9. If an engineer was challenged to design a system to spread a global pandemic to the largest area and the largest number of people in the shortest possible time with the steepest and highest possible infection curve, and he was courageous and creative enough, he would make 2020
10. Every part of our economy was necessary to make this pandemic this bad, this fast, this globally.
And people charged with planning, serious people, not orange dipshits, all knew this pandemic was coming. They. All. Knew. It.
Surprising as sunrise.
Inevitable.
And people charged with planning, serious people, not orange dipshits, all knew this pandemic was coming. They. All. Knew. It.
Surprising as sunrise.
Inevitable.
11. And through it all, literally every single day, climate change has been getting worse.
Literally every single day.
Extinction has been accelerating.
Literally every single day.
Murder and suicide have been accelerating.
Literally every single day.
Because our system made them
Literally every single day.
Extinction has been accelerating.
Literally every single day.
Murder and suicide have been accelerating.
Literally every single day.
Because our system made them
12. And about manufacturing solutions:
How's that working out now?
How's the mask supply?
How's the ventilator supply?
Oh, you say that's Trump's fault?
How did he steal all Italy's ventilators? China's? Spain's?
Fast means fast.
How's that working out now?
How's the mask supply?
How's the ventilator supply?
Oh, you say that's Trump's fault?
How did he steal all Italy's ventilators? China's? Spain's?
Fast means fast.
13. The sad truth is, the only thing a decent intelligent human being President could do today is tell you the truth: We are not able to produce ventilators, masks, gowns, or other PPE appreciably faster than we already were, because under our system slack capacity is view as 
14. I have been writing for the past two years that our definition of "efficiency" was wrong. But nobody was going to listen to some hich about such a central principle of the entire socio-econo-techno foundations of the global economy. It's More Efficient!!!!
15. Although to be honest I can't conceive of a manufacturing / goods production base system that could respond in a sufficiently timely fashion to a pandemic riding the back of the highest energy, highest speed economy that could even be conceived.
This is all one thing.
This is all one thing.
16. The entire global focus today, on the part of all governments both active and shadow, on the part of all universities and all corporations, is how to keep the old, deadly, climate changing, species extincting, water wasting, soil destroying, from disappearing while we fix it.
17. Then, presumably, after we "fix" it, and while we're waiting for the next pandemic to roar through, just in case we get rid of the corporate governments of all developed countries, we can go back to wringing our hands about climate change.
Which is mostly just public prayer.
Which is mostly just public prayer.
18. I have a serious question for you: If we can't produce enough ventilators, of which I could carry two under each arm at the same time, how are we going to produce enough wind generators and solar panels. And ship them. And install them. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shipping-wind-turbines-is-not-a-breeze
19. Slowing down provides *immediate* positive results. It is literally the case that, worldwide, we can already see positive environmental outcomes because we have slowed down.
Immediate. It's working. And we didn't even put our hearts into it: we specifically are trying *not*.
Immediate. It's working. And we didn't even put our hearts into it: we specifically are trying *not*.
20. People who do not reason well are already saying, "See? It's the People doing the damage! Earth is healing!"
No, and yes.
Earth is healing.
The people are still here.
Therefore the people are not the problem.
The high speed economy is the problem.
Just slowing it has helped.
No, and yes.
Earth is healing.
The people are still here.
Therefore the people are not the problem.
The high speed economy is the problem.
Just slowing it has helped.
21. We had no choice about slowing down. It was forced upon us.
We do have a choice how we proceed from here.
The very rich, all those who benefited from the high speed economy, want to restart it *yesterday.*
We can't.
We shouldn't.
We must not.
It will kill us all for sure.
We do have a choice how we proceed from here.
The very rich, all those who benefited from the high speed economy, want to restart it *yesterday.*
We can't.
We shouldn't.
We must not.
It will kill us all for sure.
22. Without the high speed economy we could not have this pandemic.
We could have a pandemic, but not this one.
The curve would be flatter.
All those people screaming FLATTEN THE CURVE are right, except they can't see how the curve got this shape in the first place.
We could have a pandemic, but not this one.
The curve would be flatter.
All those people screaming FLATTEN THE CURVE are right, except they can't see how the curve got this shape in the first place.
23. If, as almost all developed society leaders worldwide want, we restore and continue to accelerate the high speed high energy vast scale economies of last month, the next pandemic's curves will be so much steeper and taller that people will be desperate to bring it down to now
24. If, today, there was a town somewhere where no person from outside had been through for six weeks, that town would have no reason to Social Distance.
The natural operating principles of local economies shield them from pandemics.
Everybody could just go down the bakery.
The natural operating principles of local economies shield them from pandemics.
Everybody could just go down the bakery.
25. The wheat, the rye, the oats would have been grown in the same county, milled in the same county, stored in the same county, and baked in the same county. It would be perfectly safe to go to church, go to the bar, go to a barn dance on Saturday night.
26. It is not a coincidence that the fastest, biggest, most international city in the United States is the epicenter of the epidemic. It could be no other way. Huge cities are a bizarre, deadly, and indescribably wasteful way to organize human society. They just are. Facts.
27. If everything you need has to come from a thousand miles away, there is no way to assure that it has not passed through infected hands. No way. It's built in. It's hardwired.
And it's not "efficient" no matter how few people it take to make how many widgets.
And it's not "efficient" no matter how few people it take to make how many widgets.
28. In a world with over 7.5 billion people, we're letting somebody tell us that the measure of "efficiency" is how much stuff we can make using how few people, no matter how much energy it wastes.
This could not be more absurd. Could. Not. Be. More. Absurd.
This could not be more absurd. Could. Not. Be. More. Absurd.
29. From here, the natural tendency of people is going to be to look for local, available resources to keep them alive. The economy, left to its own devices, is going to try to localize, to expend more person-hours and less energy, to shorten distances and personalize interaction
30. There is going to be a top-driven attempt to keep it fast, wasteful, and global, where your lunch is made of grain from Argentina, fruit from Chile, milk from Wisconsin, and meat from China, cooked over fuel from Saudi Arabia.
This cannot be made safe, or reasonable.
This cannot be made safe, or reasonable.
31. Right now, while nobody is even thinking about climate change or mass extinction, the best thing we could do to slow both those deadly trends would be to accept where we are as a starting point, and build a workable global economy based on local services and human skills.
32. Because whatever you thought of the old economy, right now today it is mostly not in operation. It's big, and complicated, and massively broken.
Let's just build a new one. A better one. One that automatically flattens the curve.
Just do it.
--j
Let's just build a new one. A better one. One that automatically flattens the curve.
Just do it.
--j
@threadreaderapp unroll
Here is the thread on specifically how to start. No magic, no imaginary stuff, no thing has to be invented first. Now. Today: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1245121107482546176.html
