View source for PositiveImpactLiving

How it is thought of, how it is, and and how it could be, are all very different.

There is virtually no limit to the number of people the resources of this planet could support in theory. In practice, however, humans historically had a negative impact on the environment and have largely sustained growth only by expanding into new frontiers. If humans are to continue to thrive it will be by positive impact living on this planet and beyond in the new frontiers.

==Living space==

We have crowded in all the popular places. One frontier is the effective utilization of the space we do occupy. Thankfully much of the world is still unused. In New Jersey, where I live, it is the most densely populated state in the US, yet much of the northwest hills, southern pine barrens and central swamplands is wilderness land, where for miles and miles there is nobody.

I am not suggesting we rape these also, but we can live in harmony with them, and human expansion into the vast inhabited areas can be made positive impact given sufficient incentives. Humans have a history of destroying everything in the path of their settlements. But settlement need not be a bad thing, it can have positive impact if that is a condition of settlement.

Beyond the unused spaces there is the underground, the ocean, and extra terrestrial frontiers.  Frontiers, in creating value using abundant resources, on earth and beyond, guarantee that we can always create more value and thus have a positive impact.

==Breathing, Drinking and Eating==

Some suggest that the carbon dioxide produced and oxygen depleted by human breathing will destroy the planet when there are too many people. This is not necessarily true as long as humans grow plants they eat. The plants fix exactly the same amount of carbon dioxide and liberate the same amount of oxygen as the human releases and uses with a net effect of zero.

What is limited is farmland. The great frontiers are the oceans, deserts, and part of our unused spaces. While the challenges are great, so are the potential harvests. There needs to be strong economic incentives for both natural preservation and cultivation in a healthy balance sufficient so that gardens flourish in most every available space in every homestead.  Although people are starving, we have surpluses and are encoraging farmers not to grow!   Farmland is not a limiting factor now, and need not be an issue for a very long time if we exploit our rich natural resources prudently.

==Energy usage==

Solar panels on the roof could generate enough electricity for a family living efficiently in a temperate area. Vast amounts of energy can be created from the inventory on [[SolarCellFarms]] to grow all the solar cells we need cheaply out of sand and sunlight.

==Transportation:==

The need to travel in the information age is becoming greatly reduced, people are working from home more and more. New settlements can be designed to foster walking and bicycling with pervasive public transportation that is comfortable, fast and cheaper than gas. [[UbiquitousPublicTransportation]] can replace the personally owned car without reducing the quality of life. We can travel less and travel better.

==Economics:==

While there are scarce resources, there are also abundant resources. We live on a very rich planet. Every problem is an opportunity for economic value to be created. People think of money being wasted by the rich, as if money was a finite resource. The money supply in any viable economy is equal to the value created by enterprise. It is virtually an infinite resource. Sufficient economic incentives to live efficiently will be effective in many areas for those cheap rich. Taxed excesses mean funding for collective action.

You can't beat people into thinking differently to change their behavior. You got to hit them in the pocketbook. Collectively our shared resources should be invested profitably for the common good. Those who use an excess must pay. We still cannot change their idea of the good life and ought not enslave them to any other life in so far as they do not restrict the freedom of others.

We must think win win, not win lose, future value, not present value. Synergistic living can be both rich and low impact.

We can have great health care etc. if the economy is booming, otherwise we can't, period, equally distributing the money will only make everyone poor.

A life of luxury need not be wasteful. Our life of luxury ought to be independent. Making money and spending it is good for everyone in that it creates value and supports enterprise.

People live inefficiently, there are not too many of them. Every human being is a resource which can produce a value of about $20,000 per year in the worst case, and at least $100,000 a year if empowered. The fact that WE have been too stupid to capitalize on that resource is OUR challenge. We can deal with it and thrive or sterilize half of the world and be no better off.

There is no limit to the value we can create.

==Politics==

==Education==

The new School of the Internet can mean unlimited education for everyone.

==Healthcare==

==Population Control:==

The sad reality is that many children are not being fed and are not empowered to create value.  It is better to limit population then let children die.  But restricting positive growth is also unwise and can actually hurt our ability to meet the needs of the dieing children by the loss of value that would have been created by children who would have been empowered.

We must stop thinking of VALUE as a fixed thing we can only pass around and create value in our lives and collective action.