. . .
7 “Look at the movement of the ‘center of population’ or the ‘median point’ of the population in America over the decades. Opportunity, open space, sun shine, clean air, air conditioning, ‘right to work laws’ and lax state environmental and occupational regulations attracted individuals and businesses to the western longitudes and the southern latitudes of America. The center has moved from Maryland to Missouri. In the coming decades, the population will need to migrate closer to the sun which on this planet means closer to the equator.”
13 “Not enough dead dinosaurs. The decline in fossil fuels will drive everyone crazy and may drive them to drive south. About ninety percent of the Canadian population lives within one hundred miles of the United States border. They can’t move far and remain Canadians. We will need to move south. However, people will not have the electricity to condition the air.”
7 “Americans are drifting toward the southwest, yet they cannot live and work there because of the limited water supply even if photovoltaic cells are welcome and promising. The populace may end up moving to enclaves in Oregon.”
13 “Then we bump into another limit. We as a people have always lived at ‘peak land’ because the total number of hectares is finite and known.”
7 “With the rising seas reducing the land mass.”
13 “Exactly. I look at the globe and a map differently. I see a narrow undulating band of livable land that does not demand the consumption of substantial deceased dinosaurs to stay warm, offers adequate water supplies and provides locally grown food. The sustainable plat on the planet is contracting. Even rising temperatures will not be enough to offset the prohibitive costs of heating cold regions and handling short growing seasons.”
7 “Yet as the perverse insulation envelops the Earth, northern climes may become temperate climates. Canadians may be well positioned.”
13 “All the rates of change are in flux and uncertain. We are now moving from ‘peak land’ to scarcer land.”
7 “We are on the wrong side of too many tipping points. Usable land is contracting while the population is expanding.”
13 “While the population is exploding. A friend estimated that the city will reach five hundred thousand residents by 2030. I observed that the city would need to contract to fifty thousand residents at most. He was nonplussed and added an aside about the birth rate. I agreed that we are over gross and getting grosser. Nonetheless, our numbers must shrink and migrate. He remained nonplussed.”
7 “For most people, it does not add up. They aren’t even doing the math.”
. . .
[April – National Poetry Month]
Bumper stickers of the week:
A half dozen six-word memoirs in an “e-poem” titled “Take only pictures; Leave only footprints.”
Many live humans; Few dead dinosaurs.
Disregard the e-con-omists; Regard the physicists.
Change your attitude; Range the latitudes.
Pay old bills*; Develop new skills.
Consume less junk; Savor more beauty.
So many challenges; So little time.
* Craft your own financial game plan. With hyperinflation on the way, purposefully delaying the payment of bills allows one to pay obligations with significantly devalued dollars. That is the strategy being pursued by the governments.
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