The Human Survival Podcast

Is Our Global Economy Killing Us?: How Our Purchases Destroy Nature, Warm the Climate and Cause Violence

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”
This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.
** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
--------------------------
Interconnected global trade has brought more prosperity to more people than ever, allowing abundance (in some places) that our ancestors would have seen as magic. This modern globalized economy also allows us to devour the natural environment and warm the climate more efficiently than ever before. Our desire for electronics, beef, soy, palm oil – and everything else – is punishing nature. But we need intact nature if we want to keep a stable climate and avoid pandemics. We need ways to avoid killing ourselves and our planet with our consumer desires.
Today we explore how huge and interconnected our global economy has become. We see examples where our economy is destroying critical rainforests – the Amazon, in Democratic Republic of Congo and in Indonesia & Malaysia. We discuss some core economic philosophy that served its purpose over the years, but is no longer compatible with a safe climate and environment, on a crowded planet with human population of almost 8 billion people.  And we look at solutions, because solutions are really good.
 
This show is also on YouTube.Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/RiYwqXtKkN8 
Please subscribe and tell your friends about the show.
 
DONATE to help the Banyamulenge in Democratic Republic of Congohttps://bit.ly/3cEkcUt
 
For most environmental data I shared, links are available with my other episode:"HUMANS ARE GOING NUTS: More global chaos reduction systems, please?"https://youtu.be/TVlIGFanbv0
Environment/Climate:
~ Our World In Data, Extinctionshttps://bit.ly/2TZdXnv
~ Global Footprint Network (1.6 Earths)https://bit.ly/3zzdw3M
~ The Atlantic, March 2021The Terrifying Warming Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record: Our climate models could be missing something big.https://bit.ly/3gBCwyK
~ Gizmodo, 6/10/21Landmark Report Links Earth’s 2 Biggest Existential Threats for the First Time: Fifty top scientists warn climate change and biodiversity loss are one and the same.https://bit.ly/3gv93q2
~ Our World in Data, Human populationhttps://bit.ly/2QGcUYB
~ Our World in Data, World GDP over the last two millieniahttps://bit.ly/3giMi9K
Global economic integration:
~ Our World in Data, Trade and Globalizationhttps://bit.ly/3cGbV29
~ Statista, July 2019Trends in global export volume of trade in goods from 1950 to 2018https://bit.ly/3pXtDUo
~ Car and Driver, 1/11/19U.S. Car Brands Aren't What They Used to Behttps://bit.ly/2Snfx2h
~ Our World In Data, 2/23/21Cutting down forests: what are the drivers of deforestation?https://bit.ly/3gvVHK3
Amazon Rainforest:
~ Seeker, 12/30/20Amazon Rainforest Could Become A Savannah Within 15 Years, Here’s How (4:47)https://bit.ly/35iChmU
~ Vox Atlas: The AmazonPart 1 (11:44): https://bit.ly/3wi0IfYPart 2 (10:57): https://bit.ly/3pMx1kQPart 3 (10:04): https://bit.ly/3wmko2m
~ Washington Post, 8/27/19How Amazon deforestation is being done in the service of surging beef demandhttps://wapo.st/3wnREWS
~ The Intercept, 8/30/20How Larry Fink, Joe Biden’s Wall Street Ally, Profits From Amazon Cattle Ranching, a Force Behind Deforestationhttps://bit.ly/3wltcWl
~ Trase, September 2019Mapping the deforestation risk of Brazilian beef exportshttps://bit.ly/3cCk8Eu
~ Our World In Data, Soyhttps://bit.ly/2TSJ587
Indonesia/Malaysia:
~ The Guardian, 2/19/20How the world got hooked on palm oilhttps://bit.ly/3zraTAI
~ Yale Environment 360, 5/27/21The Time Has Come to Rein In the Global Scourge of Palm Oilhttps://bit.ly/2Tni1h8
~ Mongabay, August 2020‘Meaningless certification’: Study makes the case against ‘sustainable’ palm oilhttps://bit.ly/3gvge1n
~ Trase, 7/9/19Supply chain transparency could be vital to easing tensions around Indonesian palm oilhttps://bit.ly/3iDtDHn
~ Mongabay, 3/9/21Deforestation in Indonesia hits record low, but experts fear a reboundhttps://bit.ly/3cBGMNu 
Democratic Republic of Congo:
~ Mongabay, 12/21/20Poor governance fuels ‘horrible dynamic’ of deforestation in DRChttps://bit.ly/2SnZjGb
~ World Resources Institute, 7/9/19Congo Basin Deforestation Threatens Food and Water Supplies Throughout Africahttps://bit.ly/3iExi80
~ Mongabay, 7/16/19Agriculture, mining, hunting push critically endangered gorillas to the brinkhttps://bit.ly/3vfs19u
~ Washington Post, 4/19/18The quest for conflict-free mining in Congo: an ugly truth behind ‘ethical consumerism’https://wapo.st/3xhWx3V
~ Genocide Watch, 10/10/20Genocide Warning: The Vulnerability of Banyamulenge ‘Invaders’https://bit.ly/2TsJk9G
~ Digital Trends, 9/9/18Companies want to sell you conflict-free phones, but certification isn’t foolproofhttps://bit.ly/3xhK2Fn
Economic Theory:
~ The New Yorker, 2/3/20Can We Have Prosperity Without Growth?https://bit.ly/35h032z
~ Degrowth, 8/31/20Book review: ‘Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World’ by Jason Hickelhttps://bit.ly/2U7O2dD[I have not read this book yet.  I want to.  I read Hickel’s previous book The Divide, which was amazing.]
~ Doughnut Economics, Kate Raworthhttps://bit.ly/3gj7zA5
World Trade Organization:
~ Council on Foreign Relations, 2/16/21What’s Next for the WTO?https://on.cfr.org/3wyAnu4

We Hate Pandemics: So why are we making more of them?

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”
This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.
** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
--------------------------
Unfortunately, COVID-19 is probably just practice for other pandemics in the future, which might be far worse.  We are creating this risk ourselves – destroying nature, warming the climate, allowing poverty to persist, eating meat, and even inventing dangerous new viruses in labs.  And we still don’t have adequate global public health systems to protect us from these risks we’re creating.  But luckily, there are many solutions we can use – and we can afford it.
 
This show is also on YouTube.Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/rzNcn2uDeMQ 
Please subscribe and tell your friends about the show.
 
Resources:
Demographics:
~ World population - https://bit.ly/2QGcUYB~ Urbanization - https://bit.ly/3xDIqqC
Destruction of nature:
~ Grist, 4/27/20Deadly Leaps: These scientists saw the coronavirus coming. Now they're trying to stop the next pandemic before it starts.https://bit.ly/3ecYmIJ
~ The Guardian, 8/30/20Rampant destruction of forests ‘will unleash more pandemics’https://bit.ly/3tdUjA0 
~ The Guardian, 7/28/20We are entering an era of pandemics – it will end only when we protect the rainforesthttps://bit.ly/33fwgpL
~ Ensia, 12/8/20There Are Worse Viruses Than COVID-19 Out There.  How Do We Avoid the Next Big One?https://bit.ly/3eRFnlU  
~ Ensia, 3/17/20Destruction of Habitat and Loss of Biodiversity Are Creating the Perfect Conditions for Diseases Like COVID-19 to Emergehttps://bit.ly/3vwvb9a
~ Rolling Stone, 12/7/20How Climate Change Is Ushering in a New Pandemic Erahttps://bit.ly/3vBxuIm
Meat production:
~ Vox - June 10, 2020The meat we eat is a pandemic risk, too“If you actually want to create global pandemics, then build factory farms.”https://bit.ly/3xH2Qz3
~ The Guardian, 9/18/20A 12-storey pig farm: has China found the way to tackle animal disease?https://bit.ly/3eRMZ8f
~ NY Times, 4/29/19U.N. Issues Urgent Warning on the Growing Peril of Drug-Resistant Infectionshttps://nyti.ms/3eaapX6
~ Foreign Policy, 5/21/20China’s Farms Are Petri Dishes of Antibiotic Resistancehttps://bit.ly/3eQcve4
~ NY Times, 6/7/19Warning of ‘Pig Zero’: One Drugmaker’s Push to Sell More Antibioticshttps://nyti.ms/3eL6YFG
Virology labs:
~ Newsweek, 4/27/20The Controversial Experiments and Wuhan Lab Suspected of Starting the Coronavirus Pandemichttps://bit.ly/3tlF2gV
~ Washington Post, 4/30/20Chinese lab conducted extensive research on deadly bat viruses, but there is no evidence of accidental releasehttps://wapo.st/3vAXpzJ
~ Vox, 5/1/20Why some labs work on making viruses deadlier — and why they should stophttps://bit.ly/3uccdVa
~ Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - February 25, 2019Human error in high-biocontainment labs: a likely pandemic threathttps://bit.ly/3eaavOE
~ Jamie Metzl - Origins of SARS-CoV-2[This site contains TONS of resources related to the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a China lab.]https://bit.ly/3edTYZY
Bioterrorism:
~ TED, 7/17/19How synthetic biology could wipe out humanity -- and how we can stop it | Rob Reidhttps://bit.ly/3xJfVYw
Pandemic resilience systems:
~ UN Environment Programme, 7/6/20Preventing the next pandemic - Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmissionhttps://bit.ly/3nHIxgr
~ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)Escaping the Era of Pandemicshttps://bit.ly/3xJhXb6
~ Bloomberg Businessweek, 2/3/21The Five Things to Get Right Before the Next Pandemichttps://bloom.bg/3xJAnbG
 ~ The Guardian, 7/23/20Cost of preventing next pandemic 'equal to just 2% of Covid-19 economic damage'https://bit.ly/3gUYLBc
Global vaccine distribution:
~ The Hill, 4/23/21WHO leader blasts vaccine inequity on anniversary of COVAX planhttps://bit.ly/2PGAtzK
~ Washington Post, 3/11/21The U.S. bought enough coronavirus vaccines for three times its adult populationhttps://wapo.st/2RgU0HE
~ New York Times, 12/15/20With First Dibs on Vaccines, Rich Countries Have ‘Cleared the Shelves’https://nyti.ms/3aWKMY0
~ New York Times, 1/31/21As Virus Variants Spread, ‘No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe’https://nyti.ms/2QHPSk2
~ New York Times, 1/23/21If Poor Countries Go Unvaccinated, a Study Says, Rich Ones Will Payhttps://nyti.ms/3vCfAoN
Hunger:
~ United Nations – Global Humanitarian Overview, 11/30/20https://bit.ly/3uce8ZS
~ World Politics Review, 12/7/20COVID-19 Poses the Greatest Challenge Yet to the U.N. Humanitarian Systemhttps://bit.ly/3nL6Cmj
~ World Food Program - July 2, 2020Coronavirus and hunger: WFP ready to assist largest number of people everhttps://bit.ly/3eaNCdH
~ New York Times, 11/1/20How the Wealthy World Has Failed Poor Countries During the Pandemichttps://nyti.ms/33cNLac
Water:
~ World Resources Institute - January 21, 2020It Could Only Cost 1% of GDP to Solve Global Water Criseshttps://bit.ly/3nEe174

Technology VS. Society & Survival: Artificial Intelligence, Social Media & Deepfakes

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”
This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.
** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
--------------------------
Some of our new digital technologies are helping to tear our politics apart, make us more angry and hateful, and even make it impossible to know what’s true.  Facebook gets a lot of the negative attention (rightfully), but the problem is so much bigger.  Our society is clearly not dealing with these technologies effectively.  Basically, people are allowed to invent and put into the world whatever they want, no matter how harmful – and there are no rules.  Then, on top of this very shaky foundation, people are creating artificial intelligence that will be profoundly more powerful than anything humanity has created before.
Computing is advancing at an exponential rate.  Things are already moving faster than we’ve been able to keep up with, and it’s about to go a LOT faster.
Should we keep idolizing technology, and let tech companies and inventors do whatever they want?  Or should we responsibly manage these transformative changes to our society, with political and economic systems that encourage safety?
 
This show is also on YouTube.Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/u07lbdQ2tT0 
Please subscribe.  And please tell your friends about the show.
 
Resources:
Deep Fakes:
~ Bloomberg News, 9/27/18It's Getting Harder to Spot a Deep Fake Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLoI9hAX9dw~ Radiolab, July 2017Breaking Newshttp://futureoffakenews.com/videos.html(go here to see videos of researchers developing deep fake software)~ 80,000 Hours Podcast, 4/6/21Nina Schick on Disinformation and the Rise of Synthetic Mediahttps://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/nina-schick-disinformation-synthetic-media/
Social Media:
~ New York Times, 10/15/18A Genocide Incited on Facebook, With Posts From Myanmar’s Militaryhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebook-genocide.html~ BBC News, 9/12/18The country where Facebook posts whipped up hatehttps://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-45449938~ MIT Technology Review, 3/11/21How Facebook got addicted to spreading misinformationhttps://www.technologyreview.com/2021/03/11/1020600/facebook-responsible-ai-misinformation/~ Center for Humane Technologyhttps://www.humanetech.com/
Artificial Intelligence:
~ The Independent, 5/1/14Stephen Hawking: Transcendence looks at the implications of artificial intelligence - but are we taking AI seriously enough?https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking-transcendence-looks-at-the-implications-of-artificial-intelligence-but-are-we-taking-9313474.html~ CNBC, 3/13/18Elon Musk: ‘Mark my words — A.I. is far more dangerous than nukes’https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/elon-musk-at-sxsw-a-i-is-more-dangerous-than-nuclear-weapons.html ~ SingularityHub, 7/15/18Why Most of Us Fail to Grasp Coming Exponential Gains in AIhttps://singularityhub.com/2018/07/15/why-most-of-us-fail-to-grasp-coming-exponential-gains-in-ai/~ AlphaZero (chess-playing artificial intelligence)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaZero~ MuZero (chess- and Atari-playing artificial intelligence)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MuZero~ SingularityHub, 6/18/20OpenAI’s New Text Generator Writes Even More Like a Humanhttps://singularityhub.com/2020/06/18/openais-new-text-generator-writes-even-more-like-a-human/~ SingularityHub, 8/2/20This AI Could Bring Us Computers That Can Write Their Own Softwarehttps://singularityhub.com/2020/08/02/this-ai-could-bring-us-computers-that-can-write-software/~ SingularityHub, 5/31/17Google’s AI-Building AI Is a Step Toward Self-Improving AIhttps://singularityhub.com/2017/05/31/googles-ai-building-ai-is-a-step-toward-self-improving-ai/ ~ Science, 4/13/20Artificial intelligence is evolving all by itselfhttps://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/artificial-intelligence-evolving-all-itself~ Future of Life Institute - Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligencehttps://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/~ Future of Life Institute Podcast, 3/19/21Roman Yampolskiy on the Uncontrollability, Incomprehensibility, and Unexplainability of AIhttps://futureoflife.org/2021/03/19/roman-yampolskiy-on-the-uncontrollability-incomprehensibility-and-unexplainability-of-ai/~ AI Research Considerations for Human Existential Safety (ARCHES) by Andrew Critch & David Krueger, 6/11/20https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.04948 (This academic paper is a long read, but I highly recommend it.  It’s understandable and well-written.  It does an excellent job of explaining why AI safety is quite difficult because of complex interactions between multiple people and organizations, and multiple AI systems.)
Lethal Autonomous Weapons:
~ Campaign to Stop Killer Robotshttps://www.stopkillerrobots.org/~ Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systemshttps://autonomousweapons.org/
Efforts to regulate artificial intelligence:
~ International Congress for the Governance of AIhttps://www.icgai.org/~ Future of Life Institutehttps://futureoflife.org/policy-work/~ Centre for the Governance of AI / Future of Life Institute at University of Oxfordhttps://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/govai/~ Center for AI and Digital Policyhttps://caidp.dukakis.org/~ Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligencehttps://gpai.ai/

Technology VS. Environment & Health: Biotechnology, Chemicals, Nuclear & More

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”
This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.
** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
--------------------------
Humans are pretty damn smart.  Our technological innovations are nearly magic, including inventions our ancestors could not have even imagined.  But if we’re so smart, why do we create technology that is so destructive to our health and the natural environment – and even threaten our future with pandemics or other emergencies?  Are we really as smart as we think we are?
If we are as innovative as we think, we should be able to innovate safety systems, regulations and public policies that protect our environment, our health and our future from the dangerous technologies people invent and release into the world.
Today we explore how we might manage ourselves and innovate more safely.
 
This show is also on YouTube.Watch this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf_uej1Iyrk. 
Please subscribe.  And please tell your friends about the show.
 
Resources:
Nuclear waste:
~ Verge Science, 8/28/1888,000 tons of radioactive waste – and nowhere to put ithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgVyPwhkoJs
~ CBS This Morning, 6/10/19Inside the $19B hole at the center of a nuclear waste controversyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML3nk02dC2o
Chemicals:
~ Consumer Reports, 9/24/20Why Dangerous 'Forever Chemicals' Are Still Allowed in America's Drinking Waterhttps://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/why-dangerous-forever-chemicals-are-still-allowed-in-americas-drinking-water/
~ The Conversation, 10/9/20PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ are widespread and threaten human health – here’s a strategy for protecting the publichttps://theconversation.com/pfas-forever-chemicals-are-widespread-and-threaten-human-health-heres-a-strategy-for-protecting-the-public-142953
~ New York Times, 3/5/21Book Review - COUNT DOWN: How Our Modern World Is Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, Threatening Sperm Counts, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race By Shanna H. Swanhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/books/review/shanna-swan-count-down.html
~ The Guardian, 3/18/21Plummeting sperm counts, shrinking penises: toxic chemicals threaten humanityhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/18/toxic-chemicals-health-humanity-erin-brokovich?utm_term=4b1133f2176357b0fda5ed60087a09c4&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email
~ U.S regulation of chemicals is a joke:Wikipedia - Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_Substances_Control_Act_of_1976
BioTechnology:
~ Foreign Affairs, May/June 2018The Ultimate Life Hacker: A Conversation With Jennifer Doudnahttps://www.foreignaffairs.com/interviews/2018-04-16/ultimate-life-hacker
~ MIT Technology Review, 6/19/18US military wants to know what synthetic-biology weapons could look likehttps://www.technologyreview.com/2018/06/19/66749/us-military-wants-to-know-what-synthetic-biology-weapons-could-look-like/
~ Future of Life InstituteBenefits & Risks of Biotechnologyhttps://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-biotechnology/?cn-reloaded=1
~ New York Times Magazine, 1/8/20The Gene Drive Dilemma: We Can Alter Entire Species, but Should We?https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/magazine/gene-drive-mosquitoes.html
~ Science Magazine, 7/6/17How Canadian researchers reconstituted an extinct poxvirus for $100,000 using mail-order DNAhttps://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07/how-canadian-researchers-reconstituted-extinct-poxvirus-100000-using-mail-order-dna
 

The Real Immigration Issue: Get Ready For Climate Change

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”
This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.
** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
--------------------------
Immigration has been a big challenge for many countries, and has been a source of conflict and frustration.  But if we can’t handle today’s migrants, how will we handle the 2 Billion migrants we might see over the next 50 years?  That’s the future of climate change, as many countries will be become too hot for humans to live.  If we are not careful, this situation could be very destabilizing to the world.  This will require completely different thinking about immigration, and a fundamentally different approach. 
The good news: immigration can be economically great for the country receiving those immigrants, if the world plans for the future to take advantage of the opportunities.
 
This show is also on YouTube.Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/C2Tvd4Yfm5Y 
Please subscribe - and tell your friends about the show.
 
Resources:
Climate-related heat & potential population displacement:
~ New York Times Magazine - July 23, 2020The Great Climate Migrationhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/23/magazine/climate-migration.html
~ The Guardian - May 5, 2020One billion people will live in insufferable heat within 50 years – study: Human cost of climate crisis will hit harder and sooner than previously believed, research revealshttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/05/one-billion-people-will-live-in-insufferable-heat-within-50-years-study
~ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) - May 26, 2020Future of the human climate nichehttps://www.pnas.org/content/117/21/11350
Conditions in refugee camps:
~ Wikipedia - Refugee Camphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugee_camp
~ Wikipedia - Rohingya refugees in Bangladeshhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_refugees_in_Bangladesh
Economics of migration:
~ Nature - June 21, 2018Migrants and refugees are good for economies: Analysis of 30 years of data from Western Europe refutes suggestions that asylum seekers pose a financial burden.https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05507-0
~ University of Pennsylvania Wharton School - June 27, 2016The Effects of Immigration on the United States' Economyhttps://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2016/1/27/the-effects-of-immigration-on-the-united-states-economy
~ Wikipedia - Economic results of migrationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_results_of_migration
~ Wikipedia - Economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_impact_of_illegal_immigrants_in_the_United_States
Germany, an interesting case study:
~ The Guardian, 8/30/20How Angela Merkel’s great migrant gamble paid offhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/30/angela-merkel-great-migrant-gamble-paid-off
 

Humans Are Going Nuts: More global chaos reduction systems, please?

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”
This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.
** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
--------------------------
In a bit over 200 years, the human population went from 1 billion to 7.8 billion.  In this very short amount of time we had an 8-fold increase in humans on the planet.  The planet was not ready.  Busy, clever humanity quickly chopped up and devoured the Earth.  Homo sapiens (humans) used to be simply one species among many in nature.  Now, humans have so thoroughly dominated the planet, our choices and actions determine how much of the planet survives – and determines whether we as a species will survive.
These many billions of people joined the planet before systems were put into place to accommodate so many people.  Systems to help us get along with each other, and to collectively make sure we don’t destroy ourselves and our planet.  Instead of thoughtfully planning for our collective future, we humans are just stumbling from emergency to emergency.
Today’s presentation is twofold:
First, a tour of humans’ presence on the earth, and the insane amount of pressure we’ve put on our natural environment and climate.
Second, just as importantly, a review of the incredible progress humans have made on poverty, education, life expectancy, health, peace and much more.  It’s clear – humans can solve big problems.
So, here I offer you equal doses of fear and hope.  And I suggest we put our heads together and cooperate, in a global way.
 
This show is also on YouTube.Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/TVlIGFanbv0 
Please subscribe, and tell your friends about the show.
 
Resources:
~ The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ordhttp://www.tobyord.com/book
~ World population, last 12,000 yearshttps://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth
~ World GDP over the last two milleniahttps://ourworldindata.org/economic-growth
~ Vertebrate extinction rates since 1500https://ipbes.net/global-assessment
~ One in four species are at risk of extinctionhttps://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783
~ 4005 vertebrate species decline 60% since 1970Zoological Society of London / WWF - Living Planet Index 2018https://www.zsl.org/global-biodiversity-monitoring/indicators-and-assessments-unit/living-planet-index
~ CO2 emission by fuel type, World, 1751-2017https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions
~ Atmospheric CO2 levels last 800,000 yearshttps://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
~ Average temperature anomaly, Global, 1850 to 2018https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions
~ World temperature since last ice ageUS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationhttps://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/what’s-hottest-earth-has-been-“lately”
~ Land use over the long term, World, 100-2016How the world's land is used (world map comparison)https://ourworldindata.org/land-use
~ Meat production by livestock type, 1961 to 2018https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production
~ Global fishery catch by sector, 1950-2010https://ourworldindata.org/seafood-production
~ Global freshwater use over the long run, since 1900https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress
~ Inside Climate News - September 13, 2020Deforestation Is Getting Worse, 5 Years After Countries and Companies Vowed to Stop Ithttps://insideclimatenews.org/news/13092019/forest-loss-rate-global-deforestation-amazon-fires-corporate-agribusiness-international-declaration
~ Global plastics production, 1950-2015https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution
~ World’s Top 500 supercomputershttps://www.top500.org/statistics/perfdevel/
~ The Independent - May 1, 2014Stephen Hawking: Transcendence looks at the implications of artificial intelligence - but are we taking AI seriously enough?https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking-transcendence-looks-at-the-implications-of-artificial-intelligence-but-are-we-taking-9313474.html
~ World population living in extreme poverty, 1820-2015https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts
~ Life expectancy, 1771-2015https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy
~ Global child mortality, 1800-2017https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts
~ Literacy rate, 1820-2010https://ourworldindata.org/new-literacy-dataset
~ Gender ratios for mean years of schooling, 1870-2010https://ourworldindata.org/global-education
~ Numbers of autocracies and democracies, 1900-2018https://ourworldindata.org/democracy
~ The decline of war deathshttps://www.ft.com/content/e448f4ae-224e-11ea-92da-f0c92e957a96
~ Global number of smallpox caseshttps://ourworldindata.org/smallpox
~ Polio cases by world region, 1980-2016https://ourworldindata.org/eradication-of-diseases
~ Deaths from malaria, 1990-2017https://ourworldindata.org/malaria
~ Cato Institute - May 19, 2019Why Measles Making the News Is a Sign of Progresshttps://www.cato.org/blog/why-measles-making-news-sign-progress

Global Threats Need Global Solutions: One country alone can’t save us

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”
This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.
** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **
--------------------------
The human race really is worth saving, you know.  And it will take some work – most importantly, making global systems that can deal with our global threats.  These include climate, environment, pandemics, migration, technology, the world economy, nuclear weapons and more.  No one country can solve these on its own.  We’re all in this together.  We need a stronger United Nations and other systems that help the world cooperate and coordinate on these important issues.
 
This show is also on YouTube.Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/GdfywlV0oV4 
Please subscribe, and tell your friends about the show.
 
Resources:
United Nations budget, 2019https://unsceb.org/total-expenses
United States and World military spending, 2019Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Fact Sheet April 2020https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/fs_2020_04_milex_0_0.pdf
CNN, 11/17/20The global economic bailout is running at $19.5 trillion. It will go higherhttps://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/economy/global-economy-coronavirus-bailout-imf-annual-report/index.html