| Future 25 | |
Possible Projects for the Foundation | |
Members, participation and projects.
The Foundation Future 25 is designed to become a platform for long-term thinking and acting. Which are the important developments, perils and the new horizons? Which are the visions we want to strive for? These kind of questions will be discussed by the members of the Foundation, with the objective to suit action to the words. The members will elaborate the proposals to be financed and realized by the Foundation, addressing the long-term problems, and our hopes for the future.
We cannot state insofar with definiteness which projects will actually be realized once the Foundation Future 25 will be established. But we can provide some examples of possible activities typical for the Foundation.
The central purpose of the Foundation Future 25 will be to support "the long-term and sustainable development of life and of humanity on earth, the planets and in the universe." Initially the financial resources might be limited and only modest projects could be supported. But the long-term growth strategy will lead in the course of the centuries to the accumulation of massive financial means and ambitious projects will be within the reach of the Foundation.
Engendering public discussions.
We may achieve a rippling effect even with modest operating funds if one succeeds to stimulate a lasting public discussion. For this purpose the Foundation Future 25 will organize conferences and public discussion boards, accompanied by articles and advertisements in the media.
The Foundation will however not become political active by itself, trying to influence directly the public opinion or political decision making, by public statements addressing problems of actual interest, as a lobby group would do. To act for the long-term benefit of humanity transcends the ethical basis of special interest groups and is incompatible with the actions of a political pressure group. It is, on the other side, of uttermost importance to call the attention of the public to central concerns regarding our common future. Here we will discuss now a selection of possible issues.
| Engendering public discussions. | ||
| (1) | Is there an optimal population-density? |
It would be possible to call into question, in this context, the value of the immense subsidies spent year after year to build-up the infrastructure of so-called economically weak regions in industrialized countries. It would be a nowadays highly controversial notion to consider the possibility that humans might abandon the settlement of such economically weak regions and to leave them to nature. But this scenario might become thinkable in the case that a public discussion on the subject might lead to the consensus, that a smaller average population density, relative to the present-day one, might be desirable.
| Engendering public discussions. | ||
| (2) | Ecological justness. |
But: Environmentalism out of self-interest will in the end boil-down to environment protection on a very low level. Only action really necessary for our health and our welfare would then be taken. This level of action is considered inadequate by many activists, which appeal consequently to our emotions in order to incite continuous activities. We all have seen pictures of oil-trenched sea-birds and other suffering animals in this regard.
Alternatively one could ask, if we should strive to achieve a long-term and fair "partitioning" of the planet earth in between human interests and the needs of all the other life-forms. A public and political discussion along these lines of thought has not yet been started. It would be the quest for a higher-level ecological justness: Does it exists, should we seek to implement one? We could think of many possible criteria for ecological justness, here an example:
It has been estimated that the biomass of all humans living at the beginning of the 20th century has been equal to the combined biomass of all free living mammals of that epoch. If all humans then living would have crowded themselves onto a single scale-pan of a gigantic balance and all other elephants, rats, zebras, wales and tigers on the other scale-pan, this "balance of ecological justness" would have remained stable.
But the balance of ecological justness has tilted in the meantime. For ever 10kg weight of a living human there is nowadays only 1kg weight of a free living mammal on earth. Is this partitioning of earth's biosphere resources fair? Not even counting all the other flora and fauna, is a ratio of 10:1 in favor for us humans fair, would a ration of 100:1 also be fair? Or should we strive for a 1:1? There are no easy answers to this fundamental question. An open and public discussion on this subject is nevertheless mandatory, it would have profound consequences on the way we look at the biosphere of our home planet. If want it or not, man has started to influence and to shape this planet on a global scale, with massive interferences into the biosphere. We have to stand up to our responsibilities.
Lebensräume for future generations of animals and plants.
There is definitively need for action to address the many pressing problems of our ecosphere today. But we cannot solve all of them now and here. We may hence consider to possibility to take provisions for future generations of animals and plants. Can we take actions now, that would provide yet unborn generations of animals with yet to develop habitats and Lebensräumen?
The global climate will change dramatically within the next few centuries. The media report most often about the negative impacts we can expect for human settlements and activities. But not all zones and regions will be affected adversely. Some nowadays arid zones will start blossoming with increasing precipitation and most northern regions will warm up. Todays computer-simulations and modeling of the world climate are however not yet accurate enough for detailed and reliable local predictions. But we can expect continuous scientific and technical progress in this area.
Land-price in arid region are normally rock-bottom, if this land is useless for agricultural or other human activities. There are private ranches in the USA of the size of a German Bundesland, mostly in the desert.
The Foundation Future 25 could therefore start, with growing financial resources, projects aiming to establish habitats in regions nowadays useless for human activities. To acquire nowadays areas - for which we can expect favorable living conditions in 1-2 centuries for a diverse flora and fauna - `cheaply', and to set it away. Letting nature to take over and to develop new habitats with time passing.
Spaceflight and life in the cosmos.
One may criticize manned space-flight, and admittingly justifiably so, as being too expansive for little uses. And anyhow, one might add, humans are biologically not prepared to live in weightlessness. Taking the long-term view, one may ask however: In 1000, 10000 or even in 100000 years, will the earth remain -even then- the only planet in the universe settled by mankind? Would that imply that humanity would remain busy for eternity with itself? Busy with the quest for peace, prosperity and the advancement of culture and science?
This question, which touches the meaning of life and the meaning of mankind's existence, cannot be answered with certitude. A long-term expansion of humanity into the cosmos would, however, open to us the possibility to create new spheres of life on other planets, for us and for earth's biosphere. And with that the opportunity to to bring about a `good deed', which may way outlast the time-span of our own existence, the era of the species Homo Sapiens.
It is however doubtful if governments, or "humanity as a whole", will ever develop the long-term determination necessary to bring such ever-lasting endeavors to a successful conclusion. Only a minority will in general stand up for long-term perspectives, the overwhelming majority of mankind will firmly place its priorities in present-day or near-future objectives. A successful long-term growth concept, as envisaged by the Foundation Future 25, would, on the other hand, provide the Foundation with ample financial resources and enable the Foundation to support the sustainable settlement of outer space.
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