Society has a duty to change
- if it doesn't, history demonstrates very effectively how quickly a
society can stagnate. Systems designed to handle the demands of one
century are inevitably incapable of handling the demands of the next,
be they material or social, and this will only become more true as
time goes on, given that technology has accelerated (and will likely
continue to accelerate) in its rate of advance. As advances in one
field compound and magnify advances in others, as improvements in
communication increase the rate at which this cross-pollination can
happen, and as our global research and development base reaches
historically unprecedented proportions, we will see our lives
transform increasingly rapidly. Examining the rate at which computer
processing power has increased over the past century provides an
excellent metaphor for this type of advance – doubling every two
years, as Moore's Law accurately predicted it would, means that it is
undergoing exponential growth. This type of increase is
sometimes counter-intuitive, as we typically think of growth curves
as fluctuating, sloping, and gradual, like the stock market. However,
in certain optimal conditions, growth can be explosive. Any system
that can regularly double in a given amount of time soon reaches
astronomical numbers: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024,
2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536, 131072, 262144, 524288,
1048576 – an increase of 1,048,576x in 21 'generations'. This is
exactly how our technology is set to advance, and this is why we must
be ready to adapt.
There are many potential
ways that we can brace our society for change and uncertainty, but I
believe one method in particular, decentralization, merits a
closer look. I believe this because it is a time-tested method in the
natural world, and there are numerous ways in which it can benefit
human society – but most notably, it can help us adapt. Ants are an
excellent example of decentralization in nature, and the fact that
they are ubiquitous in almost every region of the world demonstrates
just how successful this strategy can be. Every ant is capable of
performing any task necessary to the colony, and by coordinating
effectively, they can accomplish immense tasks with remarkable
efficiency, and work with a flexibility that most human societies can
only dream of. While decentralization is not a new concept in
political circles, it is unfortunately not widely utilized. Why not?
Not because a centralized system offers any significant advantages,
but because a centralized system means that those in power can more
easily stay in power, and funnel resources more efficiently into the
hands of a select few. While in the past our societies may have had
to rely on centralized leadership to coordinate production, this is
in fact no longer true. Many of the tasks that we still assume must
be accomplished in a top-down way can now be localized, and done just
as efficiently from the bottom up. Moreover, in doing so, we can
solve a number of problems at once. Researching this actually blew my
mind a little over just how many problems it can solve, and I
hope it will have the same effect on you.
First off, centralized
power distribution is a primary driver of environmental destruction.
Coal, oil and other fossil fuels are burned in massive plants which
then send power along the grid to our homes, but this entire paradigm
is now outdated. The technology now exists for each home to generate
its own clean power, and thus free itself from both the grid and fossil fuels. In
Japan, where I live as I write this, homes were equipped with solar
panels in many parts of the country long ago. Because many
homes were in remote areas, and because earthquakes here made the
likelihood of power outages greater, many chose this method to be
energy self-sufficient, and it has worked. More importantly,
it worked even before the high-efficiency solar panels that we have
today were available, meaning that with current technology, this
option is workable anywhere in the world, and at a fraction of the
price. Not only will this mean a vast decrease in fossil fuel use,
but it will mean a more secure power grid, less susceptible to
disaster, or even terrorist attack. The great blackout that occurred
in the eastern US and Canada in 2003 because of a cascading failure
could never happen again. A decentralized network is a robust
network, one which can flexibly adapt to changing power demands, and
which would prepare us for virtually any contingency. Excesses can
even be fed back into the grid, meaning that instead of paying for
power, you could actually make money back. Let that sink in.
This is basically a win/win/win; for you, for society, and for the
planet. No-brainer, right?
Food distribution is
another key area that should be decentralized, and again for numerous
reasons. Efficiency is certainly a key reason – our current system
of international shipping is unbelievably, shamefully
wasteful, and it's well past time to address this. Because of
inefficiencies at various stages of the food chain, half
of all the world's food is wasted. Yes, you read it right - HALF, and while many people starve to death every day.
It's staggering but it's true, and it should tell us that our current
system is badly broken. Furthermore, shipping food consumes vast
amounts of fossil fuel, even though many of the foods that are
shipped could be easily produced locally. By working to localize our
food sources, we would dramatically cut back on waste and CO2
emissions, and even reduce the need for preservatives and
pesticides. Why are we not doing
this already? Vested interests, of course. Food producers are a
political force, but this is a battle that can be won at a local
level. Many communities are already starting “urban gardens”,
converting rooftops, balconies, parks, unused land, and even their
front lawns into viable food sources. This is something else that
they have subsidized in Japan, with many urban spaces set aside for
agriculture, and the extra greenery makes the cities much more
livable. Indoor hydroponic farming is another potential solution (pun
intended). It's been around in some form for hundreds of years, but
now, thanks to the addition of LED lighting and other new technology
to the mix, it is becoming incredibly efficient. By controlling every
critical factor, indoor farms can now produce crops with factory-like
efficiency, and of incredibly high quality. They are also, by merit
of being indoors, completely pesticide free. If people embrace this
trend and push their politicians into nurturing local markets, we can
have cheaper, fresher, more secure food, while cutting waste
dramatically. Again, everybody wins - we just have to want it badly
enough.
Finally,
the marketplace. Markets used to all be local, or at least regional –
global corporations are only a recent invention, but when one stops
to examine the handiwork of major transnationals over the last few
decades, one eventually wonders why we even allow them to exist at
all. Large corporations are the primary drivers behind much of the
world's environmental devastation, as they pillage natural resources
in a blind rush to satisfy a public made ravenous by their own
manipulative advertising, filling landfills with mountains of cheap,
disposable goods along the way. This cycle will not end well for the
planet - most of us know this, and the ones who deny it are usually
selling something. Furthermore, corporations are foremost driven not
by the public good, but by the bottom line, and too often the public
has suffered as a result. Local markets are the solution. Consumers
can change the system by buying locally whenever they can,
politicians by creating more opportunities for smaller businesses,
and both by divesting from large companies, especially ones that act
unethically. Corporations have abused the power that they have
accumulated, and it's time society pushed back by hitting them where
it hurts - in the wallet. A more localized system is a more socially
responsible system, where buyers and sellers can talk face-to-face,
and it is one that can generate more sorely-needed local jobs.
Corporations have demonstrated that when given free reign and tax
breaks, they do not tend to create more jobs, but rather prefer to
cut them and centralize, while shipping what jobs they do create to
countries with atrocious human rights and where they can pay poverty
wages. We should work to end this failed social experiment, and
create a more responsible marketplace. Having been raised on
corporate capitalism, this is a daunting prospect for many of us, but
it can be done, and there are many of us who are already pushing
back.
For
our society to adapt efficiently, it must be able to adapt swiftly on a local
level, without relying too much on central government. Governments
move at a glacial pace, and often in the opposite direction as public
opinion, funded as they often are by special interest groups. Like a
colony of ants, a collection of small communities can make a
monumental difference when working together, even on a national
scale, while each simultaneously maintains the ability to provide for
itself. This self-sufficiency in turn means that government can spend
less time worrying about local issues, and more time ensuring
national and international issues are resolved intelligently. Local
self-sufficiency translates into overall efficiency, and in the end
this will mean more wealth to go around. If we want our standards of
living to improve instead of backslide this century without
jeopardizing the environment, decentralizing may just be the key.
