Rethinking Resources: An Introduction

Rethinking Resources is a meditative reflection, asking us to reconsider how we use our resources, what we use as resources, and what alternative sources are out there, seemingly, untapped. During this contemplation, we must rethink our perceptual conception of what a resource is, as well as its relation to us, and the planet as a whole. The most important questions we should be asking during this process of evaluation, relate to the nature of efficiency; are we using our current resources in an efficient way, are these resources even efficient to begin with, and how efficient would the alternatives be, in relation to what we have now? To accurately address the situation, which some would call a growing problem, of inadequate resource use and development, we must eradicate all of our preconceived notions concerning the topic, and start anew. If we are to do this properly, for an effective discourse to take place, we must define exactly what we are talking about. By resources, we mean the amalgamation of materials, tangible and intangible, that a society, and life itself, needs to survive, and thrive. By efficiency, we mean the capability of supporting this massive living network, which is our world, the circle of life if you will, with as little waste, or negative side effects, as possible.

So, where are we now? At first glance, one may think that the largest and most important resource is money, but nothing could be further from the truth, as money is a false resource. It is a man-made construct, meant to represent a means to obtain resources, a kind of secondary resource. But it is not necessary; we do not need money, in a natural sense, to survive. This is expressed by the axiom: “One cannot eat money.” Now of course there is an obvious argument to this: “But I can use money to buy food, water, and other resources?” And this is true, but it is an illegitimate form of resource. It is simply not efficient. This is due to the fact that its sufficiency depends upon your purchasing power, or how much money you currently have, which, for the vast majority of us, is very little. Furthermore, this aspect of our society actually limits us, in terms of growth and development, as we will not fund something unless we find it to be “profitable,” and not in terms of social, environmental, or spiritual profitability, but only monetary profitability.

This is why oil conglomerates often buy out small companies who specialize in alternative fuel sources. They do not want to lose their stranglehold on the market, they do not want to lose their precious profits, even if the alternative resource would be more efficient and more environmentally friendly. The idea of profit actually feeds off of insufficiency, as scarcity and profitability go hand in hand. A simple example illustrates this concept: the value of a drum of oil is relative to the overall amount of oil in the market; the less there is, the more expensive the drum of oil. This is why the price of oil continues to rise. The more we consume, the more we pay. It is no surprise then, that this fundamental part of our society is based almost fully upon a non-renewable source of energy. The system is designed so that profits continually increase as our supply continually decreases.

Our production of oil, here in the United States, was at almost 10 million barrels a day in the 1970’s. Today we produce only 5 million, and yet we use a little over 20 million barrels a day. Our oil reserves have been running out, and scientists have been warning about this since the 1950’s. This depletion of oil has led to our occupation of Iraq, which possesses the world’s second largest deposit of oil.  This is an illegitimate war, with an illegitimate enemy, for an illegitimate resource… Peak oil is a term which is used to describe the maximum amount of oil that a country will produce during its greatest period of production. Our peak production was in the 1970’s. The world’s peak production is right now. The world is currently producing around 90 million barrels of oil a day! But this cache is quickly expiring. Scientists are warning that oil production will begin to decline as early as 2020. If we use the United States as an example, and apply our drop in oil production to the world, we can expect that the availability of oil will be at least cut in half. What would this mean for us? It would mean that oil would become an unaffordable luxury. For the world, it would mean that the production of food would drastically drop, as we wouldn’t have enough fuel to run the machines that allow us to harvest on such a large scale. The price of food would also sky rocket, along with everything else, for almost every aspect of our global society relies on fossil fuels, foremost among them, oil.

We have built are system with a fatal flaw inherent in its design. It is a system which feeds off of itself, slowly consuming its resources like a virus. It is self-destructive and blind. We have created a world economy that relies on depleting resources that are both insufficient in their production as well as their use. We rely on fossil fuels and money. These are false resources. They are not natural, and they are not efficient. While a wealth of natural resources surround us. Solar energy, wind and water turbine energy, and geo-thermal energy are almost infinite; if we could only learn to harness their full potential. If we would just increase our funding, research, and development of these alternate resources, we might be able to convert to a more sustainable system before our problems become too great to handle. For we must remember, even the most optimistic of scientific reports fail to adequately account for the exponential rate of the given subject, thus losing accuracy in their predictions. For instance, when they say that oil will expire by 2100, they fail to take into account the yearly increase in population, which relates to an increase in oil use, inevitably speeding up the consumption of oil at an exponential rate.

This is not a conspiracy theory. It is not some far off apocalyptic fantasy. This is real, and it is happening now. How many people have felt the social ramifications of our current economic downfall? How many people struggle to find jobs, to feed their families? Our brothers and sisters are protesting in Egypt right now, they're marching in the streets of Cairo, while storm-trooper police attack them with batons and tear gas… as we sit at home, locked in self-constructed prisons of false security, trusting those who've orchestrated the oppression... They’re protesting their government’s neglect of poverty, unemployment, rising prices, and human rights violations. They’re standing up and against corrupt politics, the same oppression which presses us. They are speaking from their own experiences, but how are theirs any different than ours? Are we not struggling with the same issues? Are we not oppressed as well? Yes, maybe theirs’ is worse, but Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.” They are not just standing up for themselves, they are standing up for us all!

This is what happens when a society relies on inefficient resources. This is what happens when a people can no longer afford to feed their children. This is what happens when 90% of the wealth is held by 10% of the world’s population. This is what happens when the people grow tiered of the lies, the oppression, and the ignorance of the elite. This is what happens when we stand up!

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