Lesson XXVIII: Vocabulary in Context

Chen: Are the self-appointed elites aware of the problems they created? Prof. Risk: Of course, they are. That is why they are likely to come up with a set of new ideas about preserving the resources of the planet, yet, merely for themselves. It could be achieved only by denying access to resources to the majority of the world population. Anyhow, a dark agenda is coming into being. Chen: Yet how things are going in the developing countries where the majority actually reside? Prof. Risk: Left to themselves, they try to survive in the environment of permanent social unrest usually created by the elites from the developed countries. Poorly educated, prone to adopt everything preached by religious leaders, they struggle to create social security by maintaining large families. By following the exponential curve - the same one that describes everlasting economic growth - the population of those countries increased dramatically over the narrow period of two centuries. Today's world population exceeds seven billion. Chen: So, in a word, the earth resources cannot support such a population growth? Prof. Risk: Certainly. For that reason, the depopulation agenda has become the key issue of a new world order; the order designed to replace the existing one. If you try to screen down the figure that suits the needs of a sustainable development, human population must be kept under two billion, or, say, between one and two billion. It would be a body of humans able to rely on pesticide and fertilizer free food production and hydrocarbons produced by agricultural practice. Chen: So, humanity has moved into uncharted territory jeopardizing its very future, hasn’t it? Prof. Risk: Our civilization is in dire straits looking along any direction: from North to South, from the obese to undernourished, from the rich to the poor, from the overpopulated to uninhabited areas, from the ignorant toward the educated, from the consumers of high culture to those whose social life begins and ends before a big screen TV. Humanity is spinning trapped in a vicious cycle chasing its tail. Igor: Any hope to prevent self-destruction? Prof. Risk: Something new must come into play. To decide between capitalism and socialism as a lifesaving economic model does not make much sense. Nor it does to make a choice between various social and cultural models - say, Islam or Christianity or any other. They are all only partially competent. Igor: Well then, is there a way out of the deadlock? Prof. Risk: There might be if humanity succeeds in creating a model that does not rely on never-ending economic and population growth. Igor: Anything on the table? Prof. Risk: There are the two opposing bids. The first one, called Bullying-Elitism, and the second one, labeled as Comprehensive-Voluntarism. Igor: Why “opposing”? Prof. Risk: For there are some substantial differences between them. While Comprehensive-Voluntarism is public and voluntary by definition, Bullying- Elitism is secretive and designed to be implemented by brute force. Igor: Would you please elaborate the idea in more details? →