1 00:00:09,728 --> 00:00:12,844 TEDxOjai x = Independently organized TED event 2 00:00:12,984 --> 00:00:16,236 Today, we live in most troubled times. 3 00:00:16,376 --> 00:00:21,634 All the nations of the world seem to be undergoing some degree of change. 4 00:00:23,633 --> 00:00:25,955 In order to avoid the problems 5 00:00:26,095 --> 00:00:29,320 that we have had for years: 6 00:00:29,758 --> 00:00:31,836 unemployment 7 00:00:31,976 --> 00:00:36,033 military conflict, territorial disputes 8 00:00:36,609 --> 00:00:39,537 the only way to resolve those problems 9 00:00:39,677 --> 00:00:44,520 appears to be based upon a return to a set of values 10 00:00:44,660 --> 00:00:47,401 that will enable us to survive. 11 00:00:48,139 --> 00:00:50,624 In order to do that 12 00:00:50,764 --> 00:00:54,862 I believe we have to declare all the Earth's resources 13 00:00:55,002 --> 00:00:58,798 as the common heritage of all the world's people 14 00:00:58,938 --> 00:01:01,611 and to outgrow the monetary system 15 00:01:01,751 --> 00:01:03,891 to make things available to people. 16 00:01:04,031 --> 00:01:08,014 All the necessities of life must be made available. 17 00:01:08,154 --> 00:01:13,399 If we fail to do that, there will be territorial disputes continuously. 18 00:01:13,539 --> 00:01:17,325 If few nations control most of the world's resources 19 00:01:17,465 --> 00:01:20,325 you're going to have territorial disputes. 20 00:01:20,465 --> 00:01:24,639 The problem is: Can we build a sustainable world 21 00:01:24,779 --> 00:01:30,291 without the necessity of armies, navies, prisons, police? 22 00:01:30,648 --> 00:01:33,482 I believe that if people have access 23 00:01:33,622 --> 00:01:36,082 to the necessities of life 24 00:01:36,222 --> 00:01:40,465 meaning a relevant education, a decent home life 25 00:01:40,605 --> 00:01:45,941 healthy foods available, clean air, clean water and clean technology 26 00:01:46,279 --> 00:01:48,956 those are the necessary ingredients 27 00:01:49,096 --> 00:01:52,978 to make it possible for global sustainability. 28 00:01:53,304 --> 00:01:55,425 If we fail to do that 29 00:01:55,953 --> 00:01:58,719 I think we'll have a continuation 30 00:01:58,859 --> 00:02:02,850 of the same problems we've had for centuries: 31 00:02:02,990 --> 00:02:05,633 war, depression, recession, boom! 32 00:02:05,923 --> 00:02:09,183 We have to agree upon a set of values 33 00:02:09,323 --> 00:02:13,123 that will take care of everyone without any dominant group. 34 00:02:13,263 --> 00:02:15,727 Even the wealthiest people today 35 00:02:15,867 --> 00:02:18,786 would live better in a Resource-Based Economy. 36 00:02:19,239 --> 00:02:23,081 We do not have enough money to house, build hospitals 37 00:02:23,221 --> 00:02:25,769 and take care of most human problems 38 00:02:25,909 --> 00:02:28,600 but we do have more than enough resources. 39 00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:33,967 That is why we emphasize a resource-based, global economy. 40 00:02:34,616 --> 00:02:39,324 If people have free access to the necessities of life 41 00:02:39,705 --> 00:02:42,366 crime would almost diminish to zero. 42 00:02:42,918 --> 00:02:46,616 In other words, instead of designing things to wear out and break down 43 00:02:46,756 --> 00:02:50,693 to promote more people purchasing things 44 00:02:50,833 --> 00:02:55,810 keeping the old system alive, we have to evolve to a newer system 45 00:02:55,950 --> 00:03:01,003 that is free of the conditions that produce aberrant behavior. 46 00:03:01,143 --> 00:03:05,763 We also have to evolve a language that's not subject to interpretation 47 00:03:06,182 --> 00:03:10,557 because when you speak to people today, they hear what you say 48 00:03:10,697 --> 00:03:15,005 but it goes into their heads and comes out in relation to their background. 49 00:03:15,145 --> 00:03:17,489 We need a more precise system 50 00:03:17,629 --> 00:03:21,612 perhaps a system used by engineers in conversation. 51 00:03:21,752 --> 00:03:26,179 When engineers talk to each other, it's not subject to interpretation. 52 00:03:26,319 --> 00:03:30,044 When chemists talk to each other, it's not subject to interpretation. 53 00:03:30,608 --> 00:03:32,736 We will become problem solvers. 54 00:03:32,876 --> 00:03:35,244 All people will become creative 55 00:03:35,384 --> 00:03:39,151 because we now know what it is that enables a person 56 00:03:39,291 --> 00:03:42,310 to become imaginative and creative. 57 00:03:42,766 --> 00:03:45,813 This is not inherited. It's learned. 58 00:03:46,061 --> 00:03:48,326 We now have the methods 59 00:03:48,466 --> 00:03:52,017 for helping people to become broader in their viewpoint 60 00:03:52,157 --> 00:03:54,817 and brought up to expect change. 61 00:03:54,957 --> 00:03:57,973 There are no fixed systems in the future. 62 00:03:58,113 --> 00:04:01,918 All systems undergo continuous modification. 63 00:04:02,058 --> 00:04:04,576 This includes language, social customs... 64 00:04:04,945 --> 00:04:09,251 The design of cities and our social systems must be updated 65 00:04:09,391 --> 00:04:13,490 to fit the circumstances of the environment and resources. 66 00:04:13,630 --> 00:04:17,779 If we design our cities to meet human needs 67 00:04:17,919 --> 00:04:21,945 you won't have most of the problems that are prevalent today. 68 00:04:22,085 --> 00:04:24,789 In the central dome, you have child care 69 00:04:24,929 --> 00:04:28,061 schools, dental care and medical care. 70 00:04:28,201 --> 00:04:33,048 We work out 1/8th of the city system and then we reproduce it 71 00:04:33,188 --> 00:04:36,965 instead of having architects design each building 72 00:04:37,105 --> 00:04:40,605 which is a tremendous waste of energy and talent. 73 00:04:40,906 --> 00:04:43,428 We can build a beautiful environment. 74 00:04:43,568 --> 00:04:47,514 Rather than parks, immerse the city in lovely gardens 75 00:04:47,654 --> 00:04:51,253 so everything surrounding the housing in the cities 76 00:04:51,393 --> 00:04:53,511 would be very desirable. 77 00:04:53,651 --> 00:04:56,211 Anything people may need is available 78 00:04:56,351 --> 00:04:59,101 in these outside access domes: 79 00:04:59,241 --> 00:05:03,900 culturing materials, musical instruments, somewhat like a public library. 80 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,002 Anything that they need is available without a price tag. 81 00:05:09,142 --> 00:05:12,834 That would mean, we must achieve a level of production 82 00:05:12,974 --> 00:05:16,946 that's so high, that scarcity no longer exists. 83 00:05:17,998 --> 00:05:21,309 Once you overcome scarcity, most of the problems 84 00:05:21,449 --> 00:05:23,914 [like] hypertension, will be gone. 85 00:05:24,054 --> 00:05:27,248 Most families have quarrels over scarcity. 86 00:05:28,124 --> 00:05:33,061 Surrounding the central dome, you have the research centers that do work 87 00:05:33,201 --> 00:05:37,431 that's relevant to the sustainability of the entire community. 88 00:05:37,571 --> 00:05:40,975 As we move away from that, we come to the residential district. 89 00:05:41,115 --> 00:05:45,793 There are streams, waterfalls and lakes throughout the area. 90 00:05:45,933 --> 00:05:49,565 As we move to the next sector, we come to apartments. 91 00:05:49,705 --> 00:05:53,053 Everything is built in to the central towers. 92 00:05:53,193 --> 00:05:57,748 I feel that in the future, people will move away from individual houses 93 00:05:57,998 --> 00:06:00,614 and live in larger complexes. 94 00:06:00,879 --> 00:06:05,206 Instead of building cities, we do a survey of the climate, the people 95 00:06:05,475 --> 00:06:10,281 the arable land, and base our designs upon the carrying capacity 96 00:06:10,421 --> 00:06:13,143 of the envrionment or the Earth's resources. 97 00:06:13,283 --> 00:06:15,758 Anything less than that will not work. 98 00:06:16,430 --> 00:06:20,210 Without technology, none of this can be accomplished. 99 00:06:20,350 --> 00:06:25,077 We have to automate all repetitive and boring jobs 100 00:06:25,217 --> 00:06:27,878 so that we don't use people in that area. 101 00:06:28,367 --> 00:06:32,371 People working with computers can resolve most of the problems. 102 00:06:33,053 --> 00:06:36,423 War is the supreme failure of nations 103 00:06:36,563 --> 00:06:39,079 to bridge their difference in values. 104 00:06:39,219 --> 00:06:41,972 I would imagine that in the near future 105 00:06:42,112 --> 00:06:46,743 we will have a better methodology of bridging the difference between nations 106 00:06:46,883 --> 00:06:51,088 and inviting cooperation rather than competition. 107 00:06:51,544 --> 00:06:55,499 During the Great Depression, the '29 crash 108 00:06:55,639 --> 00:06:59,031 there were automobiles in car lots, radios 109 00:06:59,171 --> 00:07:02,431 and there were all kinds of things in store windows 110 00:07:02,571 --> 00:07:05,199 but the public didn't have the purchasing power. 111 00:07:05,634 --> 00:07:08,422 It appears if we go on the way we're going 112 00:07:08,562 --> 00:07:11,337 and automating more and more industries 113 00:07:11,477 --> 00:07:13,834 the public will not have the purchasing power. 114 00:07:13,974 --> 00:07:17,240 They will be replaced by production machines 115 00:07:17,380 --> 00:07:21,667 which make it impossible for a monetary system to survive. 116 00:07:21,807 --> 00:07:24,867 I'm trying to anticipate the future 117 00:07:25,007 --> 00:07:29,581 and design things to work out well for all the world's people. 118 00:07:30,150 --> 00:07:35,118 Consider these things because these are the transitional times. 119 00:07:35,962 --> 00:07:38,948 What I say about global survival 120 00:07:39,088 --> 00:07:42,376 I mean the oceans, the land: 121 00:07:42,516 --> 00:07:47,633 Everything has to become the common heritage of all the world's nations. 122 00:07:48,052 --> 00:07:50,338 I feel that eventually 123 00:07:50,478 --> 00:07:54,456 we'll surrender our notion of individual nations 124 00:07:54,596 --> 00:07:59,295 and merge together in one gigantic cooperative venture 125 00:07:59,435 --> 00:08:03,643 namely the preservation of the environment and human life. 126 00:08:04,221 --> 00:08:08,385 This is what we hope to accomplish in a Resource-Based Economy.