Labor Shortages, Environmental Health, and Societal Renewal

Environmental Health, Philosophy, ,

I recently took a look at my old 2011 World Almanac (see image below) that had mid-year population projections for 2025 and 2050 and realized that back in 2010 the US Census Bureau was projecting the population of the USA to be about 357.5 million in 2025, and 439 million in 2050. As of 2024, it looks like the USA will likely have “only” 338 million people in 2025, a drop of almost 20 million people from the 2010 forecast when the USA had about 310 million people (mid-year 2010). This statistic stood out to me given the recent discussions about depopulation, excess deaths, and labor shortages in the alternative media over the past few years. That 2010 US Census Bureau projection was made only 13-14 years ago.

This population observation from the 2011 World Almanac opens up a lot of questions, such as, was the projection error/inaccuracy caused by a declining birth rate, an increasing mortality rate, or a combination of the two trends from 2010 to 2024? The Great Recession had already caused a significant decline in the birth rate in the USA right after 2007, so I imagine that decline was factored into the US Census Bureau’s 2010 forecast. Also, the surge in immigration into the USA over the past few years would obviously not explain the drop in the population projection. From the 2023 World Almanac, it appears that the birth rate in the USA dropped from 14.3 births/thousand people in 2007 to 11.0 births/thousand people in 2021. The mortality rate increased from 8.0 deaths/thousand people in 2007 to 10.3 deaths/thousand people in 2020 (see graph below). That’s a 23% drop in the birth rate and an astounding 28.75% increase in the mortality rate all the while health expenditures in the USA have ballooned to almost $5 trillion per year.

Labor Shortages and Environmental Health

In the past few years, many governments and many employers in different industries have been complaining about labor shortages at the same time that they ignore or dismiss that they are subtly poisoning their own populations with aluminum nanoparticles, glyphosate, excessive fluoride, non-native EMF radiation such as Wi-Fi and blue light from screens, and numerous other toxins that are actually recognized as toxins by mainstream society (e.g. microplastics, per-fluorinated compounds (PFAS), pesticides, etc.). In addition, as investigators like Edward Dowd have pointed out, after the experimental injection rollout in 2021 many people dropped out of the labor force due to disabilities or firings brought on by vaccine mandates issued by many of the same governments and corporations that are now stressed out about labor shortages. Unfortunately, our dysfunctional, demoralized and overworked society also contributes to many working-age people’s suicides, drug overdoses, or accidental deaths. As a reaction to that situation, many in the younger generations are attempting to work more meaningful jobs closer to nature, and are not applying to standard career positions (e.g. engineer, account manager, a spot in the military, etc.). Lastly, many couples that would have otherwise stayed together and started a family ended up breaking up under the socioeconomic pressures of trying to maintain a mainstream middle to upper middle class lifestyle (e.g. working two or more demanding jobs, no time for each other, disagreement on gender roles, etc.) and this drops the birth rate.

Societal Renewal

Given all the points mentioned above, why then should governments and employers be surprised at the current labor shortages? The slow motion collapse of modern civilization that many bloggers wrote about in the Peak Oil movement of the late 2000s and early 2010s appears to be occurring, though it seems to be manifesting through the labor and financial markets and the “cost of living” crisis as opposed to being brought about by acute resource shortages (e.g. oil skyrocketing to $300/barrel causing a fast economic collapse).

Instead of a societal collapse brought on solely by external causes (e.g. resource shortages, natural disasters, etc.), there actually may be a larger internal mental/psychological component as well, as many people such as myself have been asking themselves certain questions. For example, why should we work 40 to 60+ hour weeks to pay for things we can’t really afford or even want due to rising prices (e.g. $400,000 house, $45,000 car, $400/month groceries etc.)? It seems like trying to win the Red Queen’s race (from Alice in Wonderland), running faster and faster just to stay in the same place. Why not work part-time or drop out altogether and devote more time to building a more enjoyable system? A recent article discusses how many Millennials are thinking at least somewhat along these lines. Now, this may seem like a bad thing in a sense (a collapse of the current system), but it also means more time to devote building simpler houses or cabins, starting organic farms, growing suburban permaculture gardens, socializing and/or doing any number of other useful things to improve our lives on our own terms.

Community Garden Plot

Demographics and the Environment

Maybe 10 or so years ago, I used to be the kind of environmentalist that was actually happy when seeing population projections that showed that human populations would peak and fall, which would then presumably slow down the destruction of ecosystems. However, knowing now that there seems to be possibly deliberate yet subtle attempts by the technologic system to sabotage human biology/health in order to increase mortality rates and/or lower fertility rates, I definitely do not agree with this approach to the population issue from a moral perspective. If people want to have smaller families to lower pressure on the environment, that’s a good idea, but it should be an informed consent choice. I already wrote in my December 2022 post, Overpopulation or Roles Played, that obsessing about overpopulation is probably a waste of time for environmentalists. We need people to be healthy and clear-minded, and when people have healthy and clear minds and bodies, they consume a lot less resources and are able to appreciate nature a lot more. Also, we definitely need a lot of people to assist in healing the damaged Earth (e.g. starting regenerative agriculture farms, restoring salt marshes, reforestation projects, contaminated site cleanup, etc.).

Conclusion

All in all, the slow motion collapse of the current system may actually be a blessing in disguise. We can slowly decouple from this system and start or continue building a much better system than we currently have now. Many people in the alternative society movements have been laying the groundwork for a better system for years and they need some help to really get it going.

“Man has lost his way in the jungle of chemistry and engineering and will have to retrace his steps, however painful this may be. He will have to discover where he went wrong and make his peace with nature. In so doing, perhaps he may be able to recapture the rhythm of life and love of the simple things of life, which will be an ever-unfolding joy to him.”

Richard St Barbe Baker

Artificial Illumination: An Overlooked Environmental Health Stressor?

Environmental Health, , ,

In 2022, the USA banned the manufacture of incandescent bulbs and I had intuitively felt this was a bad move despite the claims by many of extreme energy savings from the switch to light emitting diodes (LEDs). My first thought when walking down a street with new LED streetlights a couple of years ago was that the light was overly bright and “harsh.” I also remembered seeing rumblings on the internet over the years that light from LEDs was maybe not so good for you but it had yet to really click for me until I stumbled onto Dr. Jack Kruse’s conversation with the DemystifySci team a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been researching the industrial EMF issue (Wi-Fi, 4G, 5G, etc.) for almost 4 years now and I’m surprised I hadn’t really looked into the blue light issue more deeply. Figures 1 depicts the cold white LED spectrum, the natural sunlight spectrum, and other spectrums for reference for the rest of this post. The spectrum emitted from LCD screens of technologic devices is similar to that of LEDs. If there are health problems associated with this artificial blue light spectrum then the energy savings argument falls apart as healthcare is one of the most energy intensive areas of the economy.

Figure 1: Various artificial light intensity spectrums compared to natural sunlight in the top left corner.

In the DemystifySci podcast at timestamp 1:08:00, Dr. Jack Kruse makes a point that the neuropeptide pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) is normally used by the body in natural sunlight to generate a number of biologically active peptides including adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) and B-endorphin (an opiate, sunlight makes us feel good!). However, he states that the spike in blue light intensity (~400-480 nm) in the emission spectrum from LEDs and tech devices, which is not balanced with UV or infrared light like it is in sunlight, causes neuropeptide cleavage in POMC to occur in such a way that lowers people’s dopamine levels and they then become addicted to screen scrolling/web surfing (endless dopamine hits in a subconscious attempt to get back to normal).

Photobiology

Dr. Alexander Wunsch is a photobiologist from Germany who has given some compelling presentations (available online) about natural light (sunlight, moonlight), circadian rhythms in organisms and the effects of artificial light (LEDs, incandescent bulbs, etc.) on our health. Incandescent bulbs are generally better for our health than fluorescent bulbs or LEDs. His research findings and discussions seem to solidly back up Dr. Jack Kruse’s claims. Dr. Jack Kruse and Dr. Alexander Wunsch seem to be the two people that have the best handle on this particular subject, as far as I can tell from my recent research. Not surprisingly, the LED/tech industry and governments say there is not much of a problem with this blue light. Though it is nice (and kind of telling) that in the past 5 years or so many devices like smartphones and laptops now come with a “Night Light” or “Dark” mode that removes much of the blue light spike from their emission spectrum.

Below is Figure 2, I modified one of Alexander Wunsch’s slides from one of his presentations and added more info. Basically, the figure shows that blue light from devices (that are also emitting RF and microwave radiation but not UV or infrared light) and LEDs disrupt circadian rhythms by stimulating the pituitary and pineal glands at the wrong times of the day. The other big interrelated point is that almost the entire near infrared/infrared-A (NIR/IRA) spectrum is missing from these devices and LEDs. This infrared spectrum is now well known to have several health benefits including increasing the size and charge of exclusion zone (EZ) water in the body and improved circulation in capillaries. All in all, it should be noted that blue light is actually beneficial when it occurs in sunlight in the late morning and mid-day as it is emitted along with the rest of the natural sunlight spectrum but when it isn’t, it has definite harmful effects on health.

Figure 2: A diagram depicting the difference between full spectrum sunlight and blue light from technology screens and how this difference affects the production of hormones in the body. The bottom graph depicts melatonin and ACTH + Cortisol concentrations in the body over the course of a day-night cycle.  Credit: Alexander Wunsch. Modified by me, see his presentation for original.

Esoteric Problems with Artificial Light

One of the disturbing thoughts that crossed my mind while doing this research is that what if LEDs were deliberately designed to have a spike in blue light intensity at around 440-460nm to artificially stimulate the pituitary gland of workers, thereby making them more productive, but not telling workers about the harmful long-term effects? The work, work, work, money, money, money, buy, buy, buy, consumerist culture. The system offers us free or cheap coffee, overhead lights with the blue light spike in their spectrum, and blue light backlit screens, all for short-term stimulation, but we pay for it later with myriad health problems (e.g. disrupted sleep, adrenal burnout, metabolism/weight gain issues, etc.). It also could just be that most experts in our society work in very isolated silos and do not communicate much (e.g. LED engineers do not go to biochemistry or photobiology conferences) and that maybe the cheapest material available for creating LEDs causes them to emit that blue light spike.

To back up the above discussion, below is Figure 3, a snapshot of the sections of the podcast between Dr. Alexander Wunsch and Luke Storey where they discuss why industrialists wanted certain types of lighting in their factories and offices. 

Figure 3: Snapshot of podcast overview between Dr. Alexander Wunsch and Luke Storey

Another disturbing finding I found when going down this rabbit hole was that in most organisms there is a class of enzymes in an enzymatic pathway called the cytochrome p450 pathway. The “p450” is a reference to the fact that the enzymes in this pathway have peak light absorption at about 450nm, the exact same peak in the blue light spectrum of most LEDs and screens of tech devices. Couple this with the fact that Wi-Fi sends out a signal at a frequency of 2.45GHz, a frequency which strongly affects water molecules and, again, this may make one think of possible intentional manipulation of human biology by the techno-industrial system. Building Biology advocate Roman Shapoval gives a good overview of the p450 problem and other similar esoteric problems with blue light in this substack article.

Conclusion

Of course, it seems that some engineers are actually making strides in developing LEDs and technologic devices that do not emit as much blue light as there previous generations did. But even with that, this post does go to show you, that being outside more and not indoors surrounded by Wi-Fi and blue light all the time is a good idea. The information in this post may also be pertinent to the theories of why there is so much more respiratory illness in winter than in summer in many places around the world, people are just inside so much more in winter than in summer, bathed in Wi-Fi frequencies and blue light vs. the full spectrum from the sun. 

In conclusion, light (electromagnetic) pollution is a very real problem, but is not taken seriously by mainstream society as much as chemical pollution in soil, air and water is. Light pollution is mostly considered only to be something that “blocks out the stars,” but it is much more than that as explained briefly in this post. Robert O. Becker, author of The Body Electric, stated that he thought exposure to electromagnetic pollution was even more of a concern than exposure to chemicals (e.g. PCBs, chlorinated solvents, gasoline vapors, etc.). If you have some time this winter be sure to check out Dr. Becker’s book and these other books in the image below if you are interested in a new scientific paradigm that recognizes electromagnetic energy as the foundational fabric of the cosmos.

Divestment from the War Machine

Philosophy,

I haven’t commented publicly on the current Israel-Hamas-Palestine conflict, as my intellectual focus is more in the environmental/natural science realms and not in the geopolitical realm, though these realms are all connected to some degree. Like many others, I was and am currently horrified at the extreme violence that occurred in Israel on October 7th and has been occurring in the Gaza Strip and West Bank since October 7th. I agree with the thinkers/journalists that stated that it was surprising and suspicious that Israel did not “see” the attack coming despite warnings from Egyptian Intelligence and possibly even the CIA of the USA. I have a bit of a geographical information systems (GIS) background and it is surprising and suspicious to me that the heavily technological IDF did not have a military GIS system in place that would have alerted them almost instantaneously about breaches in the wall around Gaza on October 7th. The parallels of this attack to the 9/11 attacks and subsequent War on Terror have been covered extensively already in the alternative media.

It is encouraging to see that 120 counties of the UN voted for a ceasefire with regards to the current Israel-Palestine conflict in October, despite having the resolution vetoed by certain countries (e.g. the USA). A step for many of us as individuals who feel powerless and want to do something else to de-escalate the current trajectory to a much wider conflict is to take our money out of the defense companies abetting the current conflict. I found this organization online that is working toward this goal: https://www.divestfromwarmachine.org/, though I’m not sure how effective it has been.

The defense companies Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Textron, etc. have all delivered weaponry to the State of Israel as they commit the extreme destruction of the Gaza Strip and even killings in the West Bank (note: I see the State of Israel chain of command as the problem here, not the people of the Jewish faith). Also, the US military left behind billions of dollars worth of these defense companies weaponry in the Middle East that subsequently made it into the black market and then into the hands of militant groups in Syria (confirmed) and possibly even Hamas (speculation). In addition, while some people argue that these defense companies are important in keeping Americans and Israelis “safe” from terrorism, it should be noted that these defense companies and governments have not even treated their own employees very well in the past, especially during the Covid debacle. Many working in these defense companies were forced to undergo mandatory vaccination with the experimental Covid injections, or were forced out of their jobs if they refused. In a similar vein, many ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel were also forced to vaccinate by their government despite their intuitive misgivings of the experimental injections. It has become increasingly apparent to many that these companies and governments have been inflicting harm on their own people without much of a chance for justice for the victims.

Back in 2019, I got out of the stock market and for the past few years I have been trying to decide where best to ethically invest my savings (e.g. solar panel companies, organic farms, food-coop, etc.). It is difficult to ethically invest in this world but anything along those lines seems to be a step in the right direction. If you have a 401k or IRA with some investments in defense companies and want to put pressure on the geopolitical entities involved in the current major conflict to initiate a ceasefire, then taking your money out of these companies will send a strong signal, maybe even stronger than protesting. It is sickening that the stock prices of some of these companies have gone up significantly since October 7th while civilians are being slaughtered and severely injured by aerial bombardment. CNBC actually published an article on this topic a few days ago.

Like I commented before in April 2022 on the Russia-Ukraine-NATO conflict, war destroys or damages natural/real wealth (lifeforms, waterways, fertile soil, etc.) and increases the fake wealth of the military industrial complex (bank account balances, stocks). Also, groups of people have had and will always have disagreements but with modern weaponry (long range missiles, airstrikes by drone, etc.) these disagreements lead to horrific violence that does not seem in any way honorable. Here’s hoping that some kind of peace agreement comes to fruition soon in regards to the current major conflict.

What about 15-minute Ecovillages?

Philosophy, ,

The United Nations Agenda 2030 focus on “15-minute” Smart cities for living and working leaves much to be desired for those who desire a life closer to nature working with their hands. While some people enjoy or don’t mind it, there are many of us who do not wish to be stuck in a city job being on incessant zoom meetings and cell phone calls. And while it sounds nice and convenient to have everything you need within 15 minutes of your home and to work from home, this is something similar to what indigenous people had for centuries in their villages, without the need for an overly technological so-called “Smart” city that requires the consumption of vast amounts of mineral and energy resources to keep it going. The materials that make a “15-minute” city possible do not take 15 minutes to get there, as it takes a lot of energy and time to mine the metals (e.g. lithium, copper, coltan, etc.), process them, manufacture them into an item that is then shipped by ship and/or truck to the store (a journey that may be thousands of miles long) that is actually within 15 minutes of a persons home.

Also, many of the “Smart” cities are places with the most sophisticated surveillance technologies and hence, had the most stringent pandemic restrictions from 2020 to 2022. These do not seem to be places that allow for much personal freedom or exercising your personal sovereignty. What happens when your small business is again determined to be “non-essential” during the next perceived crisis and response (e.g. climate lockdowns)? Many alternative thinkers even go as far as to say these cities will become more like open-air prisons than actual cities (this already happened to an extent in many cities during the pandemic).

What about going back to the grassroots focus on designing ecovillages or towns where people work together on their own terms without bowing down to a large governmental entity? A village or town where people can work with their hands farming, fixing/maintaining equipment, cooking, repairing shoes/clothes, weaving, etc. Also, what about a focus on repopulating small towns in rust belts across the world? These places have been decimated by WTO free-trade agreements, lack of investment, and propaganda that paints cities as “the places to be.”

Living in a small town, closer to nature, one can imagine that it would be easier there to become less reliant on the global economic control structure, to reestablish connections to natural ecosystems, and to live a slower-paced life. Now, it may seem that you have to drive more living out in the rural small town areas but that is only because many of these towns have been economically and socially devastated over the decades. By rebuilding the socioeconomic fabric of these small towns people would then be able to drive a lot less as the things they need would be made in the town and many of their friends and family would be there too.

Agenda 2030 co-opted Grassroots Environmental Movements

I was thinking back to the late 2000s and early 2010s when the Transition Towns, Permaculture, and De-growth movements were really taking shape and there was a fast growing public interest in these grassroots movements. We were going to solve most of our environmental, energy, and social problems on our own terms in our own towns. This local-living environmental zeitgeist has now been largely co-opted by the globalized governments that will now dictate what the “15-minute” cities will look like (these are also just culminations of trends that have been building up over the last few decades):

  • Large Amazon warehouses, Walmart stores, and Home Depots instead of mom & pop retail shops along main streets
  • 4-5 story expensive condo buildings that all look very similar (see photo below) instead of dense affordable eco-villages or towns each with their own unique architecture surrounded by small regenerative farms
  • Expensive schools and colleges that train students to become cogs in the techno-industrial complex instead of affordable education “pods” where students learn self-reliance skills, nature connection and have more fun
  • Total surveillance network consisting of large 4G cell towers and 5G small cells that can pinpoint any person’s location within a few meters 24/7
  • Digital passports, IDs, Carbon Credits, and/or Social Credit Scores dividing people into “Acceptable” and “Unacceptable” (dissidents to the established government, look what happened to the unvaccinated from 2021 to 2023)
  • Large incomes required, since the people are largely removed from nature and tight-knit communities they must rely on money and long work hours to meet their needs instead
New condo buildings in Attleboro, MA, image courtesy of Google Earth.

Conclusion

While some of the urban developments around transportation nodes (e.g. train stations, bus stops) make sense from a “weaning off fossil fuels” perspective, many people are not attracted to these expensive condos and apartments and desire a more nature-oriented life (further discussed in this post on voluntary simplicity). Also, many cities have recently been struggling to maintain their public transportation systems (e.g. the MBTA in Boston, MA), so it is difficult to see how these 15-minute Smart cities will really live up to the hype. Though, having lived in Boston (back when rent was moderately affordable) for several years with just a bicycle when I was younger, I can say it is an enticing lifestyle. However, now as I near mid-life I am taking steps to live a slower-paced life closer to nature.

Here is an example of a few people working on reconnecting with nature, simpler living and alternative education:

Jon Jandai’s Video Channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJRGqIuGVko). Jon is a self-reliant farmer from Thailand who lives in what he terms an “unintentional community.” One of his videos is titled “How to fight with dictators in a villager style,” which is quite pertinent to this post.

Dr. Edith Ubuntu Chan’s Website (https://www.dredithubuntu.com/). Dr. Chan is a pioneer in alternative health and education.

Earthing, Tree Voltage, and the Effects of Electrosmog

Earth Processes, Environmental Health, , ,

Scientist Dr. Michael Clarage’s recent post on voltage readings in nature inspired me to take my own voltage readings in a spot in the forest using a standard multi-meter. I got similar readings of -150 millivolts (mV) when I stuck the negative electrode (black, “the ground”) into the topsoil by the tree and the positive electrode (red) into the cambium layer of the nearby slightly damaged tree.

Interestingly, I also got similar readings of around -180 mV when I stuck the negative electrode (black, “the ground”) directly into the surface water of the wetlands and the positive electrode (red) into the slightly moist topsoil beside the tree roots (see picture below).

These measurements suggest to me that electrons (and negative electric charge) are flowing from the groundwater and surface waters of Earth up into the topsoil and then into all plants and animals touching the ground.

Engineer Arthur Ramthun measured voltage between different tree limbs and the ground and found that electrons were flowing up from the soil to the tips of most of the branches (see this video for more information on this topic). Considering the research done on the fourth phase of water, is exclusion-zone (EZ) water providing the excess electrons to the surface of the Earth (see Figure 1)? Are these excess electrons available for redox reactions in plants and animals?

The maximum voltage measurement that Gerald Pollack and colleagues got when measuring the voltage between EZ water and the neighboring bulk water in their experiments was about -200 mV (directly adjacent to a piece of Nafion).

Figure 1: Discussion of the redox characteristics of EZ water on the left, with scientists stating that EZ water is a major donor of electrons, and a slide from Arthur Ramthun’s presentation on the right, estimating the amount of electrons flowing to a tree branch tip.

The preceding discussion brings to mind the subject of earthing or grounding. Modern humans are almost always electrically insulated from the Earth by working inside of concrete buildings, wearing rubber and plastic shoes, and rarely walking barefoot on the Earth. If the excess electrons from the Earth are available for redox reactions in the body, and recent research suggests that they are, than this negative charge may be a missing master “nutrient” for our bodies. Also, it has been noted in the scientific literature that earthing reduces the negative health impacts of electrosmog on humans.

In addition, electrosmog (industrial EMF pollution) should be mentioned as the radiofrequency (RF) and microwave electromagnetic fields impinging on the branches and leaves of trees and shrubs is likely causing significant health effects in these organisms (as well as humans, of course), as evidenced in the series of pictures below. It makes intuitive sense that electromagnetic fields and induced electrical charges from industrial equipment would affect the natural flow of electrons in living things. The in-homogeneous damage on the trees suggests that the flows of electrons along certain branches are being affected by the RF and microwave radiation. For a much more detailed discussion on this tree damage topic, please take a look at this presentation by scientist Dr. Volker Schorpp and additional general information is located in my post on electrosmog from 2020.

Trees along the road and in the path of the main radiation beam show significant signs of damage and/or ill health including a thinned out canopy, dead limbs, and burnt edges of leaves. Red arrow denotes location of the RF/Microwave antennas on top of the chemical storage tanks. Image courtesy of Google Earth.
Trees in the immediate vicinity of a large cell tower exhibit sings of damage/ill health. The three trees in the central portion of the photo were removed in late 2020.
As these three trees peek above the building’s radiation shadow, they become damaged and cease to grow when in line-of-sight of the antennas on the large cell tower.
This church steeple is a cell tower, not surprisingly the trees in the foreground show signs of damage/ill health and were removed in late 2021. Image courtesy of Google Earth.
The tree in the center of the photo is located directly in front of a set of black RF/Microwave antennas and clearly show signs of dying. Note the trees in the background away from the antennas are doing relatively well despite the effects of drought, insects, and particulate pollution.
Trees located over 2,000 feet from the nearest cell tower show signs of being relatively healthy despite effects from drought, insects, and general particulate pollution.

Overpopulation or Roles Played?

Earth Processes, Philosophy,

I do not necessarily think that the Earth is overpopulated with humans and obsessing about the overpopulation of Earth may result in immoral justifications for reducing populations. Some thinkers even believe a deliberate population reduction has already been happening for years by nefarious design, but I will not go into that subject here.

My view is that humans are analogous to being some of the most complex “stem cells” of Gaia, as we can be whoever we want, consciously choose whatever actions we want to take out in the world and choose what we want to grow. We could choose to grow a permaculture garden or practice silvopasture on a plot of land increasing wildlife and insect habitats while providing food for our family. On the other hand, we could instead choose to pave over that plot, put up a cell tower, dig a quarry, and sell unnecessary merchandise to our neighbors to make a lot of money to buy more stuff we don’t really need. It is up to us. Most of the environmental degradation happening on the planet is caused either directly or indirectly by conspicuous consumption of resources as detailed by many authors (including in one of my previous posts). However, notice that in a conversation about population many people usually mutter “too many people” under their breath, never “too many machines” or “too many things,” for example. The programming runs deep. Though, choosing to have small families does seem to be a wise choice given the state of the planetary ecosystem right now and would allow for a gentle stabilizing of the world population.

Despite what we see going on environmentally around the world, it seems a bit ridiculous to automatically assume that humans are born inherently greedy and thus become selfish destroyers of nature. Another possibility is that in modern societies many humans are starved of meaningful relationships, nutritious food, and high quality air/water, in a similar vein to how cancer cells are previously healthy cells that are starved of oxygen and proper voltage. Thus these cells must resort to anaerobic respiration to maintain growth at the expense of the larger system (the body of the organism in this case). It seems that many of us humans resort to “anaerobic” activities in a feeble attempt to fill the inner void of our psyches and bodies. Cut off from real community, intimacy, authentic relationships, nutrient dense food, good quality air and high quality water (all examples of real wealth), people will fall into many different addictions in an attempt to make up for these losses. Buying a mansion, multiple cars, excessive electronic gadgets, overindulging on high fat, high sugar foods, taking various drugs, watching pornography, random hook-ups, these actions seem to all be desperate attempts to fill unmet needs with environmentally and/or psychologically damaging consumption, and I have even taken some of these actions myself trying to create an environmentally-conscious life here, they are not easy to avoid.

Top: USGS map depicting urban and suburban areas (purple and red coloring) spread over the interior northeast of the USA despite little population growth in this area over the past 50 years. Bottom: Aerial photos depicting an area north of Houston, TX in 1944 on the left and in 2021 on the right, an extreme example of suburban sprawl.

It does not necessarily have to be this way however, many people are finding ways to escape the socioeconomic matrix by building organic farms, homesteads, environmental non-profits and other things. The matrix is very difficult to escape from as I can personally attest, so I am making due at the moment by just trying to focus my attention on alternative environmental science subjects and volunteering. I agree with the notion that a universal basic income would allow more people to take more financial risk in building environmentally sustainable systems. Many of my own environmentally destructive decisions (such as agreeing to work on questionable ‘environmental’ projects in corporate America) have been made due to financial woes. Though, I would obviously like to see the UBI provided without government stipulations such as vaccine passports or carbon credits, for example. Good luck to anyone else wanting to make the journey on creating a more green world!

Small organic farm with sustainable forest management.

Further reading on this topic: https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/concern-about-overpopulation-is-a-red-herring-consumptions-the-problem/

A quote from Richard Reese’s book What is Sustainable also speaks to this topic:

“A while back, a friend spent time with the MicMac teacher, Albert Ward. She was furious and frustrated about how we civilized humans were destroying the planet. Albert told her that if she wanted to heal Mother Earth – which he really felt didn’t need our help – the first step was to heal herself. She needed to discover who she was, and then she needed to be herself.”

Weather, Climate and Electric Fields

Earth Processes, , ,

Even after centuries of in-depth scientific investigation of electricity and meteorology, weather is still commonly explained as a phenomenon solely dependent on temperature, pressure and concentrations of water vapor (i.e. relative humidity). Discussion of the effects that separated electric charges (electric fields) have on the atmosphere, on the formation of clouds, and on water droplets/vesicles, is not really a part of common knowledge when it comes to weather and climate issues, with the exception of lightning. However, recent scientific discoveries about water have made it increasingly clear that the parameters of temperature, pressure, relative humidity and the dew point are dependent on differences in electric charges and the levels of electromagnetic energy absorbed and reflected in the atmosphere.

In previous posts I’ve mentioned the fourth phase of water topic, and in this longer talk, Dr. Gerald Pollack discusses the potential role that exclusion zone or “EZ” water has on various weather phenomena. While it is known to conventional science that the atmosphere carries a net positive charge and that the surface of the Earth carries a net negative charge, most scientists cannot clearly explain why these things have these charges and what the implications of these charges are for weather and climatic processes. Dr. Gerald Pollack and other courageous scientists go a step further in an attempt to explain and integrate these varied phenomena.

Clouds – Still Much to Investigate

The implications of the fourth phase of water discovery for weather and climate processes are enormous and are possibly one of the reasons why the discovery isn’t widely discussed among the mainstream science community. To investigate these implications, consider the following questions about cloud formation that are not easily explained by the conventional atmospheric physics paradigm.

  • How do different cloud types (e.g. cumulus, cumulonimbus or cirrus, etc.) suspend themselves above the ground surface at vastly different heights throughout the troposphere when each of them contains thousands to hundreds of thousands of tons of water droplets that are denser than the surrounding air?
Fair weather cumulus clouds in the center of the photo with characteristic dark, flat bases.
  • Why are the bases of many cumulus or cumulonimbus clouds almost completely flat and most of the clouds are around the same height above the ground surface, despite strong updrafts and downdrafts of wind including the updrafts that are presumed in the conventional atmospheric physics model to keep the clouds afloat?
Cumulus clouds over the Hudson River Valley. Note the long, dark, flat bases of the cumulus clouds in the distance over the Hudson River.
Fair weather cumulus clouds during mid-day with their characteristic dark, flat bases in the distance.
  • Why do the different types of clouds (e.g. cumulus, cirrus, etc.) stay in a relatively thin layer with other clouds of their type at vastly different heights throughout the troposphere despite the strong updrafts and downdrafts of wind?
A thin layer of cumulus clouds relatively close to the ground over Massachusetts.
Thunderstorm build up to the west, note the layers of different clouds: the cumulus clouds near the surface, the dark, towering cumulonimbus clouds in the middle and the very high cirrus clouds near the top of the image.

If clouds have net negative charge and the earth’s surface has a net negative charge, then does the repulsion between these like charges explain the ability for clouds full of electrically connected water droplets to stay suspended thousands of feet above the surface? This may explain why the base of these clouds remain relatively flat as the water droplets would be strongly repelled from moving below a certain height despite strong updrafts and downdrafts that would presumably make the base of the cloud very irregular in shape (which is certainly seen in cumulus clouds at heights higher than the regular base height). It is accepted even in the conventional paradigm that the bases of clouds are net negative and the tops are net positive so these speculations are not totally at odds with conventional understanding.

Top figure, a slide from Dr. Gerald Pollack’s presentation and the bottom figure is a slide taken from a thunderbolts project presentation. The Earth’s surface has a net negative charge and the atmosphere has a net positive charge, leading to an electric field of about +100 volts per meter near the surface.

Weather Characteristics – What is Fundamental?

The parameters that describe atmospheric conditions including temperature, air pressure and the dew point may be affected by the changing charge densities in the atmosphere and the changes in the Earth’s electric field. Many atmospheric physics papers suggest that changes in temperature, pressure and water vapor affect the Earth’s electric field, but given the implications of the forth phase of water discovery, it may be more of the other way around. Consider how on a fair weather day, the common fair weather cumulus clouds do not form in earnest until late morning. This is exactly when the electric field strength (voltage) is ramping up, positive charges in the atmosphere increase, now available to connect water droplets in air together by the like-likes-like mechanism. As the sun sets, the electric field dies down and then these numerous cumulus clouds all dissipate (see graphs below, note how the rapid ramping up of the electric field occurs with the slower temperature rise in the morning). As more scientists are becoming aware that the water droplets/vesicles in the air have net electric charge instead of being more or less electrically neutral as they are assumed to be in the mechanical model of the current atmospheric physics paradigm, the direction of research will move towards investigating the electrical side of these meteorological enigmas.

The Earth’s electric field, temperature and relative humidity over the course of 24 hours in India, figure taken from Valeo, V., and P. V. Koparkar. “A Preliminary Study of Fair-Weather Atmospheric Electric Field at a High Altitude Station (Shillong) 25 N, 91 E.” International Journal of Applied Engineering Research 14.7 (2019): 1652-1657.

Climate Change – Misguided Focus on Greenhouse Gases

In this short talk by former electrical engineering professor Dr. Donald Scott, he explains how high level winds in the upper atmosphere above the Earth’s north and south poles are being affected by Birkeland currents (long currents emanating from the Sun carrying electric charges through space). This process is evidenced by satellite data collected over the years and currently displayed on the earth.nullschool.net website and of course by the magnificent auroral displays at both poles.

High level winds at a height of approximately 35 kilometers (depicted with the magenta color) over Antarctica on July 8, 2022, a few weeks after the summer solstice. Image courtesy of the earth.nullschool.net website.

Birkeland currents are carrying positive and negative charges both into and out of the Earth’s poles depending on the time of year, as explained in detail in the talk. These currents imply that large amounts of energy are entering and leaving the poles at certain times of the year. Anything that would interfere with these Birkeland currents, say manipulation of the ionosphere or magnetosphere either unintentionally or intentionally, for example, would then in turn affect the high level polar winds and then the jet streams below them, the very jet streams that steer large amounts of moisture to different areas of Earth.

Regarding the unintentional manipulation of the ionosphere, near the end of Dr. Robert Becker’s book, The Body Electric, he mentioned that in the early 1980s two weather satellites, Ariel 3 and 4, observed that an enormous amount of power line harmonic resonance (a form of electrosmog from the power grid) over North America had created a permanent duct from the magnetosphere down into the upper atmosphere, resulting in a continuous release of ions and energy over the whole continent. This additional energy was speculated to have caused an increase in severe weather (e.g. thunderstorms, tornadoes) over the Midwest of the USA over the course of the 20th century. In addition, I bring up the intentional manipulation of the ionosphere because it is plausible that the various militaries of the world are actually experimenting with technologies that do exactly this as evidenced by patent US5041834A titled, “Artificial ionospheric mirror composed of a plasma layer which can be tilted” and patent US4686605A titled “Method and apparatus for altering a region in the earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and/or magnetosphere.” Indeed, even a USA Air Force administrator for science admitted that the Air Force had “moved on to other ways of managing the ionosphere” after ending the High Frequency Auroral Research Project (HAARP) program in the early 2010s (see this government commission video at the 3:10 mark).

Considering the problems with the current atmospheric physics paradigm discussed above, it seems misguided for governments and the public in general to focus solely on cutting greenhouse gas emissions while ignoring the fourth phase of water discovery, electric charges, electrosmog and the possible intentional manipulation of the atmosphere by the military-industrial complex. I’ll finish my discussion here as many other websites speculate about potential or ongoing geoengineering programs. All in all, the focus of the climate issue should focus to restoring the severely disrupted water cycle and regenerating ecosystems as water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas and some misguided carbon emission cutting policies are leading to ecosystem destruction.

Approaching thunderstorm from the southwest at sunset.

NATO and Russia – Environmental War Crimes

Environmental Health, Philosophy, ,

The world is currently embroiled in a East-West conflict with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries currently accusing Russia of using or planning to use chemical weapons in their incursion into Ukraine. However, it seems to be lost on NATO countries that that they have historically used various internationally illegal chemical weapons in numerous conflicts across the entire world causing immense amounts of environmental harm. Russia and other countries in the East are also guilty of these crimes, but the Western media almost always portrays NATO countries as the “good” guys with almost no questioning of their military practices. The feature image of this post shown above depicts damage to an oil refinery in Serbia that was bombed by NATO forces during the Balkan wars of 1999.

Explicit Examples of Environmental Harm

In the Vietnam War, for example, the United States armed forces utilized Agent Orange and napalm over large swaths of Vietnamese jungles and agricultural land. It also dropped these harmful chemical agents directly over villages, villagers and even their own troops. Many Vietnam veterans have suffered debilitating health effects from exposures to Agent Orange residues and napalm fumes, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people who also died or suffered severe negative health effects. There is also the issue of geoengineering (aka weather warfare) conducted in Vietnam by the US air force through Project Popeye. This is discussed briefly here in this article on weather warfare, here’s a quote:

“During the Vietnam war, cloud-seeding techniques were used, starting in 1967 under Project Popeye, the objective of which was to prolong the monsoon season and block enemy supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.“

NATO countries also used depleted uranium rounds early on in the Iraq War (see this article for more of a discussion on the evidence) exposing both Iraqi civilians and NATO’s own troops to dangerous amounts of radioactive compounds. One of the industrial facilities that formerly manufactured depleted uranium materials for the US military is ironically located in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Boston: Concord, Massachusetts. The former Starmet facility is now a Superfund site with extensive environmental contamination of soil and groundwater. The environmental effects of war are hidden in plain sight, not only in the war-torn countries but also right here back at home in one of the wealthiest areas of the USA.

I will also briefly mention here that many Gulf War veterans have suffered chemical sensitivity symptoms collectively referred to as ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ or ‘Desert Storm Diseases.’ Initially the veterans’ symptoms were dismissed as psychological, but over the years researchers have uncovered multiple possible environmental causes including excessive diesel fumes, ground-level smoke from the horrific oil fires, exposure to sarin gas, and even the ingestion of the “nerve gas pill” pyridostigmine bromide. Though pyridostigmine bromide protects the body from the worst effects of sarin gas, it causes toxic side effects by affecting the body’s levels of the enzyme cholinesterase. See this article for a detailed discussion on Gulf War Syndrome.

There are also reports online that claim several countries have used white phosphorous as an incendiary compound in bombs, though it is difficult to find reputable evidence that this highly toxic substance has actually been utilized in conflicts. Honestly though, it wouldn’t be surprising given the track record of the world’s militaries over the past century.

War: A Pointless Use of Precious Resources

All in all, even ignoring the horrific environmental health effects of war and colossal loss of life, in a world of rapidly diminishing stores of precious natural resources, it seems the height of folly to engage in military conflicts that consume vast amounts of petroleum, precious minerals, and metals. These are highly valuable resources that could obviously be used instead to construct solar panels, remediation systems or ecological shelters. In addition, these military conflicts, by their very nature, destroy the most valuable natural resource of all: fertile agricultural land. Right now the war in Eastern Europe is causing massive disruptions to the global wheat and fertilizer markets and prices for basic foodstuffs are already skyrocketing in many countries.

The petroleum, precious minerals, metals and fertile agricultural land represent “real” wealth. These are not just numbers in a computer representing your bank account balance (i.e. a claim on real wealth), they are the actual physical things that benefit your life and community on a day to day basis. War destroys real wealth while increasing the fake wealth (the bank account balances) of the military industrial complex.

Whether you live in the East or the West or in the middle, tell your representatives to stop their warmongering propaganda and put our remaining real wealth towards creating a better future for our children and grandchildren.

The words of John Trudell in this song really ring true at this moment in time:

Last rush in Babylon

Voices catching up, voices catching up

Watch out child, watch out child

Babylon falling down falling down

Society a broken promise

Economies war citizen whores

Political pimps

Leaving us flat on our backs

Trading today

Waiting for the promised land

…

Arms Race

Jacks boots pounding earth

Military precision

Dissecting elements of life

Taking apart instead of healing

Generals and Gods

Fascists and oil wells

Man images and machines

Petrochemical societies

Trying to hide the sun

…

Babylon in terror

World run over by machines

The economics of captured dreams

The rich are the poorer

While the poor are waiting

Everyone pretending to live

Calling exploitation progress

Calling submission freedom

Calling madness profit

Calling earth a plan et

Plaguing her with civilization

The Fourth Phase of Water and Groundwater Pollution – A Case Study

Earth Processes, Environmental Health, ,

I was recently reading through Dr. Gerald Pollack’s book, The Fourth Phase of Water, and the section on exclusion zone water (named for excluding most solutes) forming around charged hydrophilic particles caught my attention. It reminded me of surprising observations I had made working at an environmental remediation site some years ago. At this site, shown in Figure 1, three or so feet of light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) oil was sitting on top of the water table in well MW104 in auto bay 1, but MW101 located just 15 feet down-gradient of this well had non-detect concentrations of dissolved petroleum compounds, which was surprising (see Table 1 for the data, and Figure 2 for a water table map). MW101 is also just 5 feet down gradient of a well, MW202 in auto bay 2, that contained half of a foot of LNAPL. Amazingly, the down-gradient groundwater was able to remain clean despite the LNAPL oil sitting on top of the water table just 5-15 feet away for several decades, as the release occurred from old hydraulic lifts in the 1970s or early 1980s.

At certain points in the site investigation, dissolved petroleum compounds in groundwater were detected in wells TW101, MW203, and MW205 within the auto bays of the building, so there must be something preventing the movement of this petroleum mass down gradient into the groundwater underneath the site parking area. Here is a link to the final report for this site for fellow environmental scientists who want to look at the details: final report.

Figure 1. Site Plan snapshot from a previous report.
Figure 2: Water table elevation contour map. During the high water seasons, the groundwater flow direction is almost directly east towards the site parking area.
Table 1. Dissolved petroleum compound concentrations in groundwater. Note, all downgradient wells in the site parking area have no detections of dissolved petroleum compounds. BRL = Below Reporting Limit.

Most petroleum-contaminated sites have a dissolved hydrocarbon phase plume stretching from the source and/or LNAPL area to dozens of feet to possibly even hundreds of feet down gradient, as shown Figure 3. The plume is especially long if the original release occurred many years ago, so why didn’t we see it at this site where the release occurred in the 1970s or early 1980s?

Figure 3. Simple diagram depicting a LNAPL release and contamination of an aquifer. The small “q” is groundwater discharge and the arrows represent groundwater flow direction. Figure from “Modelling LNAPL Plume Breakthrough and Saltwater Intrusion, for a coastal site in the South-western Nigeria.” Oct. 2010.

Obviously, the geologic materials comprising the aquifer at any given site will have a huge impact on the vertical and horizontal extent of the petroleum plume. At this particular site I am discussing, a layer of silty clay a foot or two thick right around or below the average water table depth may have facilitated the creation of exclusion zone water around the silt and clay particles, each of which carry a net negative charge (see Figure 4 and Figure 5). This silty clay layer in the sand and gravel aquifer would then keep out virtually all of the large petroleum molecules dissolved in the groundwater right below the LNAPL mass. Even though a silty clay layer may have a low hydraulic conductivity of around 10^-6 cm/sec (compared to 10^-2 to 10^-3 cm/sec for sands), after 40 or so years, groundwater with dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons should have had plenty of time to traverse a short distance of 0.5 to 1 meter through the thin silty clay layer and into the more transmissive sand and gravel layers, but at this site there are no dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons in downgradient wells in the site parking area. Most other releases happen at sites with only sand and gravel layers in the subsurface which result in long plumes of contaminants. This is possibly due to less exclusion zone water filling up the pore spaces between the sand and gravel particles, allowing for dissolved petroleum molecules to travel through the aquifer more easily and obviously due to the higher hydraulic conductivity of these materials.

Figure 4: Boring Log for MW-101, note the description of a layer of organic silt/clay at a depth of approximately 7-10 feet.
Figure 5: Diagram of exclusion zone water (darker blue color) around silt particles (around 16 microns across), this water carries a net negative charge, while the bulk water beyond carries a net positive charge. Notice that a large petroleum hydrocarbon molecule will have almost no chance of being transported across this area as it will not pass through the exclusion zone water even though water can still flow, albeit very slowly.

The implications of the fourth phase of water discoveries may lead to new ways of remediating groundwater. New hydrophilic materials could be used for reactive barrier walls across a section of an aquifer to prevent contaminants from moving downgradient of the release area. In a future post I will build off this discussion and cover other alternative soil and groundwater remediation methods including enhanced bioremediation, mycoremediation and microbial remediation.

Reclaiming Gaia from the Technosphere

Earth Processes, Environmental Health, Philosophy, , ,

In virtually every sphere of life including the physical, biological, and social, technological devices are displacing and replacing natural systems and the innate abilities of human beings. Why is that? Why don’t we focus on restoring our natural environmental systems and developing our innate physical, mental and social abilities to their fullest potential? For centuries humans have been embarking on a process of mechanization and utilization of increasing amounts of technology, culminating here in the early 21st century with the rollout of a worldwide 5G wireless network over the landscape and the launching of a literal “skynet” of satellites into low-earth orbit. Yet, mental illness is at an all-time high, pollution of our air, water, and food is still widespread, and the entire enterprise is obviously unsustainable on any number of environmental, ecological, and even psycho-spiritual fronts.

Many technologies have their uses and their places, as obviously this blog would not exist without the internet, but the extreme focus on mechanizing, controlling and manipulating every life and planetary process with complex technology leaves something else to be desired for many. A new renaissance is sorely needed at this time, right? The following is a short list of examples of where technology has usurped natural processes and following that is a list of ecological alternatives to those technologies.

Immune Systems and Pharmaceuticals

Regarding our overall health, our natural immune systems are being disrupted and degraded by different types of environmental pollution, as I have discussed at length in previous posts on environmental health. Consequently, our innate immune system capabilities are systematically being replaced with an ever increasing number of vaccines and other kinds of pharmaceuticals, many of which have significant side effects, including the over-stimulation of our immune systems and their contribution to the development of autoimmune disorders. In addition, think of the immensely complicated industrial supply chain that has to exist in order to mass produce a vaccine or other pharmaceutical that is delivered from a research lab all the way to being directly injected into your body. The different biochemical laboratory facilities, the large factories for constructing glass vials or plastic containers, all of the delivery trucks along the supply chain, the refrigeration systems and many more technological systems just to keep the vaccine/pharmaceutical supply chain going. This entire supply chain requires the consumption of vast amounts of natural resources and human labor in order to perform a natural function (immunity to pathogens) that our bodies could easily do well if we actually took good care of them (our “terrain”) and the environments we live in.

Human Breast Milk and Cow Milk/Formulated Milk

In the 20th century, some scientists and doctors decided that breast milk from a human mother could be replaced with cow’s milk or other formulated milks to improve a baby’s nutrition. The problem is that milk from the mother has just the precise balance of nutrients for satisfying the needs of a human baby. As Edward Goldsmith notes in The Way: An Ecological World View, human milk has a higher calcium to phosphorous ratio than other milks which is important for the growth of a baby’s musculoskeletal system. In addition, the level of sodium in cows milk is too high, leading to potential blood pressure issues in babies and toddlers. The level of copper in cows milk is also too low, leading to iron/hemoglobin transport issues and the development of anemia, which was common in North American infants a few decades ago.

Physical Tolerance Limits and Heating/Air Conditioning

After heating fuels and air conditioning became economical in the beginning of the 20th century many people have let their physical tolerance limits atrophy. They do not feel comfortable with temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit inside of buildings in the winter, and temperatures above 72 degrees Fahrenheit inside of buildings in the summer. This is an extremely narrow range of comfortable temperatures and the consumption of vast amounts of fuels and electricity is required to maintain this narrow range inside of the built environment.

Innate Cognitive Capacity and IT Devices

Regarding memory and cognitive capacity, our innate memory skills are being degraded by increased reliance on information technology devices like GPS for navigating, for example. A study was done around a decade ago showing that old-school taxi drivers who had memorized the streets of London had a larger hippocampus compared to citizens who used GPS devices to get to their destinations. The citizens’ ability to create a mental map of London had atrophied, and a part of their brain literally became smaller after increased reliance on the new technology. Regarding cognitive capacity, calculators replace our ability to do simple arithmetic in our heads, emails cause our ability to compose hand-written letters with legible handwriting to atrophy… the list goes on, it is the the literal outsourcing of our cognition and memory to the technosphere.

Natural Waste Recycling Processes and Sewage/Wastewater Treatment Plants

Historically, human waste was delivered by wagon and wheelbarrow back to the agricultural fields surrounding the village for use as humanure commonly referred to as “night soil.” In modern societies, gigantic wastewater treatment facilities are built next to natural water bodies and dump large amounts of treated wastewater, which then still heavily pollutes natural water bodies with excess nutrients, trace pharmaceutical residues that are not filtered out by the treatment process, and some heavy metals. Other areas use cesspools and septic tanks, which when they fail, cause drinking water aquifers to be contaminated with excess nitrogen and traces of pharmaceuticals.

Traditional Social Networks and Social Media/Dating Websites

The vast majority of people desire to be accepted as part of a group and to find a loving partner, and historically this goal was accomplished by living in a small band of people with whom you were intimately familiar with. In modern anonymous mass societies people are now strewn across the country in urban sprawl conurbations with weak social connections to the people around them due to people continuously moving away for jobs and other reasons. The social connections, that often had a large physical component (e.g. handshakes, hugs, sex, etc.), between people in historic social networks have now been largely digitized by social media websites, dating websites, and email. For example, a few extroverted people in historic social networks used to be great matchmakers, introducing potential mates to each other and helping to form couples. This formerly organic process has now been largely relegated to social media, dating websites, and professional matchmaking services with mixed results, not to mention the large amount of resources including the electricity it takes to run the servers that host these websites.

A comparison of a formerly heavily forested area north of Houston, TX in 1944 on the left and the same area in 2021 on the right, an extreme example of urban sprawl.

The Eco-logic Renaissance

With the increasing creep of the technosphere into every aspect of life over the past decades and especially over the past two years, it is uplifting to see a growing interest among the public in ecological living topics including composting, organic gardening, composting toilets and humanure, small-scale renewable energy systems, simple water filtration, holistic health modalities, and other appropriate or “nature-like” technologies.

Natural Healing Modalities as Immune System Enhancers

Instead of relying solely on vaccines and other pharmaceutical agents for solving every health problem or curing an infection, many people are turning to alternative healing modalities for solutions to their health problems that have not been adequately addressed by mainstream medicine. The following table is a brief list of simple holistic health tips to improve immune system function naturally, as an example. Tomes of more information on alternative health can be found online or in an alternative book store.

  • Drink pure, unpolluted water
  • Improve sleeping conditions
  • Improve nutrient intake including Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, etc.
  • Decrease exposure to chemical pollutants and electrosmog (non-native EMFs)
  • Increase time in nature including grounding with the Earth
  • Natural breastfeeding for babies
  • Herbal remedies

Wetlands as Natural Wastewater Treatment Systems

A growing number of communities around the world are turning to restoring wetlands in order to process large amounts of wastewater. Healthy wetlands contain large amounts of peat with brown lignin compounds that can absorb large amounts of organic wastes and sequester heavy metals, thereby filtering the water as it flows downstream to other water bodies. At the scale of a home or small business, many are turning to composting toilet technologies or greener septic systems to reduce the amount of wastewater that is generated and discharged to the environment.

Developing Natural Human Abilities Instead of Overreliance on Technologies

When the power goes out, the GPS signal is lost, the water stops running, and the delivery trucks run out of fuel, people in modern societies are often left helpless as we have lost ancient skills that our ancestors used to survive in natural environments. We can learn or relearn old skills and even marry new ways of thinking to old skills and technologies (e.g. developing new passive solar water heater designs). We can develop mental maps of the towns and cities we live in instead of relying on GPS all of the time. We can practice hormesis (improve our physical tolerance limits) and maintain a comfortable body temperature throughout the year without resorting to excessive use of heating fuels in the winter or air conditioning in the summer. This seems to be a wiser choice than choosing to rely on the fossil-fueled technosphere that is showing increasing signs of incoherence, disruption and outright collapse (especially obvious in the last two years). Explore Arthur Haines’s website on rewilding and relearning ancient survival techniques for more information on this.

Ecovillages as Cohesive Social Networks

Many people are fed up with the social and mental illness that results from living in anonymous mass societies, and ecovillages are one antidote to the increasing social alienation and mental illness observed in modern societies. Ecovillages and ecocentric communities can allow people to form more permanent connections with those around them and possibly lighten the load of anxiety and stress so prevalent in modern mass societies. Regarding love, Tamara ecovillage in Portugal, for example, has a radical take on love and sexual relationships and creates a space for people to freely explore alternative ways to express their romantic desires and form partnerships that are difficult to implement in anonymous and alienating mass societies.

Conclusion

All in all, the wholesale replacement of the basic functions of the biosphere (Gaia) has been going on for centuries, but we still have time to change course if we want to. It is becoming increasingly apparent to a growing number of people that attempting to solve the problems created by technology with ever more complex technologies is maybe not the best way to go about the issue.

Instead of relying on and looking to “tech-no-logic” solutions for all of our problems, maybe a shift to focusing on “eco-logic” techniques and solutions would help? Why develop a Rube-Goldberg type of device to suck carbon out of the atmosphere but breaks down every few months, for example, when you can simply plant and maintain an edible forest garden, instead?

Currently, it appears that the entire physiology of Gaia is being systematically disrupted, degraded and replaced by a technologic mechanical system for whatever host of reasons (there are different theories floating around). However, whatever the reason is, a growing minority of people are fed up with this enterprise of attempting to conquer and control nature and are seeking ways to work with and make peace with her instead.

Further Reading:

The Ascent of Humanity  Charles Eisenstein  (free to read on his website)

The Way:  An Ecological World-View  Edward Goldsmith (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1098214.The_Way)

My Name is Chellis and I’m in Recovery from Western Civilization Chellis Glendinning (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560830.My_Name_is_Chellis_and_I_m_in_Recovery_from_Western_Civilization)

Green Wizardry John Michael Greer (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17347699-green-wizardry)

When Technology Fails: A Manuel for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency Matthew Stein  (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2332274.When_Technology_Fails)

Shrinking the Technosphere Dmitry Orlov (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29633720-shrinking-the-technosphere)

Do you think you can take the world and improve it?

I do not think it can be done.

The world is sacred.

You cannot improve it.

If you try to change it, you will ruin it.

If you try to help it, you will lose it.

Lao Tzu