SINE

Arcosanti and other planets are good ideas for many many people, like Jeff Bezos want to have more Einsteins and learn why we are here. Because right now, China’s number one problem is: People.

China, with a population five times the US, has this problem.

During the 1960s-1970s famine before Mao’s Cultural Revolution, many died. That was the problem then. The lesson was to limit population, and the method chosen was forbiding couples to have more than one or two children. Perfect logic, and good for the environment.

This might work in a communal society where neighbors care for neighbors. But now times are different from Mao: communism sounds good, but people need a payoff to “improve” their standard of living. So now the problem is to find enough workers to add material wealth AND care for the elderly when the only ones available are their young, not their neighbors. (One in three Chinese will be older than 60 by 2050. In 2015 it was only one in seven. This is a social welfare challenge.)

So the 2015 solution is to create more young people, more workers, and give financial incentives if necessary to motivate couples to have more than one child.

But for now, surfing  (lyrics) in China is different than in U.S.: Two boys for every girl.

AURA

But no matter where you are, look out for the plastic...