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Will our civilization collapse in my lifetime?
I think that it very well might.
SOS #273 -- J. Morris Hicks -- (4-22-24)
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Last week, I happened upon a 2018 documentary that was produced and narrated by Jeff Bridges. It reinforced my recent decision to stop disposing glass and plastic bottles that once contained fruit juices, water, liquors and even mouthwash.
While watching this spectacular 80-minute film (that I had never seen before), I found myself realizing just how rapidly we Homo sapiens are moving toward a collapse of our civilization.
The free version pictured below came out on YouTube on April 12 of this year. The alternative title of this film is:
What They're Not Telling You About Energy!
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After watching about half of the film, I was struck by the brilliant manner in which Mr. Bridges' team was telling the story of our civilization -- leading to the precarious situation in which we find ourselves today.
For the record, the film never even suggested that we might be eating the wrong food -- or that switching completely to plant-based eating just might buy us enough time to sharply reduce the plethora of other grossly unsustainable processes in which we humans engage constantly.
So why didn't the film present that critical information that could promote health, save money AND comprise the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to slow or reverse climate change?
It's because absolutely zero people in authority anywhere in the world today are even hinting that we could possibly prevent our ultimate demise as a species -- simply by changing what we eat.
Speaking of the demise of ancient civilizations that was covered in the film, you might find the "civilizations" chart below interesting. It was featured in a 2019 BBC article entitled: Are we on the road to civilization collapse?
I learned of this article from Michael Dowd in a 2023 video that he published just months before his untimely death: Living Fully in An Age of Decline: Essential Wisdom for Hard Times.
It turns out that "declines" are normal. It's what we Homo sapiens have always done.
All previous civilizations have declined, but there has never been a single civilization that spanned the complete globe -- as our civilization does now. We modern Homo sapiens are the world's first truly global civilization.
Now that we've been dominating most of planet Earth for the last 200 years, it comes as no surprise that we "global humans" have inflicted more damage on the fragile harmony of nature than all other previous civilizations combined.
This great chart from the BBC provides us with the "big picture" regarding almost one hundred civilizations of the past -- with the average surviving for just over three centuries.
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So what have we humans accomplished since we became the Earth's first global civilization about 200 years ago? The 2015 chart below should give you a pretty good idea; that is, if you can count wiping out most of the non-human species on Earth as an accomplishment.
How did we manage to get that done? A little background: In 10,000 BCE, wild animals accounted for nearly 100% of the biomass of all of the land animals on planet Earth. Note the green area on the graph below.
In 2015, just two centuries after we became the first global civilization, the biomass of wild animals had shrunk to less than 5% and continues to head downward rapidly. At this rate, almost ALL wild animals will have disappeared from the face of the Earth by 2030.
Check out the chart below, Just we humans, along with our cows, pigs and chickens now account for over five times more than the world's TOTAL animal biomass 12,000 years ago.
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As suggested above, by 2030, the wild animal population of the entire globe will be near zero -- after accounting for nearly 100% of the world's land biomass just 12,000 years ago. This does not bode well for our future.
What does this shocking destruction of the entire globe's wild kingdom mean for the future of humanity?
It likely means that we will soon be following those 88 former civilizations that were featured in the BBC piece.
What about the mighty Roman Empire that inspired great films like The Ten Commandments and Gladiator? How long did that that famous civilization survive?
Here's what the BBC piece had to say as that mighty empire, in the course of just 86 years, totally collapsed. During that brief period, Rome's empire dropped from 4.4 million square kilometers in the year 390 CE to near zero sq. km just 86 years later. From the piece:
"Collapse is often quick and greatness provides no immunity. The Roman Empire covered 4.4 million sq km (1.9 million sq miles) in 390. Five years later, it had plummeted to 2 million sq km (770,000 sq miles). By 476, the empire’s reach was zero."
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As for the Jeff Bridges film, I recommend that you take just a little over an hour and pay attention to what you might be thinking about as you watch it.
If you're like me, you might want to stop throwing away plastic bottles too. Just this week, I filled up one of those jumbo plastic Listerine bottles with water.
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My Bottom Line
Earlier in this SOS Memo, I mentioned that this film had reinforced my recent decision to stop throwing away glass and plastic bottles that once contained the grapefruit juice, water, liquor and many other liquids that we consume regularly.
In short, it got me to thinking more what I will be doing when the big collapse begins to happen in the southeast corner of Connecticut where I am now residing. When water stops flowing out of the faucets, perhaps I can do a little bartering with people who have food.
For the record, I have NOT given up hope!
In mid-2023, I wrote all about a realistic Game Plan that I truly believe has a good chance of saving our civilization. Read all about that Game Plan and share it widely with others.
Game Plan 2024 for Reversing Climate Change.
A matter of Individual Choice
To be sure, I still believe that a massive and rapid shift to plant-based eating could possibly buy us enough time to address the many other elements of our civilization that are nowhere close to being sustainable for very much longer.
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As I confessed in my most recent SOS Memo last week: very FEW of my 1,000+ acquaintances, including family and close friends, the people who know me best -- very FEW of them are following my lead. How many? Several hundred? I wish.
Based on many observations, I estimate that the number of people in my network that have chosen to eat exclusively plant-based foods is below 40.
What that means to me is this: Even among people who have been "fully informed" about the supreme importance of humans eating the natural diet for our species -- that crucial dietary shift away from eating animals is simply not happening.
At the same time, it appears that the likelihood of a global civilization collapse within my lifetime -- is much more likely than I would have thought twenty years ago. Back then, when I had just discovered that, on average, animal-based foods (on a per calorie basis) require over TEN times as much land, water AND energy as do plant-based foods.
With numbers like that, what could possibly go wrong? Now in my 80th year, it's looking more and more likely that I may have to face the first major inconveniences -- as the collapse of our global civilization gets underway in my lifetime.
Who knows? If I live another twenty-five years, I might witness the entire global collapse of civilization in the fourth decade of this century, or earlier. No one knows for sure.
Planning for Emergencies -- Becoming a Prepper
About five years ago, I spent a few thousand dollars buying emergency supplies that I was sure would be needed in the case of a civilization collapse: things like water, dried food, tools, emergency cook stove, etc. I just didn't realize at the time that so little progress, if any, would be made between 2019 and 2024.
We're essentially talking about zero progress -- as the trends keep getting steadily worse. Not only that, most humans are not even "talking" about what future horrors might be in store for us.
It's now looking like we might need some of that "emergency gear" much sooner than we expected. All of that stuff is now stored safely in my son's basement in Massachusetts -- about an 80-minute drive from my little writing studio in New London, Connecticut.
Just recently, I started taking similar steps here in my wonderful little 443 square feet of living space. As I mentioned earlier, I have stopped throwing away plastic and glass bottles -- as I am now filling them all with fresh water that is still flowing nicely out of my faucets.
Most Americans do not know what it's like to have no drinking water, and at my age, I don't want to find out. As I've written before, my 443 square feet is on the second floor of this building, about a 10 minute walk to Amtrak.
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Enough doom and gloom.
Let's wrap up this SOS on a positive note.
I still believe that there is enough time for us humans to buy ourselves the couple of centuries we might need to completely transform our way of living -- such that it complies with Mother Nature's rules.
There is possibly "enough" time -- but only if a decided global shift to plant-based eating starts accelerating real soon. In addition to food choices, what might a fully-sustainable civilization of the future look like?
Just last week, I re-read a few chapters of our 2020 book, OUTCRY. Here is a link to Chapter 10 where I described our vision for how we must live to give ourselves a fighting chance to start adhering to nature's rules in time of save ourselves.
Chapter 10: Living Large in the Great Big Northern (2050)
Check out the entire book, OUTCRY, by clicking here or on the image of the book cover below. James Cameron's statement on the cover of that book is turning out to be amazingly prescient.
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I remain totally convinced that we must somehow influence hundreds of millions of people in the developed world to quickly shift to a health-promoting, world-changing, money saving, whole food, plant-based diet.
How can you help? How about sending a FREE copy of the 2015 book that I wrote with a family physician: 4Leaf Guide to Vibrant Health. In that little book, Dr. Graff wrote about her patients and I devoted most of my chapters to the environment. Just read it for God's sake. It's FREE.
Here's another idea. Watch this FREE, 35-minute video and then insist that everyone you know watch it with you. The new Abbreviated version of the Eating Our Way to Extinction Video.
|  | As mentioned above, after you watch this FREE half-hour video on YouTube, read the FREE 2015 book below. As noted earlier, it's a two-hour read that I wrote with a family physician. Believe it or not, since we started giving away the e-copy of this book over a year ago, the sales of the hard copies have risen sharply. (Available on Amazon) | |
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This small, easy-to-read book will help you get started down the road to vibrant health -- while helping to ensure that the young people alive today, and future generations, will have a much better chance of enjoying comfortable and meaningful lives.
About half the chapters are about promoting "vibrant health" for the biosphere that keeps us alive.
To be sure, this little book is still as relevant as ever. It will answer many questions you may have about moving rapidly to the whole food, plant-based method of feeding yourself.
This special e-book version is absolutely FREE: Just click 4Leaf Guide to Vibrant Health.
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In closing, my colleagues and I have concluded that by returning quickly to the natural diet for our species -- we just might be able to buy ourselves the time needed (about 200 years) to address and resolve the plethora of unsustainable elements of our rapidly expanding, wasteful and harmful civilization. | |
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Conveniently, we have a game plan for making that happen!
It was fully explored in SOS Memo #245 that was posted on 11-28-23.
Click the link below to read all about that plan, then share it widely. Share it as if the lives of your children, and their children, depended on it. Because they almost certainly do!
Below this link, as in all of my SOS Memos of late, I highlight a few key elements of that game plan -- one that consists of harnessing the power and reach of the handful of big-picture journalists in the world who have the courage and integrity to just do the right thing for the future of humanity.
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Game Plan for Reversing Climate Change.
The opening question is this...
What would happen if the global media were to become aware of the simple fact that animal agriculture is, by far, the leading driver of climate change and the ONLY driver that is theoretically possible to completely eliminate by 2030?
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At zero cost! How's that for a benefit? Not only does it cost far less to eat plant-based, there are countless benefits that will result from our return to the natural diet for our species. As people begin consuming mostly whole, plant-based foods, most chronic diseases will be reversed -- and the world's cost of healthcare (disease management) could be slashed by over 50%.
Most Importantly. The beauty of this approach is that we don't have to deal with the world's food growers and processors, the world's self-serving healthcare Industry, the many rogue governments and international alliances (UN, UNFAO) or all of the academic entities who are supported financially by the animal food producers and drug marketers. We don't need ANY of their support to get this done!
We simply take this life-saving message directly to the people! The food producers WILL deliver what they demand!
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Individual food choices alone -- all over the world -- can make this happen. When enough people shift to plant-based eating, the food producers, for financial reasons, will respond quickly -- as they urgently start producing only what we consumers are now choosing to eat.
At that time, we will have triggered a rapid global dismantling of what is BY FAR -- the single largest driver of climate change: animal agriculture
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The stakes of this game are too daunting to ignore. And it's likely that we only have a few more years to get this right!
This climate change solution is simple! Getting billions of people to quickly join in that solution is a very difficult task!
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To get that ball rolling, how can we get this group of seven news anchors (and/or many others) prepared to urgently begin reporting the complete truth about the direct relationship between our food choices, climate change and the future of humanity? Read on...
The man pictured below has the knowledge on this topic and he has the world's ear. Will he do all of humanity a huge favor and agree to facilitate the jumpstarting of the game plan described herein? Several members of his staff know that we are standing by -- ready, willing and able to assist him as needed.
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For the record, I am confident that Mayor Adams of New York City, should he choose to ignite the flame (in this Game Plan) -- will someday enjoy an exceptionally rarified place in the annals of history.
He knows better than most what we should be eating -- for our own health -- and for the health of the biosphere that keeps us alive.
He's also mayor of the global media capital AND the world's most influential city.
In his book above -- he writes about reversing his own type 2 diabetes and partial blindness -- by making food choices (whole plants) that deliver the bonus benefit of preserving Mother Nature's ability to keep us alive.
How convenient is that? In closing, it's all about what we choose to eat. Let's just do it, already! We're about to run out of time.
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For billions of innocent children...let's all work urgently together to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.
Sincerely, Jim
PS: Someone asked me why I repeat myself from week to week in these memos. It's because I'm making sure that each message can be fully understood by all of the first-time SOS readers.
J. Morris Hicks — hpjmh.com
500 Bank Street, Suite 215
New London, CT 06320
jmorrishicks@me.com
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PS: How can YOU make a difference?
1st: Become a healthy vegan -- making sure that over 80% of your calories are derived from whole, plant-based foods. As such, you will be doing your part in dismantling the leading driver of climate change: global animal agriculture. As a personal bonus, you will get healthier, eliminate most prescription drugs, lose weight and save money at the same time.
2nd: Start "walking the talk" of sustainable living. Let your actions do the talking for your friends and family. My thoughts on that process are in this updated SOS Memo #200 from early 2023, when I moved into my delightful 443 square feet, about halfway between New York and Boston -- on the busiest passenger rail line in the USA.
3rd: Check out the FREE stuff in the appendix below and start sharing all of this info with your friends & family.
4th: Schedule a FREE Zoom call with me and your group. Contact me at jmorrishicks@me.com to arrange.
In the APPENDIX below, you can read about what we must do to understand much more about the climate dilemma in which we find ourselves -- along with what it will likely take to prevent a collapse of civilization.
This appendix can help you get that done:
Appendix to SOS Memos
(lots of data, FREE books, scientific reports, videos & more)
You can join my mailing list and find all previous
postings by visiting this SOS Memos page.
Again, my primary website is hpjmh.com -- featuring a powerful summary that appears on the landing page. Click the link below for my one-page bio summary:
J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy.
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Want to get started nurturing your own health
and the health of our planet?
Take our dietary survey at 4leafsurvey.com (2 min). With your answers to 12 multiple choice questions, the survey provides an estimate as to what percent of your daily calories are being derived from whole, plant-based foods.
Over 80% from whole plants = "4Leaf Level" of eating
(The average American or European gets less than 7%)
Click to learn all about this dietary assessment tool:
About the 4Leaf Survey
For much more about 4Leaf, visit 4leafprogram.com
Also: Link to the FREE e-copy of the The 4Leaf Guide
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