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Oh, hey! Have you ever played these funky little logic puzzle things?

Oh, hey! Do you ever play these funky little logic puzzle things?

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You might discover them when bored silly at the airport.

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Nothing misteryous; they give you a sett of system rules

Nothing mysterious; they give you a set of system rules

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which discipline you towards achieving a certain goal.

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Yes, perhaps not the most exciting thing in entertainment today.

Perhaps not the most exciting thing in entertainment today,

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I don't know. Maybe there is something more to this whole logic and reason deal

I don't know. Maybe there's something more

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to this whole logic and reason deal

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than just killing time while in transit?

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Of course we all naturally assume that we are being well reasoned

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in our decision making, right? In fact, it can be argued that

Of course, we all naturally assume that we're being well reasoned

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to some degree, such associative causal logic is inherently inescapable,

in our decision making, right? In fact, it can be argued

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effectively wired into our brains

that to some degree such associative causal logic

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with respect to how we interpret and link our expreriences.

is inherently inescapable, effectively wired into our brains

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Yet, it is that very issue of degree that appears to be where the problems arise.

with respect to how we interpret and link our experiences.

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As all too often, the foundational premisses upon which we frame our conclusions

Yet, it's that very issue of degree

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are indeed utterly faulty.

that appears to be where the problems arise,

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Or without proper evidence to be considered factual, to begin with.

as all too often the foundational premisses

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Needless to say, being logic within a cognitive framework of the ilogical

upon which we frame our conclusions are indeed utterly faulty,

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only takes you so far

or without proper evidence, to be considered factual to begin with.

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Needless to say,

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being logical within a cognitive framework of the illogical

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only takes you so far.

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And today, if you dig deep into the origins

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and basis of perpetuation of our most cherished institutions

and bases of perpetuation of our most cherished institutions,

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from religion to politics to economics, to the social order itself,

from religion to politics, to economics, to the social order itself,

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you might discover something called "faith"

you might discover something called faith

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rather than reason.

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And faith, by definition, is not a premise of logic.

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Faith is belief without evidence

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and hence contradictory to the entire process of understanding itself.

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In 1961, the engineer R. Buckminster Fuller

In 1961, engineer R. Buckminster Fuller

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created a global simulation called "The World Game".

created a global simulation called 'The World Game'.

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The idea was to "make the world work for 100 % of humanity,

The idea was to "Make the world work for 100% of humanity

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in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation,

in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation,

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without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone."

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It's a pretty simple and rational thought exercise,

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a logic puzzle, if you will, on the most grand scale,

a logic puzzle if you will, on the most grand scale

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which, even in basic gesture,

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actually stands and start contrast with the organizational frame of reference

actually stands in stark contrast with the organizational frame of reference

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that our established society currently operates within.

our established society currently operates within.

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In truth, all that this train of thought suggests

In truth, all this train of thought suggests

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Is to take a broad design perspective to the Earth and human society.

is to take a broad design perspective to the Earth and human society,

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using what we now know regarding scientific causality.

using what we now know regarding scientific causality,

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As opposed to the willing and dealing inherently elitist market anarchy

as opposed to the wheeling and dealing inherently elitist market anarchy

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which moves the world by, arguably, a rigid superstitious faith

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that the invisible hand of the market knows all and sees all.

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I ask you: what if we dare to view the Earth as a single puzzle board?

I ask you: what if we dare to view the Earth as a single puzzle board;

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A problem to be solved with our logic based around the Earth's natural rules set,

a problem to be solved

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with our logic based around the Earth's natural rules set,

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the known laws of physical science.

the known laws of physical science?

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What if our goal was to maximize our economic efficiency,

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to design out poverty, to design out national war,

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to work structurally to create a clean energy abundance,

to work structurally to create a clean energy abundance

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and hence facilitate a material success for the whole of humanity,

and hence to work to facilitate a material success

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in harmony with nature itself?

for the whole of humanity, in harmony with nature itself?

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What? What's that? Utopian, you say?

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To idealistic? Communist? Well,

Too idealistic? Communist?

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I don't know about you, but when I stumble around this planet we call home,

Well, I don't know about you,

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but when I stumble around this planet we call home,

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a system condition that demands one thing

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to ensure the prosperity of the human family adaptation

to ensure the prosperity of the human family adaptation,

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I am at once impressed at our tremendous accomplishments as a species,

I am at once impressed at our tremendous accomplishments as a species

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and at once horrified at the ignorant failures,

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mostly resulting from a refusal to see the Earth as one system design

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and humanity as one family bound within.

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As this season finale of 'Culture in Decline' will argue,

As this season finale of Culture in Decline will argue,

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humanity is being faced with a choice,

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a fork in the road. It is my personal conviction

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that the broad social decisions made by this generation,

that the broad social decisions made, this generation

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might very well be what makes or breaks our species in the long run.

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And perhaps, by the end of this episode, you, like me,

And perhaps by the end of this episode you, like me,

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will feel the need to think about which path we should choose.

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A culture in ascent or a culture in decline?

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From the creator of the Zeigeist film trilogy

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comes the worst reality show of all time

comes the worst reality show of all time;

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the real one

the real one.

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GMP Films presents

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Culture in Decline

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with your guide Peter Joseph

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www.cultureindecline.com

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[Electronic sounds]

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Science fiction writers, scientists and the so called futurists of the world

Science fiction writers, scientists and so-called futurists of the world

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have painted many pictures of what the future may hold.

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some are modest, positive or even utopian

Some are modest, positive or even utopian.

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some are just topian, dark and oppressive. As far as the probable truth,

Some are dystopian, dark and oppressive. As far as the probable truth,

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the best we can do is measure the trends and average out the projections.

the best we can do is measure the trends and average out the projections,

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With, perhaps of course, the most relevant trend

with perhaps of course the most relevant trend

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being the influence of science and technology.

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Of course technological progress has its cultural lag, right?

Of course technological progress has its culture lag, right?

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However, today, doesn't it seem like the gap between our scientific advancement

However, today doesn't it seem like the gap

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and our actual understanding and consideration of that advancement

between our scientific advancement and our actual understanding

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is growing wider and wider?

and consideration of that advancement is growing wider and wider?

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Doesn't it seem a bit obvious that

Doesn't it seem a little bit obvious that

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technological capacity is exceeding social maturity?

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It's actually a frightening point, in truth,

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as it is a cultural value issue.

as it's a cultural value issue.

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Science and technology, put into the hands of forward thinking developers,

Science and technology, put into the hands of forward-thinking developers,

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could perhaps recognize the profound capacity to create an abundance

could perhaps recognize the profound capacity to create an abundance,

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stabilize our ecological influence,

stabilize our ecological influence

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and become sustainable both environmentally and culturally,

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tend to view the world very differently

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than the more common market, nationalist, elitist mindset

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which sees society through the filter of narrow self interest and competition

which sees society through the filter

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of narrow self-interest and competition,

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constantly reinforcing that gain at the expense of others

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is a law of nature and hence a virtue to be praised and rewarded.

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In this context we might see how those same tools

In this context, we might see how those same tools

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will be used to make bigger weapons, more surveillance technology

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and ever stronger physical and psychological prisons

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for the vast majority of humanity;

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to remain in servitude to a small group of people

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and essentially the ownership class.

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So, with that in mind, I present to you a thought exercise.

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Using my fresh new time-machine here,

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I'm going to be your guide on a trip to two possible futures.

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First we will visit a world that just may be at the current social,

First we'll visit a world that just may be, as the current social,

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ecological and technical patterns persist as they are.

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Then, we will visit a possible future that very well could be

Then, we'll visit a possible future that very well could be,

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if we as a species were willing to simply employ our vast potential

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to forge a new, highly efficient societal design with new practices.

to forge a new, highly efficient societal design with new practices;

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A design which is not utopian or idealistic

a design which is not utopian or idealistic

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but rather quite simple, practical and doable.

but rather quite simple, practical and doable,

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if we simply make the decision to change in accord

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with the logic of our natural existence

with the logic of our natural existence.

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That's Culture in Decline's "Tale of Two Worlds"

It's Culture in Decline's 'Tale of Two Worlds'.

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New York City, 2110

New York City, 2110.

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It's been a while since the fall of the US empire

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and by extension, the general decline of much of the world.

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The massive influence of the US economic policy

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along with the corresponding materialistic, inefficient and wasteful values,

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born out of the consumption-based growth economy

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began to reach its physical limits in the mid 21st century.

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Until that point, the race towards global industrialization continued undebated.

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with the world still pinning for the so called american dream

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not computing that if the entire world acted with the same waste patterns

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as the US, we would have needed four more Earths with the resources,

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just to keep it all going.

The massive influence of US economic policy,

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What happened? Well, there were three nails in the coffin of societal collapse.

along with the corresponding materialistic, inefficient

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The synergy of these issues compounded each other to a vicious storm,

and wasteful values born out of the consumption-based growth economy,

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and by the time earth hit a population of 8 billion,

began to reach its physical limits in the mid-21st Century.

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right before the Third World War, global uneployment reach(ed) levels of 65%

Until that point, the race towards global industrialization

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every government was bankrupt to each other,

continued unabated, with the world still pining

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and the core hydrocarbon energy sources showed destabilizing scarcity.

for the so-called American dream,

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And while Chine did win the war, what resolution was achived didn't last long.

not computing that if the entire world acted with the same waste patterns

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The cancer and health epidemics alone in Asia and beyond

as the US, we would have needed four more Earths worth of resources

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rose to catastrophic proportions

just to keep it all going. What happened?

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with a third of the planet still uninhabitable today due to industrial pollution.

Well, there were three nails in the coffin of societal collapse.

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Today the global population has fallen by 40%, due to scarcity and disease.

The synergy of these issues compounded each other into a vicious storm,

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As far as the energy crisis,

and by the time Earth hit a population of eight billion,

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the early 21st century made tremendous progress in understanding renewable,

right before the Third World War,

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sustainable energy systems.

global unemployment reached levels of 65%,

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We were learning on paper how to stop our use of inherently scarce

every government on earth was bankrupt to each other,

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polluting energy stores on the earth,

and the core hydrocarbon energy sources saw destabilizing scarcity.

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realizing almost the unlimited abundance of our regenerative universe

And while China did win the war,

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and energy income that can provide for anyone many times over,

what resolution was achieved didn't last long.

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if we only moved fast enough to create the proper infrastructure.

The cancer and health epidemics alone in Asia and beyond

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Unfortunately, such a transition attempt was met

rose to catastrophic proportions,

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with great resistance by financial interests.

with a third of the planet still uninhabitable today due to industrial pollution.

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You see, there is this thing called free market which was far from free in true.

Today the global population has fallen by 40%, due to scarcity and disease.

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It was a war in elitist protection system,

As far as the energy crisis,

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and the bigger and more profitable an industry became,

the early 21st Century made tremendous progress

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the less financial incentive existed to alter it.

in understanding renewable, sustainable energy systems.

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Money was the goal of this game, not sustainability or efficiency.

We were learning on paper how to stop our use of inherently scarce,

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And the fact was, we needed to move fast,

polluting energy stores in the earth,

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utilizing the remaining hydrocarbon resources

realizing the almost unlimited abundance of our regenerative universe

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to create new sustainable energy infrastructure.

and energy income that could provide for everyone many times over,

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It was a race against global population increases and hence needs.

if we only moved fast enough to create the proper infrastructure.

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And sadly we failed, passing the point of no return

Unfortunately, such a transition attempt

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as once the true scarcity of our hydrocarbon resources became understood,

was met with great resistance by financial interests.

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social destabilization and panic rapidly commenced,

You see, there was this thing called the free market

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social destabilization and panic rapidly commenced, to further barricade.

which was far from free, in truth.

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And what little progress did take place

It was a war and elitist protection system,

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was rapidly destroyed thereafter by water and energy wars.

and the bigger and more profitable an industry became,

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At the same time the world faced the largest uneployment rates in history.

the less financial incentive existed to alter it.

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LOng considered an ??? myth,

Money was the goal of this game, not sustainability or efficiency.

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the exponential increase in machine automation in the 21st century

And the fact was, we needed to move fast,

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created a powerful acceleration of industrial productivity at ever cheaper rates

utilizing the remaining hydrocarbon resources

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displacing workers more rapidly than technology could actually create new jobs.

to create new sustainable energy infrastructure.

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Forward thinkers saw a great shift in the architecture of society.

It was a race against global population increases and hence needs.

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00:10:35,470 --> 00:10:39,320

Perhaps the ancient idea of earning a living could be replaced with living a life.

And sadly we failed, passing the point of no return

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00:10:39,460 --> 00:10:43,930

We could see the new capacity to create abundance

as once the true scarcity of our hydrocarbon resources became understood,

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00:10:44,210 --> 00:10:49,420

to meet the needs of every human being on earth, 8 Billion and beyond.

social destabilization and panic rapidly commenced to further barricade.

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00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,900

But sadly, this propsect met the same fate as our energy ambitions.

What little progress did take place

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00:10:51,950 --> 00:10:56,240

The corporations, locked into a manner of thought which viewed mechanization

was rapidly destroyed thereafter by the water and energy wars.

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00:10:57,620 --> 00:11:01,650

but rather a means to save ever more money in the process of production

At the same time, the world faced the largest unemployment rates in history.

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00:11:02,020 --> 00:11:04,050

set up a violent clash.

Long considered a Luddite myth,

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00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,680

Not only a class between workers and owners,

the exponential increase in machine automation in the 21st Century

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but ironically a class of system functions.

created a powerful acceleration of industrial productivity

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00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,840

For capitalism was faced with it's most grand contradiction.

at ever cheaper rates, displacing workers more rapidly

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where suddenly labor could exist with increasingly less human involvement

than technology could actually create new jobs.

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00:11:20,050 --> 00:11:23,550

and hence the constant pursuit of cost efficiency for profit

Forward thinkers saw a great shift in the architecture of society.

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00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,510

inevitably meant that less money would be put into circulation through wages,

Perhaps the ancient idea of earning a living

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00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,590

and so the system run itself down to an ever weakening slum.

could be replaced with living a life.

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00:11:28,650 --> 00:11:31,510

Noticing this, the cry of some was to stop mechanization,

We could see the new capacity to create an abundance

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00:11:31,580 --> 00:11:35,420

knowing the economy literally needed jobs by design.

to meet the needs of every human being on Earth eight billion and beyond.

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00:11:36,110 --> 00:11:39,840

Others performed activism to try and convince the world that it was time to adapt,

But sadly, this prospect met the same fate as our energy ambitions.

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00:11:40,330 --> 00:11:42,880

to simply give what the humanity needed, to bypass the market.

The corporations, locked into a manner of thought

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00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,420

Why should we invent more jobs to waste human life,

which viewed mechanization as not a means for abundance,

190

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00:11:46,650 --> 00:11:50,690

just to keep this system going.

but rather a means to save even more money in the process of reduction

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00:11:50,940 --> 00:11:55,390

Yet, of course they were bashed in the media,

set up a violent clash; not only a clash between workers and owners,

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00:11:55,770 --> 00:11:59,400

dismissed as socialist upstarts and freedom hating communists

but ironically, a clash of system functions.

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00:11:59,500 --> 00:12:02,990

trying to corrupt the supposedly liberty of what was nothing more than a religion

Capitalism was faced with its most grand contradiction,

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00:12:03,300 --> 00:12:07,560

the all-seeing market.

where suddenly labor could exist with increasingly less human involvement.

195

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00:12:07,700 --> 00:12:10,900

And by the time corporate controlled governments

And hence the constant pursuit of cost efficiency for profit

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00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,620

couldn't look the other way any longer

inevitably meant that less money would be put into circulation

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00:12:14,820 --> 00:12:17,970

the momentum of anger and dismay was too much.

through wages. And so the system ran itself down

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00:12:18,110 --> 00:12:19,970

The unions were on strike and a cry for revolution exploded.

into an ever-weakening slump.

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00:12:20,190 --> 00:12:23,970

The ??? blame technology for the problems.

Noticing this, the cry of some was to stop mechanization,

200

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00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,970

The business blame government interference

knowing the economy literally needed jobs-by-design.

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00:12:28,220 --> 00:12:30,960

The counter-culture blamed idealized conspiracies

Others performed activism to try and convince the world

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00:12:31,130 --> 00:12:35,070

with few realizing that it was a system failure

that it was time to adapt; to simply give humanity what it needed;

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00:12:35,380 --> 00:12:37,050

a natural evolution of our culture, which demanded respect and adaptation.

to bypass the market.

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00:12:37,250 --> 00:12:40,320

And the third and perhaps the most absurd of all social plagues

Why should we invent more jobs to waste human life,

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00:12:40,700 --> 00:12:42,650

was the illusion of financial debt.

just to keep this system going.

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00:12:43,510 --> 00:12:46,150

It's an interesting historical note,

Yet, of course they were bashed in the media,

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00:12:46,450 --> 00:12:50,340

was never really accepted as a legitimate consequence,

dismissed as socialist upstarts and freedom-hating communists

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00:12:50,530 --> 00:12:52,590

when was in fact a ruling ethos inherent in the competivive scarcity-driven nature of the system.

trying to corrupt the supposed liberty

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00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:57,380

that for some reason the mafia style organized crime mode of the market,

of what was nothing more than a religion, the all-seeing market.

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And by the time the corporate-controlled governments

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couldn't look the other way any longer,

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the momentum of anger and dismay was too much.

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The unions went on strike and the cry for revolution exploded.

214

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The Ludites blamed technology for the problems,

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the businesses blamed government interference,

216

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the counter-culture blamed idealized conspiracies,

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with few realizing that it was a system failure,

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a natural evolution of our culture which demanded respect and adaptation.

219

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And the third and perhaps most absurd of all social plagues

220

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was the illusion of financial debt.

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It's an interesting historical note that, for some reason,

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the mafia-style organized-crime mode of the market

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Original text

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Oh, hey! Have you ever played these funky little logic puzzle things?

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You might discover them when bored silly at the airport.

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Nothing misteryous; they give you a sett of system rules

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which discipline you towards achieving a certain goal.

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Yes, perhaps not the most exciting thing in entertainment today.

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I don't know. Maybe there is something more to this whole logic and reason deal

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than just killing time while in transit?

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Of course we all naturally assume that we are being well reasoned

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in our decision making, right? In fact, it can be argued that

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to some degree, such associative causal logic is inherently inescapable,

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effectively wired into our brains

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with respect to how we interpret and link our expreriences.

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Yet, it is that very issue of degree that appears to be where the problems arise.

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As all too often, the foundational premisses upon which we frame our conclusions

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are indeed utterly faulty.

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Or without proper evidence to be considered factual, to begin with.

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Needless to say, being logic within a cognitive framework of the ilogical

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only takes you so far

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And today, if you dig deep into the origins

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and basis of perpetuation of our most cherished institutions

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from religion to politics to economics, to the social order itself,

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you might discover something called "faith"

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rather than reason.

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And faith, by definition, is not a premise of logic.

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Faith is belief without evidence

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and hence contradictory to the entire process of understanding itself.

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In 1961, the engineer R. Buckminster Fuller

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created a global simulation called "The World Game".

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The idea was to "make the world work for 100 % of humanity,

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in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation,

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without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone."

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It's a pretty simple and rational thought exercise,

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a logic puzzle, if you will, on the most grand scale,

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which, even in basic gesture,

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actually stands and start contrast with the organizational frame of reference

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that our established society currently operates within.

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In truth, all that this train of thought suggests

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Is to take a broad design perspective to the Earth and human society.

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using what we now know regarding scientific causality.

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As opposed to the willing and dealing inherently elitist market anarchy

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which moves the world by, arguably, a rigid superstitious faith

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that the invisible hand of the market knows all and sees all.

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I ask you: what if we dare to view the Earth as a single puzzle board?

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A problem to be solved with our logic based around the Earth's natural rules set,

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the known laws of physical science.

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What if our goal was to maximize our economic efficiency,

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to design out poverty, to design out national war,

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to work structurally to create a clean energy abundance,

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and hence facilitate a material success for the whole of humanity,

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in harmony with nature itself?

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What? What's that? Utopian, you say?

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To idealistic? Communist? Well,

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I don't know about you, but when I stumble around this planet we call home,

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a system condition that demands one thing

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to ensure the prosperity of the human family adaptation

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I am at once impressed at our tremendous accomplishments as a species,

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and at once horrified at the ignorant failures,

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mostly resulting from a refusal to see the Earth as one system design

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and humanity as one family bound within.

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As this season finale of 'Culture in Decline' will argue,

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humanity is being faced with a choice,

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a fork in the road. It is my personal conviction

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that the broad social decisions made by this generation,

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might very well be what makes or breaks our species in the long run.

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And perhaps, by the end of this episode, you, like me,

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will feel the need to think about which path we should choose.

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A culture in ascent or a culture in decline?

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From the creator of the Zeigeist film trilogy

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comes the worst reality show of all time

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the real one

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GMP Films presents

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Culture in Decline

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with your guide Peter Joseph

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Science fiction writers, scientists and the so called futurists of the world

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have painted many pictures of what the future may hold.

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some are modest, positive or even utopian

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some are just topian, dark and oppressive. As far as the probable truth,

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the best we can do is measure the trends and average out the projections.

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With, perhaps of course, the most relevant trend

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being the influence of science and technology.

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Of course technological progress has its cultural lag, right?

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However, today, doesn't it seem like the gap between our scientific advancement

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and our actual understanding and consideration of that advancement

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is growing wider and wider?

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Doesn't it seem a bit obvious that

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technological capacity is exceeding social maturity?

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It's actually a frightening point, in truth,

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as it is a cultural value issue.

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Science and technology, put into the hands of forward thinking developers,

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could perhaps recognize the profound capacity to create an abundance

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stabilize our ecological influence,

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and become sustainable both environmentally and culturally,

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tend to view the world very differently

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than the more common market, nationalist, elitist mindset

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which sees society through the filter of narrow self interest and competition

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constantly reinforcing that gain at the expense of others

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is a law of nature and hence a virtue to be praised and rewarded.

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In this context we might see how those same tools

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will be used to make bigger weapons, more surveillance technology

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and ever stronger physical and psychological prisons

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for the vast majority of humanity;

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to remain in servitude to a small group of people

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and essentially the ownership class.

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So, with that in mind, I present to you a thought exercise.

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Using my fresh new time-machine here,

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I'm going to be your guide on a trip to two possible futures.

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First we will visit a world that just may be at the current social,

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ecological and technical patterns persist as they are.

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Then, we will visit a possible future that very well could be

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if we as a species were willing to simply employ our vast potential

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to forge a new, highly efficient societal design with new practices.

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A design which is not utopian or idealistic

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but rather quite simple, practical and doable.

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if we simply make the decision to change in accord

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with the logic of our natural existence

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That's Culture in Decline's "Tale of Two Worlds"

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New York City, 2110

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It's been a while since the fall of the US empire

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and by extension, the general decline of much of the world.

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The massive influence of the US economic policy

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along with the corresponding materialistic, inefficient and wasteful values,

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born out of the consumption-based growth economy

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began to reach its physical limits in the mid 21st century.

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Until that point, the race towards global industrialization continued undebated.

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with the world still pinning for the so called american dream

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not computing that if the entire world acted with the same waste patterns

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as the US, we would have needed four more Earths with the resources,

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just to keep it all going.

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What happened? Well, there were three nails in the coffin of societal collapse.

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The synergy of these issues compounded each other to a vicious storm,

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and by the time earth hit a population of 8 billion,

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right before the Third World War, global uneployment reach(ed) levels of 65%

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every government was bankrupt to each other,

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and the core hydrocarbon energy sources showed destabilizing scarcity.

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And while Chine did win the war, what resolution was achived didn't last long.

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The cancer and health epidemics alone in Asia and beyond

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rose to catastrophic proportions

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with a third of the planet still uninhabitable today due to industrial pollution.

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Today the global population has fallen by 40%, due to scarcity and disease.

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As far as the energy crisis,

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the early 21st century made tremendous progress in understanding renewable,

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sustainable energy systems.

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We were learning on paper how to stop our use of inherently scarce

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polluting energy stores on the earth,

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realizing almost the unlimited abundance of our regenerative universe

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and energy income that can provide for anyone many times over,

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if we only moved fast enough to create the proper infrastructure.

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Unfortunately, such a transition attempt was met

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with great resistance by financial interests.

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You see, there is this thing called free market which was far from free in true.

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It was a war in elitist protection system,

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and the bigger and more profitable an industry became,

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the less financial incentive existed to alter it.

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Money was the goal of this game, not sustainability or efficiency.

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And the fact was, we needed to move fast,

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utilizing the remaining hydrocarbon resources

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to create new sustainable energy infrastructure.

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It was a race against global population increases and hence needs.

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And sadly we failed, passing the point of no return

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as once the true scarcity of our hydrocarbon resources became understood,

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social destabilization and panic rapidly commenced,

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social destabilization and panic rapidly commenced, to further barricade.

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And what little progress did take place

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was rapidly destroyed thereafter by water and energy wars.

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At the same time the world faced the largest uneployment rates in history.

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LOng considered an ??? myth,

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the exponential increase in machine automation in the 21st century

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created a powerful acceleration of industrial productivity at ever cheaper rates

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displacing workers more rapidly than technology could actually create new jobs.

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Forward thinkers saw a great shift in the architecture of society.

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Perhaps the ancient idea of earning a living could be replaced with living a life.

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We could see the new capacity to create abundance

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to meet the needs of every human being on earth, 8 Billion and beyond.

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But sadly, this propsect met the same fate as our energy ambitions.

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The corporations, locked into a manner of thought which viewed mechanization

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but rather a means to save ever more money in the process of production

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set up a violent clash.

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Not only a class between workers and owners,

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but ironically a class of system functions.

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For capitalism was faced with it's most grand contradiction.

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where suddenly labor could exist with increasingly less human involvement

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and hence the constant pursuit of cost efficiency for profit

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inevitably meant that less money would be put into circulation through wages,

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and so the system run itself down to an ever weakening slum.

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Noticing this, the cry of some was to stop mechanization,

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knowing the economy literally needed jobs by design.

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Others performed activism to try and convince the world that it was time to adapt,

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to simply give what the humanity needed, to bypass the market.

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Why should we invent more jobs to waste human life,

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just to keep this system going.

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Yet, of course they were bashed in the media,

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dismissed as socialist upstarts and freedom hating communists

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trying to corrupt the supposedly liberty of what was nothing more than a religion

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the all-seeing market.

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And by the time corporate controlled governments

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couldn't look the other way any longer

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the momentum of anger and dismay was too much.

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The unions were on strike and a cry for revolution exploded.

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The ??? blame technology for the problems.

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The business blame government interference

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The counter-culture blamed idealized conspiracies

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with few realizing that it was a system failure

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a natural evolution of our culture, which demanded respect and adaptation.

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And the third and perhaps the most absurd of all social plagues

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was the illusion of financial debt.

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It's an interesting historical note,

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was never really accepted as a legitimate consequence,

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when was in fact a ruling ethos inherent in the competivive scarcity-driven nature of the system.

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that for some reason the mafia style organized crime mode of the market,

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Oh, hey! Do you ever play these funky little logic puzzle things?

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You might discover them when bored silly at the airport.

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Nothing mysterious; they give you a set of system rules

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which discipline you towards achieving a certain goal.

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Perhaps not the most exciting thing in entertainment today,

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I don't know. Maybe there's something more

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to this whole logic and reason deal

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than just killing time while in transit?

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Of course, we all naturally assume that we're being well reasoned

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in our decision making, right? In fact, it can be argued

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that to some degree such associative causal logic

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is inherently inescapable, effectively wired into our brains

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with respect to how we interpret and link our experiences.

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Yet, it's that very issue of degree

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that appears to be where the problems arise,

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as all too often the foundational premisses

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upon which we frame our conclusions are indeed utterly faulty,

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or without proper evidence, to be considered factual to begin with.

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Needless to say,

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being logical within a cognitive framework of the illogical

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only takes you so far.

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And today, if you dig deep into the origins

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and bases of perpetuation of our most cherished institutions,

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from religion to politics, to economics, to the social order itself,

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you might discover something called faith

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rather than reason.

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And faith, by definition, is not a premise of logic.

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Faith is belief without evidence

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and hence contradictory to the entire process of understanding itself.

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In 1961, engineer R. Buckminster Fuller

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created a global simulation called 'The World Game'.

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The idea was to "Make the world work for 100% of humanity

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in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation,

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without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone."

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It's a pretty simple and rational thought exercise,

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a logic puzzle if you will, on the most grand scale

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which, even in basic gesture,

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actually stands in stark contrast with the organizational frame of reference

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our established society currently operates within.

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In truth, all this train of thought suggests

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is to take a broad design perspective to the Earth and human society,

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using what we now know regarding scientific causality,

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as opposed to the wheeling and dealing inherently elitist market anarchy

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which moves the world by, arguably, a rigid superstitious faith

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that the invisible hand of the market knows all and sees all.

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I ask you: what if we dare to view the Earth as a single puzzle board;

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a problem to be solved

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with our logic based around the Earth's natural rules set,

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the known laws of physical science?

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What if our goal was to maximize our economic efficiency,

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to design out poverty, to design out national war,

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to work structurally to create a clean energy abundance

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and hence to work to facilitate a material success

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for the whole of humanity, in harmony with nature itself?

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What? What's that? Utopian, you say?

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Too idealistic? Communist?

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Well, I don't know about you,

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but when I stumble around this planet we call home,

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a system condition that demands one thing

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to ensure the prosperity of the human family adaptation,

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I am at once impressed at our tremendous accomplishments as a species

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and at once horrified at the ignorant failures,

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mostly resulting from a refusal to see the Earth as one system design

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and humanity as one family bound within.

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As this season finale of Culture in Decline will argue,

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humanity is being faced with a choice,

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a fork in the road. It is my personal conviction

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that the broad social decisions made, this generation

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might very well be what makes or breaks our species in the long run.

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And perhaps by the end of this episode you, like me,

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will feel the need to think about which path we should choose.

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A culture in ascent or a culture in decline?

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From the creator of the Zeigeist film trilogy

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comes the worst reality show of all time;

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the real one.

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GMP Films presents

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Culture in Decline

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with your guide Peter Joseph

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www.cultureindecline.com

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[Electronic sounds]

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Science fiction writers, scientists and so-called futurists of the world

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have painted many pictures of what the future may hold.

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Some are modest, positive or even utopian.

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Some are dystopian, dark and oppressive. As far as the probable truth,

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the best we can do is measure the trends and average out the projections,

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with perhaps of course the most relevant trend

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being the influence of science and technology.

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Of course technological progress has its culture lag, right?

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However, today doesn't it seem like the gap

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between our scientific advancement and our actual understanding

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and consideration of that advancement is growing wider and wider?

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Doesn't it seem a little bit obvious that

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technological capacity is exceeding social maturity?

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It's actually a frightening point, in truth,

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as it's a cultural value issue.

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Science and technology, put into the hands of forward-thinking developers,

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could perhaps recognize the profound capacity to create an abundance,

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stabilize our ecological influence

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and become sustainable both environmentally and culturally,

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tend to view the world very differently

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than the more common market, nationalist, elitist mindset

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which sees society through the filter

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of narrow self-interest and competition,

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constantly reinforcing that gain at the expense of others

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is a law of nature and hence a virtue to be praised and rewarded.

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In this context, we might see how those same tools

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will be used to make bigger weapons, more surveillance technology

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and ever stronger physical and psychological prisons

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for the vast majority of humanity;

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to remain in servitude to a small group of people

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and essentially the ownership class.

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So, with that in mind, I present to you a thought exercise.

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Using my fresh new time-machine here,

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I'm going to be your guide on a trip to two possible futures.

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First we'll visit a world that just may be, as the current social,

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ecological and technical patterns persist as they are.

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Then, we'll visit a possible future that very well could be,

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if we as a species were willing to simply employ our vast potential

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to forge a new, highly efficient societal design with new practices;

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a design which is not utopian or idealistic

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but rather quite simple, practical and doable,

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if we simply make the decision to change in accord

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with the logic of our natural existence.

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It's Culture in Decline's 'Tale of Two Worlds'.

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New York City, 2110.

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It's been a while since the fall of the US empire

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and by extension, the general decline of much of the world.

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The massive influence of US economic policy,

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along with the corresponding materialistic, inefficient

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and wasteful values born out of the consumption-based growth economy,

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began to reach its physical limits in the mid-21st Century.

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Until that point, the race towards global industrialization

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continued unabated, with the world still pining

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for the so-called American dream,

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not computing that if the entire world acted with the same waste patterns

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as the US, we would have needed four more Earths worth of resources

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just to keep it all going. What happened?

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Well, there were three nails in the coffin of societal collapse.

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The synergy of these issues compounded each other into a vicious storm,

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and by the time Earth hit a population of eight billion,

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right before the Third World War,

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global unemployment reached levels of 65%,

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every government on earth was bankrupt to each other,

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and the core hydrocarbon energy sources saw destabilizing scarcity.

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And while China did win the war,

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what resolution was achieved didn't last long.

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The cancer and health epidemics alone in Asia and beyond

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rose to catastrophic proportions,

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with a third of the planet still uninhabitable today due to industrial pollution.

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Today the global population has fallen by 40%, due to scarcity and disease.

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As far as the energy crisis,

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the early 21st Century made tremendous progress

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in understanding renewable, sustainable energy systems.

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We were learning on paper how to stop our use of inherently scarce,

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polluting energy stores in the earth,

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realizing the almost unlimited abundance of our regenerative universe

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and energy income that could provide for everyone many times over,

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if we only moved fast enough to create the proper infrastructure.

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Unfortunately, such a transition attempt

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was met with great resistance by financial interests.

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You see, there was this thing called the free market

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which was far from free, in truth.

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It was a war and elitist protection system,

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and the bigger and more profitable an industry became,

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the less financial incentive existed to alter it.

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Money was the goal of this game, not sustainability or efficiency.

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And the fact was, we needed to move fast,

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utilizing the remaining hydrocarbon resources

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to create new sustainable energy infrastructure.

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It was a race against global population increases and hence needs.

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And sadly we failed, passing the point of no return

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as once the true scarcity of our hydrocarbon resources became understood,

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social destabilization and panic rapidly commenced to further barricade.

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What little progress did take place

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was rapidly destroyed thereafter by the water and energy wars.

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At the same time, the world faced the largest unemployment rates in history.

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Long considered a Luddite myth,

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the exponential increase in machine automation in the 21st Century

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created a powerful acceleration of industrial productivity

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at ever cheaper rates, displacing workers more rapidly

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than technology could actually create new jobs.

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Forward thinkers saw a great shift in the architecture of society.

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Perhaps the ancient idea of earning a living

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could be replaced with living a life.

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We could see the new capacity to create an abundance

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to meet the needs of every human being on Earth eight billion and beyond.

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But sadly, this prospect met the same fate as our energy ambitions.

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The corporations, locked into a manner of thought

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which viewed mechanization as not a means for abundance,

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but rather a means to save even more money in the process of reduction

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set up a violent clash; not only a clash between workers and owners,

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but ironically, a clash of system functions.

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Capitalism was faced with its most grand contradiction,

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where suddenly labor could exist with increasingly less human involvement.

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And hence the constant pursuit of cost efficiency for profit

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inevitably meant that less money would be put into circulation

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through wages. And so the system ran itself down

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into an ever-weakening slump.

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Noticing this, the cry of some was to stop mechanization,

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knowing the economy literally needed jobs-by-design.

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Others performed activism to try and convince the world

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that it was time to adapt; to simply give humanity what it needed;

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to bypass the market.

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Why should we invent more jobs to waste human life,

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just to keep this system going.

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Yet, of course they were bashed in the media,

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dismissed as socialist upstarts and freedom-hating communists

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trying to corrupt the supposed liberty

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of what was nothing more than a religion, the all-seeing market.

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And by the time the corporate-controlled governments

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couldn't look the other way any longer,

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the momentum of anger and dismay was too much.

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The unions went on strike and the cry for revolution exploded.

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The Ludites blamed technology for the problems,

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the businesses blamed government interference,

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the counter-culture blamed idealized conspiracies,

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with few realizing that it was a system failure,

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a natural evolution of our culture which demanded respect and adaptation.

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And the third and perhaps most absurd of all social plagues

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was the illusion of financial debt.

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It's an interesting historical note that, for some reason,

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the mafia-style organized-crime mode of the market