Can America Survive?: Summary

Joseph George Caldwell

Copyright © 1999, 2000 Joseph George Caldwell.  All rights reserved.  Posted at Internet website http://www.foundationwebsite.org.  May be copied or reposted for non-commercial use, with attribution to author and website.  Updated 25 December 2000.

1.  THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF FOSSIL-FUEL ENERGY – OIL AND GAS WILL BE GONE WITHIN 50 YEARS, COAL SOMEWHAT LATER.

2.  FOR AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY, INDUSTRIAL NATIONS ARE BUILDING (FISSION) NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS.  (SOLAR ENERGY IS SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT ONLY ABOUT 500 MILLION PEOPLE (AT A LOW STANDARD OF LIVING), NOT THE WORLD’S CURRENT POPULATION OF SIX BILLION.  “FUSION” NUCLEAR ENERGY HAS NEVER PROVED PRACTICAL.)

3.  WITH “ONCE-THROUGH” NUCLEAR REACTORS, THE WORLD’S ECONOMICALLY RECOVERABLE URANIUM RESERVES WILL NOT LAST 100 YEARS.

4.  WITH “FAST-BREEDER” REACTORS, THE WORLD’S URANIUM SUPPLY CAN PRODUCE POWER FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

5.  THE CHOICE IS CLEAR: WORLD-WIDE USE OF THE FAST-BREEDER REACTOR IS INEVITABLE.

6.  THE PROBLEM WITH FAST-BREEDER REACTORS IS THAT THEY PRODUCE PLUTONIUM, WHICH CAN BE USED TO MAKE ATOMIC BOMBS.

7.  WITH THE FAST-BREEDER REACTOR, THERE WILL BE HUNDREDS OF PLUTONIUM-PRODUCING BREEDER REACTORS AROUND THE WORLD.

8.  THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD HAS ALREADY LOST TRACK OF SEVERAL THOUSAND POUNDS OF PLUTONIUM – ENOUGH TO MAKE AT LEAST A THOUSAND SUITCASE-SIZED ATOMIC BOMBS.

9.  TERRORIST GROUPS AND “ROGUE NATIONS” ARE ACTIVELY SOLICITING PLUTONIUM.  IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL THEY HAVE ALL THE PLUTONIUM THEY WANT.

10.      WITH 1,000 “SUITCASE” ATOMIC BOMBS PLACED IN THE WORLD’S LARGEST CITIES, TERRORISTS CAN DESTROY THREE-QUARTERS OF THE WORLD’S URBAN POPULATION (IN CITIES OF SIZE 100,000 OR MORE).  THEY DO NOT NEED BOMBERS OR MISSILES OR ARMIES TO DO THIS – 1,000 DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS CAN DO THE JOB.

11.      WITH THE GAP BETWEEN THE WORLD’S RICH AND POOR WIDENING, THE “POLITICS OF ENVY” WILL DRIVE THESE GROUPS TO DO THIS.  TERRORISTS WILL NOT HESITATE TO USE NUCLEAR BOMBS, JUST AS THEY HAVE USED CONVENTIONAL EXPLOSIVES IN THE PAST.

12.      WHEN NUCLEAR WAR OCCURS, IT WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR A SMALL, DEDICATED GROUP TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD.  SHOULD IT?  WHO WILL RULE?

13.      THE LARGE INDUSTRIAL HUMAN POPULATION HAS CAUSED ALL OF THE MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS FACING THE PLANET.  IT IS DESTROYING THE PLANET’S ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY – THE ATMOSPHERE (OZONE DEPLETION, GREENHOUSE GASES, PLANETARY WARMING), THE SEAS (POLLUTION, OVERFISHING), THE LAND (POLLUTION, EROSION), AND THE ECOLOGY (THE GREATEST MASS EXTINCTION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS SINCE THE TIME OF THE DINOSAURS).

14.      WHAT SHOULD THE SIZE AND NATURE OF HUMAN POPULATION BE?  TO REDUCE THE STRESS ON THE PLANET’S BIOSPHERE, IT IS NECESSARY TO REDUCE THE HUMAN POPULATION TO ABOUT 500 MILLION NON-INDUSTRIAL HUMAN BEINGS OR ABOUT FIVE MILLION INDUSTRIAL HUMAN BEINGS (SINCE INDUSTRIAL HUMAN BEINGS USE ABOUT 100 TIMES AS MUCH ENERGY AS NONINDUSTRIAL HUMAN BEINGS).

15.      A “MINIMAL-REGRET” HUMAN POPULATION IS ONE THAT PLACES LITTLE STRESS ON THE PLANET'S ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY, AND KEEPS THE PROBABILITY OF LONG-TERM SURVIVAL OF HUMAN BEINGS AND OTHER SPECIES HIGH.  IT PRESERVES THE BALANCE OF NATURE THAT HAS EXISTED FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS.

16.      ONE EXAMPLE OF A MINIMAL-REGRET POPULATION IS A POPULATION CONSISTING OF A SINGLE INDUSTRIAL NATION OF FIVE MILLION PEOPLE AND A GLOBALLY DISPERSED POPULATION OF FIVE MILLION HUNTER-GATHERERS.  SUCH A POPULATION IS SIMILAR IN SIZE TO THAT THAT EXISTED IN HARMONY WITH THE EARTH’S ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS.

17.      WHEN NUCLEAR WAR OCCURS, MANKIND HAS AN EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A MINIMAL-REGRET POPULATION THAT WILL PRESERVE THE PLANET’S NATURAL ECOLOGICAL BALANCE.

18.      UNDER THE CURRENT WORLD ORDER, HUMAN POPULATION IS EXPLODING AT 80 MILLION PER YEAR.  IF CURRENT TRENDS CONTINUE, MANKIND WILL DESTROY MANY – PERHAPS ALL – PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES IN THE BIOSPHERE.  WITH EVERY PASSING DAY, MORE SPECIES ARE MADE EXTINCT AND THE PROBABILITY OF PLANETARY DEATH FROM THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT INCREASES.

19.      BARRING EXTINCTION, THE HUMAN GLOBAL POPULATION WILL EVENTUALLY DECREASE TO 500 MILLION OR LESS, SINCE THAT IS ALL THAT THE PLANET’S SOLAR RADIATION CAN SUPPORT LONG TERM.  THE CHOICE FACING MANKIND IS WHETHER IT IS REDUCED TO THAT LEVEL NOW, THEREBY SAVING THE PLANET’S ECOLOGY, OR REDUCED TO THAT LEVEL IN A FEW DECADES, AFTER THE BIOSPHERE IS DESTROYED (AT BEST AFTER MASS EXTINCTION IS COMPLETE, AND AT WORST AFTER THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT HAS EXTERMINATED LIFE ON THE PLANET).  THE RATIONAL CHOICE: HUMAN POPULATION SHOULD BE DRAMATICALLY REDUCED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW!  (LEST THERE BE ANY DOUBT…I AM NOT PROPOSING NUCLEAR WAR AS A SOLUTION TO THE PLANET’S POPULATION PROBLEM, ANY MORE THAN I AM PROPOSING A GREENHOUSE-GAS DEATH OF THE BIOSPHERE AS A SOLUTION.  I BELIEVE THAT NUCLEAR WAR IS INEVITABLE, AND THAT WHEN IT HAPPENS, ADVANTAGE SHOULD BE TAKEN OF ITS OCCURRENCE TO STABILIZE GLOBAL HUMAN POPULATION AT AN ECOLOGICALLY HARMONIOUS LEVEL.  A NUCLEAR WAR BY ITSELF ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING – THE WORLD WILL SIMPLY REINDUSTRIALIZE, OVERPOPULATE AGAIN, AND CONTINUE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BIOSPHERE.  THE GOAL IS NOT NUCLEAR WAR, BUT PRESERVATION OF THE BIOSPHERE THAT OUR HUMAN ANCESTORS INHERITED, WITH HUMAN BEINGS CONTINUING IN IT).

20.      A TERRORIST GROUP OR ROGUE NATION CAN EASILY ACCOMPLISH A NUCLEAR ATTACK ON 1,000-3,000 CITIES, WIPING OUT EARTH’S INDUSTRIAL POPULATION.  THIS SCENARIO IS HIGHLY LIKELY.  WHEN IT OCCURS, A SMALL, DEDICATED GROUP CAN ASSUME CONTROL OF THE PLANET AND ESTABLISH A MINIMAL-REGRET POPULATION THAT CAN LIVE IN HARMONY WITH THE PLANET’S NATURAL ECOLOGY.  WHO WILL THIS GROUP BE?

21.      THE BOOK, CAN AMERICA SURVIVE? AT INTERNET WEB SITE HTTP://WWW.FOUNDATIONWEBSITE.ORG DISCUSSES THE PREVIOUS POINTS IN DETAIL.  CAN AMERICA SURVIVE?  THE ANSWER IS, “NO.”

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FndID(217)

FndTitle(Can America Survive Summary)

FndDescription(A summary of the book, Can America Survive?)

FndKeywords(Can America Survive; decline and fall of America; the collapse of complex societies; cultural decline)