Which Global crisis will happen first ?

• Climate change related impacts on the ecosystem and our current social structures
• Global terrorism increase (as other problems eg climate change induced, food prices, oil prices … bite harder, the disaffected are likely to respond in any way they can, which may be to lash out against Western consumerism.
• Economic instability due to living beyond our means
• Environmental resource depletion
• Disease (bird flu via international aviation)

Is a possible side argument and definitely controversial in the West, but if obesity is linked to genetics then how come there has been such a dramatic increase in obesity in the US, UK etc. in the last 10 to 20 years when the gene pool hasn’t changed so dramatically in that time period ?

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7230065.stm

Perhaps it’s a life style decision. I find it hard to balance their being more clinically obese people than under-nourished people in the world.

Global sustainability is most likely with global and local stability and security. Stable and financially secure communities are associated with higher levels of education and lower birth rates. This is a central premise behind helping “developing world” communities as opposed to letting them perish or continue as they currently are.

The average German has an equivalent level of happiness of satisfaction with life, but uses half the resources of the average American. The focus should not be on quality of life, not quantity of stuff. Not least of all because if we need less stuff, we can work less !

It’s not how much we have, but how much we enjoy what we have, that makes happiness.

I wrote these notes  in early 2008