On Fri, 11 May 2012, Ray Harrell wrote:
> The old Cherokee Nation was the size of the modern state of Oklahoma > and Oklahoma is the size of modern France. No, it's not. We did this before, just a little while ago: "No no, it is Texas that's the size of France, Oklahoma is a quarter that size, and fits between Greece and Belarus, but with a population of order of a small balkan state." And while Germany is indeed about twice the size of Wisconsin, it is also about 6% smaller than Montana, its closest US match, and thus about half the size of France, as Monana is half the size of Texas. -Pete (compulsive geography geek) PS By the way, did you get a view of the land while flying over? What I've noticed is that the small villages and small farms make a beautiful environment, by comparison with the vast and for me rather desolate stretches of unpopulated farmland in north america, dominated by the impersonal geometry of the "section" - square mile divisions of farm properties. The little scattered villages and irreguilar farm boundaries of Europe look far more friendly, I don't think I'd mind living anywhere among them... > Thanks Keith. I always enjoy your thinking although I often don't agree. > The root of the disagreement could be about geography. This summer I took > my first trip to Europe ever. I always had an image of Europe as a place > consonant with its Art and the impact of its Art on the rest of the world. > > > > > Just as the first Americans to go to China with Nixon and to find the sheer > stunning numbers of people overwhelming or my experience of moving to NYCity > and finding the weight of the buildings, their size and immense number to be > beyond my experience, the trip to Europe was different. > > > > I was struck by the smallness and local feeling of all of Europe. The > low buildings, small transportation systems and of course the great beauty. > Yes the Art is there and it is unbelievable in its sheer amounts and scope. > There are big airports but basically I was struck by important cities with > airports not much bigger than Oklahoma City except Oklahoma City then > spreads over 100 miles of prairie from the airport. The airport at > Florence was like a mid size American city airport. The road systems run > through beautiful countrysides but essentially everything is in miniature. > The old Cherokee Nation was the size of the modern state of Oklahoma and > Oklahoma is the size of modern France. Germany is the size of two > Wisconsins and Britain is....... well..... an island after all is said and > done. > > > > In the countries where miniature geography houses large mono racial > populations and serious modern economies it makes sense that evolution would > begin to downsize due to the sheer minimalism of the gene pool. > Multi-culturalism is a threat to their personal gene pool and identity. > Some of these groups struggle to maintain their identity through inner > marriage in the culture but these same cultures maintaining their identity > here, suffer from serious health issues as they do elsewhere in the world > and the problem is old blood. I suspect that all of the new Muslim > immigrants in Europe is a genetic cry for fresh blood just as the American > Indian Nations here used to raid their neighbors for wives and children to > keep the gene pool, within the clan systems, viable. I know that > Europeans who immigrate here often speak of the liberty of anonymity because > of the sheer space. I've heard the same from immigrants to Canada. > They love the Art and the look of their home culture but when they buy a > house there they suffer from a personal kind of claustrophobia and a loss of > identity which the crystallize in the word "liberty." > > > > REH > > > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson > Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 3:09 AM > To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, , EDUCATION > Subject: [Futurework] The ONLY solution > > > > Never before -- in the 200,000 year history of mankind -- have populations > decided to go extinct. But that is exactly what might happen in more than a > score of advanced countries in Europe. By deciding to spend their incomes on > the full standard kit of consumer goods, services and leisure experiences > rather than two (increasingly expensive) children per woman, populations > will go into steep decline once the present crop of excessively old people > dies off. > > Whether European countries will completely re-stock their numbers in the > years to come by continuing to encourage the poor of Asia, Africa and the > Middle East to immigrate remains to be seen. For the last 30 or 40 years, > this has been the surreptitious policy of senior politicians and civil > servants in order to maintain a sufficiently large taxation base. But > whether they'll continue to get away with it remains to be seen. Even while > indigenous populations are declining, they may also decide to elect extreme > right-wing governments or even old-fashioned dictatorships which will > finally erect efficient barriers. If this happens, then, at some future > stage, European adults might decide to have more children and thus stabilize > their populations (albeit at much smaller numbers than today). > > Stabilization of populations would only occur, however, when the twin trends > of ever-increasing automation and ever-increasing growth of specialized > skills balance up. That is, when the size of the consumer market matches up > with the necessary jobs which provide the market with desirable goods and > services, and maintain the basic infrastructure. This is the natural > equilibrium of what has occurred during, say, 190,000 years of our > existence. During the most recent 10,000 years of our agricultural and > industrial eras, this self-balancing act has only been interrupted for brief > periods by mass warfare. > > Sooner or later, the poor of mankind -- such as they might exist -- will > begin to reach a European standard of living and go through the same > balancing process as we are now starting. Of course, the whole of mankind > might be wiped out by an unforeseen asteroid or a killer virus that will > have such a long gestation period that it will be undetectable even as it > spreads around. But, unlike Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, Master of Trinity > College Cambridge and past President of the Royal Society, who doesn't give > us more than a century's future existence, I remain optimistic. I believe we > have at least a few centuries yet until we reach the only possible solution. > > Keith > > > > > Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com > <http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/> > > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
