tsb.htm, moved to plan-s.org: 26 Oct 08
original creation date: 5 Jul 03

The initial spark for Plan S came on July 4th, 2003, and this webpage, The Solution Box, was created the next day.  It was the first webpage I created in my life, and I've moved it here for both archival and nostalia reasons.  The Solution Box eventually became Plan S.  Since this page is over 5 years old, much of it is very dated, and it isn't a good overview of Plan S.  However several sections do provide useful information, that won't be found in other files at plan-s.org.



 
The Solution Box, a New Plan for the Earth, Humanity, Life and the Biosphere

Planet Earth From SpacePhoto of Henry Fiddler

A message from Henry Fiddler, Earth traveler
henry@htfiddler.net
July 5th, 2003


Sinking Ship Parable

<...> Finally the ship sank, and because none of the lifeboats had been lowered, everyone drowned.

The last thought of more than one of them was, "I never dreamed that solving humanity's problems would take so long---or that the ship would sink so SUDDENLY." 

If you have a few minutes, you can read the entire parable at Daniel Quinn's, www.ishmael.com.
 Daniel Quinn is the author of Ishmael and many other fine books.  Thanks Daniel.

Dear fellow traveler on Spaceship Earth,

Thank you for visiting this website.  You may be aware that every day we continue with our daily lives as usual, we:

  • burn about eighty-four million barrels of oil
  • destroy a few hundred of our fellow species that share our home, and
  • gamble about two trillion U.S. dollars in our global foreign currency markets, etc. etc.
  • We live in a grand paradox of almost unimaginable proportions.  This is a time of crisis.  The Chinese symbols for crisis mean great danger and great opportunity.

    Recently, I have been confronted with a growing sense of doom and gloom.  I see that many people have given up faith and hope.  Many have no idea how to help and have come to expect the worst.  I have even caught the bug myself, so to speak.  And yet with time, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, new solutions come into view.  Just last night, as I was watching our annual fireworks display here in the USA, an image came into my mind, and I realized the importance of sharing it with all of you as quickly as possible.  Remember, that every day we do not act, is a day lost in our struggle to leave a liveable planet to future generations.
     

    "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."  --Albert Einstein

    The Solution Box

    The Solution Box Diagram


    Last night as I watched the fireworks, this is the picture that popped into my mind as the bombs were bursting in air, and as I listened to Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra on my headphones.  Read on for an explanation .......


    The Spark!!

    We are all familiar with the function of spark plugs in our car engines.  An instant before the spark goes off, there is just a bunch of compressed fuel and air mixture inside a cylinder, and then,

    !!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAMO !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    the spark goes off, the stuff explodes, and down the road we go!  For any of you tech-ies in the audience, that spark is called an "activation energy".  You can read about it at Frank Lambert's fine web pages on entropy, here.

    What I am seeing is that we are ready for a similar huge explosion here on Earth.  Similarly to the car engine, pressures have been rising for many years, decades even, and all we need is a spark to cause things to explode almost overnight!  It is my hope that the information in these pages, may supply that needed spark.


    Einstein's Letters to Roosevelt

    Dr. Albert Einstein, Playing His Violin

    This great scientist who was recently named Person of the Century by Time Magazine, created a spark back in 1939, at another time of great danger for humanity.  Several people were concerned that Adolf Hitler's scientists might develop an atomic bomb and cause world devastation.  They convinced Einstein to write an urgent letter to President Franklin Roosevelt.  This sparked the USA's very rapid entry into developing nuclear energy.  Then, just a couple of years later, on December 2d, 1942, the world's first nuclear chain reaction occurred in Chicago, Illinois.

    You can read about all this here:

    http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/einstein.shtml
    http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/S/SiteNuclear.html
     


    A Chain Reaction

    This chain reaction occurred in an atomic pile composed of uranium and graphite.  Now, I would like to set off a simlar chain reaction in the minds and actions of my fellow human beings.  Throughout history, there have been other times when unexpected changes happened almost overnight.  Most of us could never have imagined that the USSR and the Berlin Wall would disappear so quickly.  And of course our own world changed overnight on September 11th, 2001.  You can read about more overnight changes and paradigm shifts in James Burke's fine book, The Day the Universe Changed.

    Now, I see several elements lining up in human society that are set to explode at any moment.  The time is ripe.  All that's needed is a spark, to bring these elements together.  We need a very rapid change here on Earth, the kind that occurs in a chain reaction.


    Group A, We're Doomed!

    Now, let's look at The Solution Box that I saw last night, and how such a chain reaction could occur.  At the top left is Group A, which is composed of a small, and rapidly growing bunch of people who have taken a close look at our energy, population and pollution issues.  Their conclusion is that over 90% of us six billion homo sapiens are likely to die off, as we deplete our fossil fuel resources and poison our biosphere over the next several decades.  This group of people see no alternative to a massive disaster that not only spells great pain and suffering for most of us, but also for many future generations to come.  Here are some websites that explain the situation in great detail.


    http://www.dieoff.org/synopsis.htm:

    Energy Production Per Capita & The Cliff


    http://dieoff.com/page224.htm:

    5. The Olduvai Theory: 1930-2030

    The earth's immune system, so to speak, has recognized the presence of the human species and is starting to kick in. The earth is attempting to rid itself of an infection by the human parasite.  --Richard Preston, 1994
    The Olduvai theory, to review, states that the life expectancy of Industrial Civilization is less than or equal to one hundred years, as measured by the world average energy production person per year: ê = E/(Pop). Industrial Civilization, defined herein, began in 1930 and is predicted to end on or before the year 2030. Our main goals for this section are threefold: (1) to discuss the Olduvai theory from 1930 to 2030, (2) to identify the important energy events during this time, and (3) to stress that Industrial Civilization = Electrical Civilization = the 'modern way of life.' Figure 4 depicts the Olduvai theory.
    Figure 4. The Olduvai Theory: 1930-2030

    Notes: (1) 1930 => Industrial Civilization began when (ê) reached 30% of its peak value. (2) 1979 => ê reached its peak value of 11.15 boe/c. (3) 1999 => The end of cheap oil. (4) 2000 => Start of the "Jerusalem Jihad". (5) 2006 => Predicted peak of world oil production (Figure 1, this paper). (6) 2008 => The OPEC crossover event (Figure 1). (7) 2012 => Permanent blackouts occur worldwide. (8) 2030 => Industrial Civilization ends when ê falls to its 1930 value. (9) Observe that there are three intervals of decline in the Olduvai schema: slope, slide and cliff — each steeper than the previous. (10) The small cartoons stress that electricity is the essential end-use energy for Industrial Civilization.

    Figure 4 shows the complete Olduvai curve from 1930 to 2030. Historic data appears from 1930 to 1999 and hypothetical values from 2000 to 2030. These 100 years are labeled "Industrial Civilization." The curve and the events together constitute the "Olduvai schema." Observe that the overall curve has a pulse-like waveform — namely overshoot and collapse. Eight key energy events define the Olduvai schema.

    Eight Events: The 1st event in 1930 (see Note 1, Figure 4) marks the beginning of Industrial Civilization when ê reached 3.32 boe/c. This is the "leading 30% point", a standard way to define the duration of a pulse. The 2nd event in 1979 (Note 2) marks the all-time peak of world energy production per capita when ê reached 11.15 boe/c. The 3rd event in 1999 (Note 3) marks the end of cheap oil. The 4th event on September 28, 2000 (Note 4) marks the eruption of violence in the Middle East — i.e. the "Jerusalem Jihad". Moreover, the "JJ" marks the end of the Olduvai "slope" wherein ê declined at 0.33 %/year from 1979 to 1999.

    Next in Figure 4 we come the future intervals in the Olduvai schema. The Olduvai "slide", the first of the future intervals, begins in 2000 with the escalating warfare in the Middle East. The 5th event in 2006 (Note 5) marks the all-time peak of world oil production (Figure 1, this paper). The 6th event in 2008 (Note 6) marks the OPEC crossover event when the 11 OPEC nations produce 51% of the world's oil and control nearly 100% of the world's oil exports. The year 2011 marks the end of the Olduvai slide, wherein ê declines at 0.67 %/year from 2000 to 2011.

    The "cliff" is the final interval in the Olduvai schema. It begins with the 7th event in 2012 (Note 7) when an epidemic of permanent blackouts spreads worldwide, i.e. first there are waves of brownouts and temporary blackouts, then finally the electric power networks themselves expire. The 8th event in 2030 (Note 8) marks the fall of world energy production (use) per capita to the 1930 level (Figure 4). This is the lagging 30% point when Industrial Civilization has become history. The average rate of decline of ê is 5.44 %/year from 2012 to 2030.

    "The hand writes, then moves on." Decreasing electric reliability is now.

    The power shortages in California and elsewhere are the product of the nation's long economic boom, the increasing use of energy-guzzling computer devices, population growth and a slowdown in new power-plant construction amid the deregulation of the utility market. As the shortages threaten to spread eastward over the next few years, more Americans may face a tradeoff they would rather not make in the long-running conflict between energy and the environment: whether to build more power plants or to contend with the economic headaches and inconveniences of inadequate power supplies. (Carlton, 2000)
    The electricity business has also run out of almost all-existing generating capacity, whether this capacity is a coal-fired plant, a nuclear plant or a dam. The electricity business has already responded to this shortage. Orders for a massive number of natural gas-fired plants have already been placed. But these new gas plants require an unbelievable amount of natural gas. This immediate need for so much incremental supply is simply not there. (Simmons, 2000)
    As we have emphasized, Industrial Civilization is beholden to electricity. Namely: In 1999, electricity supplied 42% (and counting) of the world's end-use energy versus 39% for oil (the leading fossil fuel). Yet the small difference of 3% obscures the real magnitude of the problem because it omits the quality of the different forms of end-use energy. With apologies to George Orwell and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics — "All joules (J) of energy are equal. But some joules are more equal than others." Thus, if you just want to heat your coffee, then 1 J of oil energy works just as well as 1 J of electrical energy. However, if you want to power up your computer, then 1 J of electricity is worth 3 J of oil. Therefore, the ratio of the importance of electricity versus oil to Industrial Civilization is not 42:39, but more like 99:1. Similar ratios apply to electricity versus gas and electricity versus coal.

    Au Courant King Kilowatt!

    Question: Where will the Olduvai die-off occur? Response: Everywhere. But large cities, of course, will be the most dangerous places to reside when the electric grids die. There you have millions of people densely packed in high-rise buildings, surrounded by acres-and-acres of blacktop and concrete: no electricity, no work, and no food. Thus the urban areas will rapidly depopulate when the electric grids die. In fact we have already mapped out the danger zones. (e.g. See Living Earth, 1996.) Specifically: The big cities stand out brightly as yellow-orange dots on NASA's satellite mosaics (i.e. pictures) of the earth at night. These planetary lights blare out "Beware", "Warning", and "Danger". The likes of Los Angeles and New York, London and Paris, Bombay and Hong Kong are all unsustainable hot spots.


    http://hubbertpeak.com/duncan/olduvai.htm:

    The Olduvai Theory of Industrial Civilization

    1. Pre-Industrial Phase [c. 3,000,000 BC to 1765]
    Interval D-E is a transition period.
     
    2. Industrial Phase [1930 to 2025, estimated]
    Interval H-I is a transition period.

    3. Post-Industrial Phase [c. 2100 and beyond]

    © 1996, 1997
    INSTITUTE on ENERGY and MAN

    Richard C. Duncan Ph.D., Director
    1997 December 18


    Dr. Colin J. Campbell, World Renowned Petroleum Geologist

    from page: http://www.peakoil.net/Colin.html

    Dr. Colin J. Campbell, Petroleum Geologist"If you don´t deal with reality, reality will deal with you."

    "Understanding depletion is simple. Think of an Irish pub. The glass starts full and ends empty. There are only so many more drinks to closing time. It’s the same with oil. We have to find the bar before we can drink what’s in it."

    Presentation at the Technical University of Clausthal, December 7th, 2000, "Peak Oil, A Turning Point for Mankind"

    Video, Dr Campbell's A Turning
    Point for Mankind (Real Audio)

    Video, alternate link, if the above
    doesn't work (Real Audio)

    P E A K   O I L   |   Lecture
    ^^ text/graphics presentation, follow along

    more Campbell at:
    http://www.peakoil.net
    http://www.hubbertpeak.com/campbell/  <<  lots of stuff by Campbell including the book, The Coming Oil Crisis
    Amazon: The Coming Oil Crisis, Dr Colin J. Campbell  <<  ditto


    The overwhelming consensus that I get when looking at this point of view, is that we are far beyond our limits and that a so called soft landing is completely impossible.  In fact, there are some sentiments here, that would like to see a very fast holocaust, getting our population down to 200 million or less (a 97% reduction).  They reason, the sooner the better, so that perhaps there might be something left here to enjoy, for the survivors and future generations.

    There have been precedents for this sort of thing.  The plague (black death, bubonic plague), which affected Western Europe in the 14th century wiped out 30% to 50% of the population there.  A million died in Ireland during the great potato famine just over 150 years ago.  In both cases, the pain and suffering were enormous.  Of course these catastrophes were regional in scope, however this time, the problem is clearly a global one.
     

    "If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed."  --ancient chinese proverb

    My studies confirm most of what I find here.  I agree that a massive reduction in population is necessary, however I am far from convinced that it must be accompanied by such massive suffering.  Many of Group A's adherents believe that human nature is to blame for the mess, and that it will never change, therefore we are headed into the abyss and that any soft landing is an impossibility.

    I believe homo sapiens is an infant species.  There is much information to support this belief.  My opinion is that Group A's attitude is about the same as looking at a infant that does nothing but cry and wallow in it's own excrement, and conclude "The child will never grow up ... it's doomed to infancy forever"!  We all know that infants do grow up and mature, given time.  In our case, the homo sapiens species, simply needs to grow up almost overnight, and I have faith and hope that we will do just that, as you will see if you'll stick with me a little longer here.  This is an easy point to miss though, and I can completely understand Group A's unawareness.  This is indeed a complex situation, and even those of us who have been studying it for decades, cannot know, and will never know everything about it.

    The key question now is, "If it's true we are like a bunch of infants, just how will we ever grow up, especially overnight"?  And that leads us to Group B, Personal Development.


    Group B, Personal Development

    The focus of personal development is the human mind.  It teaches us what our minds are, how they work and how to use them most effectively to produce success and happiness, and how to reach our goals.  Other names are, personal growth, human potential, sales motivation and self actualization.  We can trace it in modern times to the great industrialist Andrew CarnegieCarnegie commissioned Napoleon Hill to study the world's most successful people, to learn their secrets.  In 1928 Napoleon Hill wrote his first book, The Law of Success.  It was followed in 1937 by his all time blockbuster and industry standard,  Think and Grow Rich.  Today, some of the most popular champions of personal development are Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Zig Ziglar, Peter Lowe, Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen.  If you have ever seen Tony in one of his late night TV infomercials, picked up one of the Chicken Soup books, or heard about one of Peter's huge success seminars, then you've connected with this personal development industry.

    The human mind is considered by many to be the most powerful thing in the universe, but its workings have long been a strange mystery.  Recently, researchers have made great strides in understanding the brain and how it functions (and malfunctions).  Fortunately, their results have lifted much of the mystery and are now being made available for us to use.  The human mind is the only thing that differentiates us from all other living creatures.  It has been said that all problems are information problems. The same can be said about solutions.  Everything in our world that was created by human beings started out as a thought in someone's mind (including all of our current problems).  Sometimes I think we act like infants and other times, like a bunch of rowdy kids, messing up our rooms and fighting with one another.  Like children, we are just beginning to learn how to use our brains.  Few of us use our brains anywhere near to their full potential.  In fact, we don't know just how powerful our brains really are!  Many researchers and authors assert that there are no limits to what we can do with our brains.  Then they go on to prove it by reeling off all the things that people have done that was once considered utterly impossible.

    I believe that the keys to a softer landing lie in Group B.  These people are constantly teaching us the importance of maintaining positive mental attitudes, setting goals, taking action, believing in possibility (not impossibility) and maintaining faith and hope.  Of course I'll be the first to admit that all is not going to be rosy, which is why I used the words softer landing rather than soft landing.  The fact is that we have already hit on hard times.  Like it or not, we have a 100 year petroleum party to pay for (and clean up after) friends, and a rather large hangover is likely, but I think we can do this without massive violence, starvation and devastating damage to our biosphere.  As I develop this website more, I'll supply specific ideas and plans to support my belief.

    Of particular interest to us, personal development teaches us how human beings have pulled off the impossible in the past.  We learn how Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile, how Edmund Hillary summited Mount Everest, how Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, how John Kennedy sent us to the moon and many other achievements, long thought to be impossible.  Tony Robbins teaches a wonderful technique called modeling.  For instance, lets say we want to do something that seems impossible (like this softer landing).  We start by installing an attitude of possibility in our minds.  Then, we ask who has done impossible things in the past, and go find out how they did them.  We learn about the attitudes, beliefs, mental and physical states that they used to achieve these supposedly impossible results.  We then model their processes and actions, adapting them to our situation.

    We created our problems here with our minds, and we can likewise fix them with our minds.  This is our growth process as a species, that is taking us from infancy to childhood, and childhood to adulthood.  We need to stop believing in impossible, change our attitudes and get a move on it.  I believe that Group B, the Personal Development Industry is our ace in the hole.

    La Gran Tenochtitlan, Diego Rivera
    The Mesoamerican, Solar Energy Based Aztecs of the 16th Century
    The Mesoamerican, Solar Energy Based Aztecs of the 16th Century
    For more on Aztec civilization click here

    Blind Spots

    None of us can ever know but a tiny fraction of the world's knowledge, and the situation gets worse every year, as humanity's information base explodes.  This results in a serious epidemic of blind spots, and we all have them.  So we really need to help each other out, by supplying information where we see it lacking, and making useful connections, whenever possible.  It is just such a connection between Groups A and B, that I believe will set off the chain reaction we need to pull off the impossible, namely the almost overnight transformation (paradigm shift) of human civilization.

    The realization that hit me last night, is that Group A has the problems well understood, and Group B has the solutions understood, but that they both have a major blind spot that needs to be removed in order to spark a chain reaction.  Each group has a different blind spot.

    Group A's blind spot,

    is caused by their belief of impossibility.  With such a belief, why would they ever go looking for the solution?  In fact, the doom/gloom crowd has been looking for so long (without finding), that many are jaded by now, and have given up ... lost any sense of hope or faith.  Their lack of solution leads them right back to impossibility and they get locked into a vicious circle that feeds on and reinforces itself, a negative feedback loop or self fulfilling prophesy!  They are all products of the system they are trying to fix, and for that reason will never find any solutions.  It's a classic example of the need to think outside the box.  This is what Einstein meant in his famous statement, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."  They are locked into a paradigm of specialization, that only allows them to see what's visible within that paradigm (box).  Amazingly, among all the web pages, books, discussion groups, that I have been looking in on, not a single one even hints at an awareness of Group B's existence.  One of the largest websites in Group A is dieoff.org.  Its founder and former operator, Jay Hanson writes:

    Working full-time for more than a decade, I studied it all: the history of our so-called "democracy", the fundamentals and history of modern economics, sociology, cybernetics, system theory, biology, ecology, microbiology, evolution theory, physics, and so on.
    Jay has also studied the mind and human nature, and has concluded that due to our immutable human nature, any hope for a reasonable solution is literally impossible.  While Jay no longer maintains the dieoff.org site, he is currently operating: Yahoo! Groups : the_dieoff_QA with over 300 members and lots of very animated discussion.  I've read hundreds of these gloomy messages and have never seen a single mention of personal development, positive attitudes and languaging, etc.  On one hand this amazes me, and on another it doesn't.  Certainly some of these people have had some experience in the realm of personal development, but in this sort of context, it just doesn't come out.  The context itself apparently doesn't call it out.  If anything, it seems to repress it.  Another aspect of this is, that us humans absolutely love doom and gloom, and the mass media is making a killing on it.  I discuss this strange love of ours, in Group C below.

    I do not believe in a fixed, immutable human nature for humanity.  I observe that our consciousness is evolving and maturing, although at an almost imperceptable snail's pace.  It isn't much different than the evolving consciousness of a child growing up, which is what I believe our species is.  Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of growing up anymore at this snail's pace.  We are facing trial by fire, and we need to grow up overnight.  I believe we are up to the task!  When Group A talks about human nature, I would suggest instead:

    our infant species' youthful nature, in the process of growing and maturing.
    Group B's blind spot,

    is also a case of living inside a box, which blinds them to the very existence of Group A, to whom they could be of great service.  The evolution of the modern personal development industry, has been to assist its customers in setting and achieving their goals.  This has all occurred within the context of the prevailing paradigm of western civilization, and thus, most of the goals have been material ones, and often very luxurious ones.  Personal development works just as well in the achievement of non-material goals, however in order to thrive as an industry, Group B had to adapt to the demands of its customers.  Accordingly customers hear things like:

    Since the customers have been climbing in the ever expanding paradigm of the keep up with the Joneses material good life, the industry has had to take on the external trappings and appearances of that good life.  And so we read about Tony Robbins' millions, living in his castle by the sea in San Diego, and flying his helicopter to L.A., for dinner and a show.  Then there's Tampa, Florida's Peter Lowe, who staged giant success seminars in sporting arenas.  His organization got overextended, went bankrupt, and is accused of fraud.  One disillusioned investor states, "The way this is being handled, ... is just the opposite of the values they espoused."  You can read about it in this March 5th, 2002 article in USA TodayOr in one of the most bizarre situations, an Indian guru named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, taught his followers of the abundance of the universe ... that they could literally have anything their hearts and minds desired.  In turn these followers made millions of dollars and showered the Bhagwan with 90 Rolls Royce automobiles!  But in 1985 Rajneesh was deported to India, and the fleet sold off.  You can read more about it here.

    Now, I really don't have any problem with people having extravagant desires, and using their minds to their best advantage to fulfill them, unless of course they end up destroying our planet in the process.  It's kind of a funny yet ironic paradox, since one of the main themes of this industry is personal and business integrity.  The industry also teaches us about paradigms and thinking outside the box, but there is one major sacred cow, and this is Group B's blind spot.  If they step outside the box that their own business thrives in, they'll have to give it a massive overhaul.  It must align itself in harmony with the physical laws of our universe.  And as evidenced by the USA Today article, major industry players are already collapsing.  The helping industry, needs help itself!

    Blind Spots, Conclusion:

    I believe these two blind spots have polarized these powerful groups.  Group A is either unaware of group B's existence, and/or believes they are just another bunch of wolves in sheeps clothing, busily destroying our planet, and wants nothing to do with them!  Group B looks at Group A and sees their negative feedback loop, and concludes these are just a bunch of people who use their minds incorrectly, since the universe is really filled with abundance!

    This is the classic manner in which any belief system, or paradigm, creates stability within its box.  I do believe that it's truly impossible for either group to acknowledge each other,

    unless they both change simultaneously in the context of a 100% paradigm shift!
    Just as the compressed fuel and air in our car engines doesn't ignite until sparked, these two groups are poised and ready to go off at any moment.  They just need that spark, to set off a chain reaction that will spread through the minds of humanity in no time.  Group A understands the problem.  Group B understands the solution.  They actually compliment each other beautifully, but within the prevailing established order, are keep distant and polarized by blind spots.

    In The Solution Box diagram, the first phase of the chain reaction occurs as a spark goes off, to activate a 100% paradigm shift.  This is signified by the #1 arrow.  I am bringing this website to the attention of members of both groups, and believe it will provide the needed spark.  Groups A and B then work together to create a new paradigm for human society.  They are shown connecting into a single unified entity by the red dotted line that surrounds them (top third of solution box).

    <<partial image here>>

    In the remainder of this website I refer to this unified entity as Groups A/B.  The new paradigm focuses on a plan of sustainability for the very long term, looking at least a billion years into the future.  It then narrows the focus to an interim plan of 50 to 100 years, during which humanity makes a softer landing, drastically reducing our population and impacts in a controlled manner.  Finally, the focus narrows to the very short term, the next 5 years to 2008.  During this time the interim and very long term plans are presented to humanity at large (Group E), through our present world leadership (Groups C & D).

    This process of a spark and chain reaction has only become an option in the last few years, as our newest mass media, the Internet, now reaches millions of people worldwide.  With broadband, we can bring rich multimedia presentations directly to the minds of our fellow humans.  Suddenly, the impossible becomes possible.  We now have the communication power to transform human civilization in just a few years!


    Present World Leadership (Groups C & D)

    <<Yergin: oil/commanding heights, flying 747 with no one in charge, out of fuel>>

    Once there is a plan for this softer landing, who might Groups A/B present this plan to for implementation?  Just who is running things on our little spaceship with six billion passengers?  The answer may surprise you, as it isn't at all what most people would think.  I've worked for the past three decades in the entertainment industry, worldwide.  I've had a chance to observe this industry from the inside out.  I've had a chance to entertain some of the most powerful people in the world.  And, I've taken the time to study this subject in considerable depth.  It is from this vantage point, that I share my understanding of our present world leadership.

    In the 100% paradigm shift that is inevitable, we need to ask two key questions:

    1. Who controls the majority of the remaining resources, that haven't been destroyed yet?  In the new paradigm, these must be conserved and used wisely.
    2. Who maintains the most influence over the minds and attitudes of the masses?  We will need to efficiently influence billions to change their attitudes, beliefs and lifestyles almost overnight.
    In The Solution Box diagram you see two groups (middle third).  They are: One of course is well known, while the other is not.  I will explain each of these groups in detail below.  What might be surprising, is the absence of any reference to world leaders, heads of state, governments, the United Nations, etc.  What I have learned is that these players on the world stage are now subordinate to and largely subsumed by groups C & D.  They are still present, but their roles have been largely trivialized, as real power and influence have shifted.  We also live in a progressively borderless world in which multi-national corporations and organizations are taking over from the now, mostly formal and subsidiary nation states.  Let's start then by taking a closer look at Group C.


    Group C, Entertainment Industry

    It used to be that we looked to strong charismatic leaders, to show us the way.  Looking back through the ages, the social structure of almost all human societies, from largest to smallest, has been some sort of leader--follower model.  We seem to always have a few chiefs and many Indians.  This has all changed over the past 100 years, as we have evolved one mass media after another.  Here is a quick diagram showing the growth of mass media:

    print media    >    movies    >    radio    >    television    >    Internet

    Over the mass media, the entertainment industry has cast a wide net, and with its many component sub-industries has exploded during the 20th century.  Today, we take our cues from a network of popular culture that has merged seamlessly with our advertising culture, to create a vast consumer culture, rapidly using up our planet's fossil fuel energies and natural resources, and spewing waste and pollution into our biosphere.  We no longer look to elected leaders to lead us. Instead, we look to our pop stars to show us the way into an endless barrage of fleeting and fanciful fads and imagined needs.  Pop culture has given us an endless barrage of movie, music, news, radio and television stars, plus sports heroes.  Almost the entire fabric of our culture has become an adventure of getting and spending, based on influences from pop culture heroes that constantly come our way via mass media.  If you are unfamiliar with this industry, and how it has taken over our society, I recommend these books:

    Just a word here about the advertising industry.  I do not see advertising as a separate entity from entertainment.  They have merged into one, and both operate over the mass media.  Advertising uses highly visible media stars to promote products.  Vice versa, media stars earn income through highly lucrative promotional contracts.  A vicious cycle perhaps?  The advertising industry is a key sub-industry that will be very useful in our paradigm shift, since advertising is an experienced specialist in persuading people to adopt new attitudes.  I discuss this more below.

    Starting with the presidency of Ronald Reagan, we have seen that highly visible figures from the entertainment industry are crossing over to the political arena.  This is happening at all levels.  We saw it at the local level as singer Sonny Bono became mayor of Palm Springs.  He then went on to become a congressman, before his tragic death.  Then Jesse Ventura became governor of Minnesota.  Jesse had a long career in entertainment, having worked in sports, movies and radio before entering politics.  And now, we have "The Arnold" !!!

    We are also seeing a reciprocal effect as our politicians have had to come up to speed as entertainers.  This effect started with the election of media savvy John Kennedy over Richard Nixon.  Now, with literally hundreds of entertainment channels available, politicians who can't make it in the media, simply cannot win elections.  Even our news media has produced stars in the likes of Walter Cronkite and CNN's Christiane Amanpour.  CNN's success proves that the news can and must be integrated into the endless fabric of entertainment that defines our lives, in a dying, collapsing paradigm.

    The net result: politics is dying (or dead).  Politics has become a joke ... mere cannon fodder for our late night talk show hosts.  Popular leadership is now firmly in the domain of Group C.  Our minds have been subjugated by the entertainment universe.  Whatever direction our new paradigm is going to take, must first take root in the minds of popular entertainers.  As they lead, the masses will follow.

    As we look next at Group D, The World Order, we'll see that they wield the greatest control over remaining natural resources.  However the entertainment industry is itself very wealthy, at least in terms of the dying paradigm's monetary yardstick: money, as we now know it.  At some point humanity will possibly witness the greatest economic collapse in history, at which point a new economic order will be free to rise.  But until then, our paradigm shift will have to work largely within the existing system.  Group C is also very rich monetarily.  The difference is only one of degree, as group C's individuals generally count their wealth in the millions, while group D's more often count in billions.

    Looking back at our two key questions:  Group C, The Entertainment Industry, is firmly in control over people's minds and attitudes.  Group C also comes in a distant second in terms of control of remaining resources.  Now let's look at Group D.


    Group D, The World Order (TWO)

    The World Order is a mysterious bunch that's been around in various forms for a few hundred years, and was virtually unheard of until 1991 by everyday people.  In that year, former President George H.W. Bush mentioned a New World Order in a speech to the U.S. Congress, but this only served to confuse the issue more.  He was speaking in general terms about a new relationship between nations, and certainly not about a small group of very wealthy and powerful individuals who operate in the background as a sort of proxy or surrogate planetary government.

    I first learned about the existence of The World Order (TWO) back in 1987 through two of Eustace Clarence Mullins' books, The World Order and The Secrets of the Federal Reserve.  The World Order (the book) isn't listed at Amazon.com, but is available from your library or used bookseller.  I've been learning about TWO ever since and through my work in entertainment, have even worked for and spent some time around some of it's members, so I have a bit of an insider's view of what this group is about.  Group D is composed of the wealthiest and most powerful people on Earth, at least as we have generally defined wealth and power in our present paradigm.  This is the monied class and some of them are part of the international banking industry.  Most information on TWO mentions three international organizations that comprise this group:

    however I believe there are many wealthy individuals involved who don't necessarily maintain formal ties to any of these.  Prior to the Internet age, finding information about these groups was not an easy task.  Most information casts these people in a very evil light, implying that they conspire to control the world and enslave us all.  I disagree with this perspective.  Just for fun, if you're unfamiliar with this, you can read all the gossip at this Google Search: "world order" bilderberg trilateral "council on foreign relations".

    As you can see, something is going on, but just what is it?  From what I've read, it seems that TWO traces its roots in modern times to one Mayer Amschel Rothschild, a German banker of the mid to late 1700's.  This was the beginning of The Rothschild Dynasty.  It was also the beginning of planetary government, long before anyone ever heard of The United Nations, or even suspected that planetary government exsted here.
     

    (photo from www.bilderberg.org/bilder.htm)
    First Bilderberg Meeting, 1954As for all the conspiracy theories, let's just take a quick look at the most secretive of the three groups, The Bilderberg Group.  This organization was formed in 1954.  It took its name from the Dutch hotel where it first met.  The group meets about once a year in various locations around the world.  One of their recent meetings was held near Toronto, and one before that in France.  Rumor has it that they meet in luxurious resort settings under extremely tight security.  All roads leading to the facility are blocked and guarded, and some guests arrive by helicopter.  I have also heard that the entire regular staff (including the cooks and maids) of the resort is "fired" for the few days of the meeting, and that the Bilderberg's bring in their own staff to maintain total security, and of course the media is banned.  Once again, this is all rumor.  Here is a short comment by the Anti-Defamation League: Debunking the Bilderberg Myth.  I tend to agree with the ADL.  I don't think it's reasonable to assume that just because these people want privacy, that they must be engaging in evil activities.

    Until a few hundred years ago our planet didn't have nation-states as we now know them, where the entire planet is carved up into over 200 countries, each with clearly surveyed borders.  There were small city-states and large regional empires, that would rise and fall from time to time.  And any notion of planetary government or management was far beyond imagination.  Back then, people were just getting used to the idea that the Earth is round, and that there were huge bodies of land (continents) that they never knew existed!

    There is much agreement among historians that the modern nation-state was born in 1648.  You can read about it here:  Google Search: 1648 treaty westphalia "the modern nation-state".  Then about 100 years later, what was to become TWO was started by Mayer Amschel Rothschild.  These two systems of government have grown up in parallel ever since.  One is fully visible and obvious, while the other is hidden in the background and largely unknown.  Back in 1648, we weren't ready for planetary government, however as our planet filled up completely with geographically defined nation-states, TWO naturally evolved.  Since Group D, The World Order (TWO) evolved our planet's global banking system, it's logical that this is where money is concentrated and vested, and money is power in this paradigm.  As human society has evolved, with industry and global communications, planetary government has become necessary, as the Earth has turned into a small global village.  In fact, it has now gotten to the point where nation-states are quickly becoming anachronisms (like British Royalty).  Sometimes, they actually cause us more harm than good, since a few hundred artificially created countries and cultures, can only hinder our solving global problems with common resources, pollution, energy stocks, etc.  We truly live on one planet and need to manage it with one planetary government.  As this need has grown, TWO has expanded to meet it, along with our multi-national corporations.  In fact, there is much overlap between the two.  More info:

    This all works just like a puppet show.  We (the audience) see the puppets (world leaders) on stage (Earth), and they are the ones doing the acting (nation-state governance).  But the puppets are actually being operated out of sight by puppeteers (The World Order), linked with strings that are mostly invisible (secretive and mysterious) to us.  Strange, yet true!

    Looking back at our two key questions then:  Group D controls the majority of the remaining resources, that haven't been destroyed yet, however they don't directly influence the minds and attitudes of the people.  Such influence when needed, is delegated to Group C.  As previously mentioned, Group C also comes in a distant second in terms of resource control.


    From Plan to Action

    Let's recap so far, and then see how Groups A through D will work together to produce a softer landing for humanity.

    1. enormous pressures have built up in human society
    2. a spark goes off, creating an explosive chain reaction (sparked by this website)
    3. Groups A & B break through blind spots, that have kept them polarized
    4. a simultaneous 100% paradigm shift occurs, almost overnight, which allows
    5. Groups A & B to cooperate, and create a plan for a softer landing
    Now, we come to the implementation phase, of The Solution Box.  We've been looking at these two key questions, and their respective answers:
    1. Who controls the majority of the remaining resources, that haven't been destroyed yet?  In the new paradigm, these must be conserved and used wisely.  Answer:  primarily Group D (TWO) and secondarily Group C (Entertainment).
    2. Who maintains the most influence over the minds and attitudes of the people?  We will need to efficiently influence billions to change their attitudes, beliefs and lifestyles quickly.  Answer:  Group C (Entertainment).
    Groups A/B are now acting as one unified entity, and are armed with a plan.  Using this new found strength and group synergy, I believe Groups A/B will have enough power and credibility to approach Groups C & D.  This is where the real power exists to take massive action in human society at large.

    (shown in The Solution Box diagram as Group E, Six Billion Humans).

    An overnight change is going to take massive power, and Groups C & D are where that power lies.


    Blind Spots, Revisited

    Earlier we looked at the blind spots of Groups A & B.  We saw that these could only be broken through by a simultaneous 100% paradigm shift.  As Groups A/B look forward to approaching Groups C & D for plan implementation, there are more blind spots to understand and overcome.  Once again, these will be broken through in the paradigm shift.

    This website applies to all of humanity, however I refer to the USA here, since we are the ones using up the majority of the Earth's resources.  The United States Constitution refers to We the People.  I believe that We the People, have become We the Enablers.  The dictionary defines enable as:

    to make able, to give strength or ability to, to confer sufficient power upon.

    This time, it is us (Group E, Six Billion Humans) who have the blind spots, that must be removed in order to move to action.

    Our blind spots with Group C

    Our biggest problem with the Entertainment Industry centers around the mass media.  It's the mass media that permeates our daily lives with an endless barrage of news of wars, tragedies and disasters, thus constantly increasing our sense of impending doom.  The result is a classic self fulfilling prophesy.  The news has become one of our major sources of entertainment these days.  On any given day, there are thousands of newsworthy stories available to report to humanity.  These available stories cover both the collapse of western civilization, and also the rise of a new paradigm of sustainability.  The news organizations must constantly sort, prioritize and edit, since there is little space and time available for reporting to us humans, with our microscopic attention spans!  The key word here is obviously available!  Of these thousands of stories, the editors in the mass media must come up with just a few, to splash in the headlines of the world's newspapers, magazines, and on evening news broadcasts.

    The Personal Development Industry (Group B) teaches that we become what we think about.  We get out of our minds, whatever we put into them, or very simply, we reap what we sow.  Our minds act just like a fertile garden.  Whatever is planted, grows.  Is it any big surprise then, that with all this doom and gloom being planted, that is what is springing forth?  The mass media could just as easily give prime billing to stories about positive changes toward sustainability that occur daily on our planet, but they don't.  We could point a blaming finger at the mass media top brass for filling our minds with all this garbage, but I think we need to hold up a mirror, and look deeper.

    The key question here is:

    Are we enabling the mass media to feed us negative, doom and gloom filled news stories daily, by demanding those stories, through our economic votes?
    I believe we are, and this is how we enable this hugely destructive behavior.  Every time we buy a newspaper or magazine, we cast a vote.  Every time we buy a product advertised during a news broadcast, we cast a vote.  In the prevailing paradigm, all these news organizations are in competition to make a profit.  They must pay close attention to our demands, and work hard to fill them.  Is it any wonder that

    we get exactly what we demand?

    I believe that this is our blind spot, and I think we are just waking up to understand how this all works.  I believe we are like little children, unaware of how we have been using our minds and our voting dollars.  I don't know why we love horrible news so much.  Perhaps our psychologists do.  Regardless of the reason, we can learn what we have been doing and in the new paradigm of sustainability we can change our voting/demands.

    Our blind spots with Group D

    The situation is similar with Group D (TWO).  So often I hear people blaming our problems on the filthy rich, greedy, affluent members of society.  Based on my experiences with this group, blaming them represents a great misunderstanding, since they are just like you and I in most ways.  The individuals who comprise Group D, are simply other childlike homo sapiens, trying to understand our world and live their lives as best they can.  Most of them are kind people, who actively look for ways to contribute to human society.  If you have ever blamed the rich, I have a question for you:

    If the multitudes from Calcutta or Zimbabwe showed up at your doorstep right now, and asked you why you weren't sharing all of your wealth with them, what might your answer be?
    I do observe that there are enormous problems regarding distribution of material wealth, however these are not caused by greedy, rich people.  These problems are really economic in nature and are based in our childlike unawareness of how to better operate human society.  We still have a lot to learn here, which we can consider normal for a childlike species.  I think we will do better after our paradigm shift.

    One person who helped me understand the psychology of very affluent, powerful people was the late Karl Hess.  Karl worked as a speech writer for Barry Goldwater during his 1964 bid for the U.S. presidency.  Playboy Magazine interviewed Karl in 1976.  Here is an excerpt from that interview.

    PLAYBOY:  Were there any incidents during Goldwater's campaign when you personally felt yourself being corrupted by power and prestige?

    HESS:  Yes.  I particularly remember the feeling of riding alone in a limousine with a motorcycle escort.  Everyone was peering in at me.  To them, I was a blur; power in motion.  To me, they were a frozen tableau of still, dumb, gawking faces -- as if captured by a strobe light.  During those moments, I knew the glory that the President himself knows, and it was an impressive experience.  Had it continued, I have no doubt that I would have succumbed to it absolutely.

    PLAYBOY:  Succumbed to what?

    HESS:  To the atrocious assumption that I was more important than other people.  And I would not have been evil to do so -- just human.  If your repeated experience is that you're in motion and everyone else is frozen on the side of the road, it is only reasonable to conclude that you are a more important person than they, that they expect you to run the universe for them.  You don't feel as though you are being corrupted by power.  You feel as though you are intelligently responding to empirical evidence.  And that is power's greatest corruption:  the tragic and universal misconception by the wielder of power that it isn't corrupting him.

    The USA's famous founding father Tom Jefferson clearly instructed us of the need for individual responsibility and participation in a free democracy.  He told us that without it, freedom cannot last for very long.  Our current experience proves Tom correct.

    Now we can again hold up a mirror, and see where our blind spots with Group D might lie.  Could it be that we haven't been maintaining a high level of responsibility in our participatory democracy?  Could it be that we have enabled some of the individuals in Group D to become corrupted by wealth and power, by giving away our power to them?  Could it be that our endless consumer class demands for material pleasures, have enabled a vast provider class to meet those demands?
     

    "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."  --Edmund Burke, 1729-1797

    Blind Spots, Revisited, Conclusion:

    Once again, I believe that We the People, have become We the Enablers.  Some readers may find my logic to be a bit of a stretch, which I acknowledge.  However it isn't our responsibility to point blaming fingers at them, namely the members of Groups C & D, is it?  Personal development teaches us that we can only be responsible for ourselves, and in fact, we are the only ones we can really change.  By focusing on our responsibility, we gain great power to work on a solution, whereas by focusing on them, we give all our power away.  I believe that by focusing on our responsibility as enablers, we can get to work on solution.

    Once Groups A/B have a plan for a softer landing, they will need help from Groups C & D who hold the power to enact the plan.  I believe there are some individuals within these groups, who already understand that the jig is up, and are just waiting for a new plan.  I'm certain that Groups A/B will never have a chance getting help from Groups C & D, by blaming them for our predicament.  A better way to approach these power groups is to invite them to join, in the creation of that simultaneous 100% paradigm shift I have been talking about.  We need to come with great respect and a great plan.  If we do, I believe that some members of Groups C & D, will empower the plan for a softer landing for humanity.